As the August 5 release of Shaun Groves's sophomore album draws closer, he and the folks at Rocketown work out the next step in the process of releasing an album — selecting the radio single. Shaun shares his thoughts regarding the difference between a "hit" and a "favorite."

My favorite songs are never on the radio. How about you? Have you ever listened to a CD, fallen in love with a song, and wondered in the days and years ahead why it's never on the radio? You'll love this then.

My CD Twilight is finished, pretty much. The packaging is yet to be designed, but all the music is complete. The marketing team at Rocketown, which oddly enough is almost everyone at Rocketown with the exception of the attorney, has met a few times to discuss which songs will be sent to radio stations—and more importantly, perhaps—which one will go first.

This is an important question because that song will be the first impression listeners will have of my new CD. It's also one of the reasons I have a record label. I'm asked from time to time why I didn't do all this independently. My short answer is that a record label knows things I don't—I hope—I'm pretty sure—I'm positive—I think. Well, anyway, regardless of whether they do or they don't, their job is to assume they do and mine is to do the same. At moments like these, my job is to let them do their job.

Here's how radio works—the simple version from an artist's perspective. I write songs without thinking about how to make radio happy—not because I dislike radio play but because there's no telling what they'll like from one day to the next. That's the trouble with humans in general. We're unpredictable. After the songs are recorded, Derek Jones takes over. He's a tan, obsessive-compulsive, positive ball of energy who bounces from phone call to phone call incessantly pleading with radio guys to play the latest single from Rocketown—and with great success I might add. His job is to get our songs played on your station, and he has a good nose for what songs will work best.

After Derek picks the song, it is remixed. Versions with the vocal louder or the guitars turned down, for instance, offer each station the ability to meet their audience's likes and dislikes, eliminating some barriers to getting it played along the way. The single—or song—is sent out to stations' program directors. We pray that they decide to listen to our song out of the stack of hundreds they receive each week. Then Derek and his little helpers get on the phone and harass … I mean ask nicely for the song to be played.

Then we wait.

With our last record together, Invitation to Eavesdrop, this process worked surprisingly well. I was told then that new artists are fortunate to get one song played—at most they'll get two. But we had seven radio singles to every format of Christian radio: Adult Contemporary, Christian Hit Radio or Pop, Inspirational, and Rock. And five of those songs made it on the chart. Two were number one and two more were top five. Amazing. And I can't take credit for that. The process worked. Derek worked. And radio listened.

But it's that success that both makes me nervous about following our own track record and confident in Derek's abilities and wisdom. I don't live for radio play, but it's still an important factor in both the ministry and business that we're in. What if radio stations don't play this first song? Will that make them less likely to give the next one a listen, and the next? But, in the end, I don't have the answers, and I think Derek can be trusted. He's earned it. He's done his research: polling a few of his close friends in the radio industry. He's studied hard: watching the charts for trends or needs that we can meet.

In the end it's come down to two songs. I love both, but I have my preference. One song is more unique—unlike anything I've ever heard on the radio. The other one is still solid, but a little less creative.

The phone rings. It's Derek. He breaks the news to me with a somberness usually reserved for the sharing of life-threatening test results. By his tone I expect him to say I have two weeks to live. But it makes more sense that Derek, not being a doctor and all, tells me he didn't choose my favorite song as the first single.

That's OK, I tell him. He didn't pick my favorite last time either. My favorite on the last record was the absolute last single—number seven: "Should I Tell Them." Of course, it did just go number one. So, while I trust Derek to make the right choices and I'm confident that the song "See You" will make a great first single from this new record, I also know that it's not over for my favorite song either.

That's one of the great things about this job. I never know what will happen next. It's more art than science. I just hope that when you hear Twilight, you don't fall in love with a song that never gets a chance to be heard on the radio. But even if you do, I'm just glad you'll hear it.

Click here to listen to an exclusive one-minute sample of Shaun's first single, "See You."

Part five of "The Process" will arrive in late June. In the meantime, you can read more about Shaun Groves by visiting our artist page for him. Click here to read our review of Invitation to Eavesdrop, and pick up your own copy of it at Musicforce.com.

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