How Does a Song Become a WMNF SOTD?

Have you ever wondered what it takes for a song to become a WMNF Song of the Day (SOTD)?

Well, let’s start with what it doesn’t take: a fancy PR team making a splashy presentation, any form of payola, or some IA optimization playlist. Every single song is listened to by WMNF volunteers and hand-picked to be the best song possible for that day.

Most of the SOTDs are discovered organically, either at local clubs, by word of mouth, on or social media. Bands are strongly encouraged to submit their music here or email [email protected].

Here are some of the factors that we consider when selecting SOTDs, not necessarily in order:

Be good music!
- This goes without saying. We listen to dozens of songs each week and we only get to pick 5. The songs should represent all the genres of music that we play on WMNF and they should all be the highest quality in their class.
- Fortunately, the cost of recording songs has dropped tremendously and more indie artists than ever before can create and release great-sounding music. And there are a number of local studios out there for bands who want to record.
Promote local bands
- The primary reason SOTD was created to was to support the southwest Florida music scene. These are passionate people who put much time and effort into their art.
- We love to play new releases by local artists of all kinds of genres including rock, jazz, hip hop, RnB, electronic, and unclassifiable music.
live music and venues
- We believe that live music is vital to the community. And we want to help listeners support it as much as possible. If a local, national, or international artist is playing a show in our area, we will consider promoting the show with a SOTD.
- Of course, there are more fantastic shows than days of the week, so we can’t promote every single concert. We are much more likely to promote indie artists playing at a local club than those performing at the Super Bowl.
Focus on fresh music
- We L-O-V-E new music! At WMNF we are constantly trying to find the most current, interesting tunes and share them with our listeners. In fact, we often feature songs on their drop day. But not every SOTD is a new release; some are classics and some mark specific events or are used to convey a specific point.
Music should be relevant
- We understand life is dynamic. The year has seasons and some songs more fitting than others. Additionally, each month has a WMNF theme. This month the theme is Black History Month. Also, each week day has a different vibe on the WMNF schedule.

Not every song will fill every category above, but the more categories a song fills, the more likely it be a great WMNF SOTD. But there is one point that we haven’t addressed yet. Scheduling SOTDs is like playing 5 Dimensional Tetris. Thinking about release dates and show schedules and keeping up variety can make your head spin. As well matching the vibes. If a SOTD is blues or jazz, that fits nicely on a Monday. If it is Latin, that fits well on Wednesday, and so on.

Interested in helping with SOTD?

PLEASE support SOTD with a donation of any amount. Your generous donation goes directly to WMNF to help is support the local community. Not able to donate? You can go to the top of the page and fill out a Volunteer Application.