Archive for the ‘General’ Category

A few weeks back I wrote about the annual Student Radio Awards. 2 weeks ago they rolled around again and as always it was a pleasure. I went wild, ate fistfuls of candy and caught up with many people that I do not see enough. But as it was the last one that I’ll attend as a student I thought I’d reflect briefly on 5 lessons/thoughts that I had during the awards last night:

1. Is the Old Guard of student radio changing?

Last year the awards were dominated by URN of Nottingham, who won over a third of the gold awards on offer. This year they still won Best Station, yet there was nobody racing out in front across the board. As well as a few more established stations there were victories for KCL Radio, RamAir and Xpress Radio, who have had relatively little success (or existence in some cases) at this level over the last few years. No station won more than two gold awards this year, compared to URN winning six last year, Raw winning four the year before and URN winning five the year before that. While I don’t doubt that every one of those awards were fully deserved, I admit that the winners list this year is very refreshing. Is the old guard of student radio changing? I doubt it, but a lot more people are coming along to the party.

2. Student radio is what YOU make it!

I am not the first person to trot out this line. This is not even the first time I’ve trotted it out, but it cannot be said enough.

There was one moment from this years SRA Awards that I wish could be frozen in time, framed and put on my mantelpiece. It was the look on the face of our last Head Of Marketing when it was announced that his entry in the Best Marketing & Station Sound category had won the silver award. I’d like to tell you a little bit about him, so you understand why this moment was so sweet for us. 1350am GU2 Radio hasn’t had the best marketing in the last few years. At best it could be described as patchy, but being a university with little art and design courses we didn’t have anyone with the capabilities to make eye-catching posters or exciting logos. We just accepted it for a while, worked on other areas and hoped that somehow our lack of a visible presence on campus wouldn’t matter that much.

Along came Matt Clifford. With no prior training or experience he decided to step up and take control of our Marketing department. Armed with a basic copy of Photoshop and a few free evenings he taught himself graphic design from scratch. Other people chipped in throughout the year but he was the one who co-ordinated most of the campaigns, produced most of the material and worked tirelessly to make other people’s ideas a reality (no matter how unreasonable their/my requests were).

One particularly handsome person on Twitter claimed that “He is the kind of person that every station wants.” This is correct. However he is also the kind of person that you could be! There was no luck involved in him getting that silver award. He didn’t go to the right uni, he wasn’t a naturally gifted artist and he didn’t have any connections in that field. He just saw that it was a weakness in our station and he decided to strengthen it.

3. We need more women in radio!

At my station I like to make a joke by saying “You know, 4/5 of our best members are female… I’m the fifth.” When I’m telling the truth it’s 5/5. Yet at least two times during the night the issue of there being few women in radio was bought up. There were no females in the Best Entertainment category (we sent in two all-female entries, just saying…) Also at the last few Student Radio Conferences I cannot think of one year where any of the big show-piece talks were by women. Are we in a male-dominated industry?

During the evening’s sound-clash I was reminded of a rather uncomfortable portion of an article posted up on Sound Women A group of 200 inspirational females in the radio industry. It came as Tim Westwood made jocular remarks about Tulip Mazumdar snuggling up to a load of squaddies during a recent trip to Afghanistan. I couldn’t help but think of this passage:

“I started out at a radio station where in the studio women were completely equal. Or so we thought. But something happened on the ten metre walk from the back door to the pub. The blokes started compiling lists about the newsroom staff called things like ‘top ten girls in poshest order’, the inevitable ‘who would you like to sleep’ with, and ‘girls with most upturned breasts’.”

I’m sure Westwood meant nothing with his remarks (I have heard from all accounts that he is a top guy), he is one of the great personalities of radio and I would hate him to lose it. If I’m being honest, I probably would’ve said similar. Again, nothing personal, just joking around and I would happily take as much as I give. But the above quote was awkwardly nudging around my head all night after that. I would love to say I came to some divine conclusion, but I didn’t. So I won’t give you one.

4. If you put yourself out there, you will get a chance!

One of the reasons I love the SRA events is because I get to see a lot of people from elsewhere in radio. This was my fourth awards and I’ve got to know a few faces over the years. What struck me last night was how many people I knew there who are now “in the industry” that I met here as students only a year or two ago. Throughout the night I spoke to people whose current main stations are Radio 2, Absolute and Kiss FM, when a short while ago they were at LSRfm, Fly FM and URB. While they all had different routes in, what they all had in common was skill, passion and the drive to set themselves apart. One way or another they got noticed and they have got onto the ladder despite all the cutbacks, job losses and other death-knells that have been surrounding radio for the last few years.

5. Student radio has found its own sound” - Steve Lamacq

Trust Steve KabLAMMO to come up with the purest nugget of optimistic truth for the night. He is right. While there isn’t a template or optimum design for a student radio show, good ones do tend to have common themes running through them. As an example I want to look very quickly at my favourite SRA entry ever. This is The Big Chewsie from RaW (Click HERE to listen!) who won Best Entertainment in 2009. I’ll give you a minute to have a listen…

Wasn’t that amusing? The first time I listened to it I was doubled over in my chair with laughter, wishing I had thought up some of those lines. I don’t know these guys but I would love to hang out with them. There were also genuine moments of deceptively simple originality that won them another award for their creativity. Overall it was a pleasure to sit down and enjoy, but at the same time you couldn’t imagine hearing it on mainstream radio. What station would allow their presenter to switch studios live on-air, seemingly on a whim?

It shouldn’t work, but it does. Student radio (when done right) has the correct ethos, people and free-wheeling sense of fun to find these glorious audio oddities. The place isn’t run by stubborn old war horses who insist that good radio is made by slavery to a brand, format and relentlessly reminding people that IT’S FRIDAY. It’s run by people who often have few pre-conceptions about the medium. It doesn’t have the consistency of commercial radio or the funding of the BBC, but a good student station will
have more original ideas in a day than most bigger ones will in a week.

Original doesn’t necessarily mean good and I confess that I have been responsible for the birth of many original yet truly awful features (Mail-Order Bride Of The Week anyone?) But when it’s done well it is a joy to listen to as a primary source of entertainment, purely based on the content.

No expensive prizes, celebrities or forced references to the listener’s daily routine are needed, just ideas. Oddball, ambitious, life-affirming ideas. This is our sound, let’s turn it up!!.

Andy has been involved with Gu2 Radio at Surrey University for four years. He has had roles in management, events and press, as well as putting in hundreds of hours behind the mic. He is in his final year of an English Literature degree and is looking for career opportunities for after University

Hello! I’m Shell Zenner, despite being on Community Radio for three years, I’ve never truly seen myself  as a journalist. I’m introduced regularly to bands and producers as a Journo or  radio presenter but it just never really feels real, especially when you’re  still working full time in another industry.

The truth is I’ve been a community radio presenter at Salford City Radio  for a few years and more recently I’ve been presenting a show on Bolton FM. You can even hear me over seas with my  programmes airing on WXLV College Radio In Philadelphia, USA and I’ve also been  fortunate enough to have guested on the Roundtable features on BBC Radio Manchester and Amazing Radio, where I’ve worked with some exceptionally talented  people.

It was with excitement and truthfully, a touch of trepidation that I  booked my “Foot InThe Door” ticket for this years Radio Festival. I was a little sad to only be able to attend  the first day of the festival but realised attending the full event was a touch  out of my price range. So, when I saw an  advert on the Media UK website for producers/presenters for the festivals radio output I jumped at the chance and sent off a CV. I was thrilled to receive an email back  asking me to send a demo off and over the moon to get a the call back asking me  to anchor the Radio Festival Radio podcasts.

From the eyes of a newbie, the Radio Festival was completely awe  inspiring, so many big names, not just celebrities but those that are actually  influencing how radio is broadcast at the present time. The subject matter? For anyone that truly cares about radio, it was wide ranging and topical with intense sessions such as Mark Thompson’s Delivering Quality First to the more fun fayre of Arthur Smith, interviewing Jarvis Cocker. There was  something for everyone at the festival

Not only that, but the event was a huge networking opportunity where old friends greeted each other warmly but there was simply not enough time to talk to or meet everyone. In many ways I would have loved to have been in the same position, but alas, whilst I know many of the names, it’s hard to associate them with the faces and so I was apprehensive about making a bad impression. I guess what I’d signed up to – Radio Festival Radio – was a touch more hard work, but arguably more rewarding!

It was a late start for me on day 1 of the festivities, as I would be there until the bitter end, (otherwise known as the 6 Music Showcase!) and so the TechCon and Foot In The Door (FITD) Sessions were well underway by the time I arrived. I jumped into the FITD session amidst the Demo Clinic and got to see ‘What Goes On’, Media’s Kate Cocker engaging completely through group  analysis of the demos, many valid points were made and it proved to be a confidence building session for those that were there, to help them progress into a career in radio.

Being a community radio presenter, my heart was warmed by the comments regarding the importance of Community Radio. I often feel that Student Radio and those that generally are of a younger age get more support getting into the industry than people like myself, when it is actually much difficult and daunting to tackle the prospect of a career change when you have adultresponsibilities and can’t just uproot yourself geographically.

The 6 Music Showcase was always going to be my highlight on the Monday though, anyone that knows anything about me will know I’m a keen music affection-ado and that I adore the eclectivity and individualism offered on the airwaves by 6 Music. My radio shows are based around new music and I interview an array of new bands too, which made this event right up my street.

The fact that The Charlatans were headlining made this a must see for me too, as I’m a bit of an old school indie kid, but also on the line up were Bombay Bicycle Club, Michael Kiwanuka and John Cooper Clarke. I managed to grab a chat with Tim Burgess before the gig to talk about his virtual appearance on Tom Robinsons #nowplaying show a couple of weeks back and about the importance of radio play for bands.

Tuesday dawned bright and early with a talk from Mark Thompson on ‘Delivering Quality First’ kicking off the proceedings which seemed to be one of the main themes running through the festival. There were a number of heavyweight sessions such as ‘Meet The Boss’ but due to our podcast deadlines for the day I only managed to see the more lighthearted ‘Last Night A DJ Shaved My Wife’ with Jon Holmes, Adam Buxton, Patrick Kielty & Olly Mann. I especially liked the part about ‘corpsing’ aka laughing so hard that you can’t speak on air. The examples given had the whole theatre in fits of laughter!

Before Jon Holmes session, there was a poignant video played in the Quays Theatre. If you didn’t read Miranda Sawyer’s Observer article or you haven’t noticed the Soundwomen badges that were ever present during the Radio Festival then let me enlighten you.

Soundwomen is a network of over 200 inspirational women working in audio. They are committed to raising the profile of the women who work in the radio and audio industry, and celebrating their achievements. Why is Soundwomen needed? Well, watch the following video and all will become clear..

Click HERE to see the video.

For me, as an avid listener to Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music show and someone who follows Mary Anne-Hobbs and Annie Mac’s musical delights with interest, I do question why there are so few women presenters in radio and more particularly in
specialist music radio. One of the most poignant statements in that video is not even about the gender of the presenter but of the point of radio, call it ‘Peelism’ maybe..

Annie Mac: “nowadays in the world of radio and in specialist music, people don’t really need radio, they have spotify, they can go and find their own tunes but the reason why radio, I think, is good because they believe in a personality, they believe in our taste, and they trust them.”

Never a truer word spoken Annie! To get a listener to tune in when they  could just as easily pick up song tips from blogs, spotify, Itunes or elsewhere is a hard task. You have to offer something extra. I tweeted recently “I listen to music so that you don’t have to”, meaning that I weed out the good from the bad and bring you a concise slice of quality music (in my view) in each of my broadcasts. As a woman in radio, I applaud the Sound Women project, you GO GIRLS!

To find out more head to: http://soundwomen.co.uk/

In any case, our two podcasts for the day were successfully delivered by 7pm at night and it was with a sense of relief that some of the group headed off to the Hall Of Fame Dinner at Gorton Monastery. I joined the ‘refugees’ event at Lime Bar and thoroughly enjoyed the company of some of the Radio Festival Radio team along with an assortment of other radio professionals.

The final day dawned bright and early and I was determined to see more of the days events than I had seen on Tuesday, so early doors I headed to the Quays Theatre to see ‘Jarvis and Arthur: Digital Radio’s Common People’. It was the most touching, heartfelt and easy going session with Arthur warning Jarvis”that he’ll end up listening to Radio 4, we all do!” Jarvis retorted ‘I can feel myself growing closer to Radio 3 as we speak’ which certainly raised a laugh. Jarvis also informed the eager crowd that the BBC is the closest he’s got to turning to religion, ‘it’s a benign presence that’s there should you need it’. He also stated that you can’t judge everything by commercial criteria and numbers which to me, backed up what Jeff Smith had to say about playlisting at 6 music and Radio 2 completely.

Jarvis also stated that the 6 Music listeners are frighteningly informed ‘if you just ask, you can get a torrent of information’. As a regular 6 Music listener, I couldn’t agree more, he totally hit the nail on the head. There aren’t any other radio stations in the
UK where the listener on regular occasions knows just as much, if not more than the presenter demonstrating exactly why Annie Mac’s statement above is quite so important!

I hotfooted it up to the playlists session to hear a discussion about how Facebook can be used to provide feedback on some of the latest tracks around and how research techniques are generally employed to inform playlists, well other than Jeff Smith who stated their approach was more gut instinct.

Being an avid social networker I was really looking forward to the social networking session, but the quarter of an hour I was able to see left me distinctively underwhelmed. In any case, I had to return to Radio Festival Radio to help put together the final podcast which hit the internet mid afternoon on Wednesday.

All in all it was an amazing experience, the Festival Radio team were a group of exceptionally talented people and I’ve learnt from each and every one of them. The team was supported and guided by the amazing Kate Cocker and Heather Davies and I just want to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work, patience and inspiring words.

It was really nice to hear all the great feedback on the podcasts, so thanks for that and also to the Chief Executive Officer of the Radio Academy - John Myers who blogged ‘Thanks to all who played a part, no matter how small including the Radio Academy podcast team for the invaluable help with their wonderful podcasts’.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen to the podcasts, you can listen to them: http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/ or just search Radio Academy in the itunes store for the free to download podcasts to appear.

I doubt you know the architectural features of Woking College in Surrey. So let me give you a crash course in this vital pillar of knowledge (bear with me, this does relate to radio.) The college has a modern canteen that acts as a social hub, one big square corridor that most of the departments shoot off from and in the center of it all is a sleek 150ish capacity theatre where a successful, vibrant drama and performance department is situated. I’m no actor, but I’m a sociable guy so in time I got to know a lot of them
and even made some friends that remain very dear to me to this day.

Throughout the year they would have auditions, try to get into drama-schools and occasionally talk to me about their career plans (or as they’re always referred to it ‘entertainment’ circles, dreams.) There was a mix, with some wanting to do film, some TV and some theatre. Whenever we would get into these discussions many of them always seemed to include a sigh of “…but then again, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know*.”

Hopefully you’re beginning to see how this relates to radio now. At college this saying didn’t mean a lot to me, but now that I have a slightly older head on my shoulders I want to dissect this ubiquitous phrase/saying/excuse and give it a re-evaluation. When I got into student radio I began hearing this saying many times and if you’re reading this you’ve probably heard it too, lots. For a while I just accepted it as fact, that it was just the way the industry worked and that the cynics would be right. In an astounding turn of events, I have come to agree with them… partly.

You see I staunchly think that what you know is also important and always will be. If you do bump into a top talent scout at a party and get chatting then they’re far more likely to want to help you if the demo you play them on your iPod (it’s an awful party) is astounding. When people hire or recommend someone they aren’t just helping you out, they are potentially sticking their neck on the line and risking their reputation. If the person they’re hiring is their best mate’s son (or someone they met at an awful party) then the person’s judgement and integrity will be called into question if they’ve hired someone whose skills are woeful or undeveloped. That’s not something anyone would want to be associated with, however if the person they hire is excellent at the job then nobody’s going to care how they got it. So yeah, if you want to get a foot in the door then “who you know” is important. If you want to kick the entire door down then start telling yourself “…it’s what you know AND who you know!.”

And I don’t think that “it’s who you know” should be moaned about like it normally is. You see, contacts really can make a difference in this industry, in any industry for that matter. Knowing the right people can get you jobs, interviews, opportunities and possibly even more contacts. Take this very article, I got involved with The Pips because I went to a very productive Student Radio training day a few months ago and was one of only 2 people from my station to go. Gavin P (one of the directors of the Pips) was there and I impressed him with my worryingly detailed analysis of “Why Classic FM Should Target Cougars Instead Of Milfs.” Fast forward a few
months; I’ve got my name out there a little more, The Pips have this blog, and hopefully we both got something from the other just because we made the effort to go along to an event.

So I want to talk a little bit about contacts and also state that I am a firm believer in there being no such thing as a bad contact. Your little black book (or a modern day digital equivalent) is your own personal gold mine and as well as helping you out, it also makes you more valuable to other people too. I want to scream when I see people claiming they have “cleared out my Facebook list. Congratulations if you’re reading this LOL! x”  They act like they deserve a medal for it! What they’ve actually just done is potentially closed a few hundred doors that may once have been open to them. This especially goes for people wanting a career in radio, music or any form of media.

Anyone who has been around this planet for a while knows that people have a habit of unexpectedly reappearing in your life. You never know who might end up as a receptionist at a station you want to work at or whose brother might be in the country’s biggest upcoming rock band that you want to interview. Alternatively there may be someone who you may also be able to help out further down the line (helping out others in the short term helps you in the long term… or so I believe.) If you’ve kept open a slightly informal channel to these people then they’ll probably respond a lot more positively than if you’ve severed ties with them.

Moreover, it’s good to keep in touching distance of people whose lives are vastly different from yours. The best presenters, stations and producers are ones that have a deep understanding of their target listener, something that may be hard if you are constantly living in a little media bubble. If you are connected with them and keep your finger on the pulse of their everyday lives then that is just as valuable in making good radio as dating Olly Murs’ sister. A good boss will know that.

So far I’ve talked about contacts who are only coincidentally useful, but what about ones who are actively good to know and probably always will be? The Managers, the Programme Directors, the “Industry Figures.” In other words, the ones who could get you a job. These are often the “who you know”s that people are referring to. This is where people seem to get really negative, they can’t advance their career because they don’t know the right people. Okay, well then it’s time for a thunderbolt…* Industry People are people too*. This means that they are real people, people that you can meet. They aren’t sacred entities atop impenetrable fortresses surrounded by cold lakes, guns and men holding spears. In fact they’re probably sitting in front of a computer right now, they probably have an email address… they’re probably waiting just for you. Maybe not quite, but you get my point. These people are quite normal and there are many opportunities to go and meet them at events like the Radio Festival 2011. But a lot of people just don’t take up these opportunities.

After walking past my local BBC station every day for a few years I decided to get in contact with them one day and managed to have a nice chat with their breakfast presenter Nick Wallis (which got blogged about by him
here) What surprised me was that in all the time he’d been doing the show only one other person from my student station had ever got in contact with him. It wasn’t hard, in fact I think I just did it on Twitter. Nothing concrete has come out of it yet, but we’re on each other’s radar and (hopefully) on good terms. If something ever comes up that may suit me then he knows my skills, ambitions and contact details. Maybe nothing will come from it, but at least I got to shoot the breeze with a pro and have a pint.

Basically, don’t look at the “who you know” side of the industry as something that holds you back, look at it as a potential extra string to your bow. That sounds like a naff tweet (in fact, it now
is - Click here to read the tweet!) but I don’t see why so many outgoing, interesting and entertaining people look at it as such a negative thing. If you’re in your early twenties then you potentially still have a 40 year career ahead of you, if you don’t have many contacts now then you have plenty of time to build up your network. I agree that in an ideal world your talent would be all that mattered, but if you can’t speak to one or two influential people in a bar, at a conference or over an email then why do you deserve to be on-air speaking to millions of people every day?

Andy has been involved with GU2 Radio at Surrey University for four years. He has had roles in management, events and press, as well as putting in hundreds of hours behind the mic. He is in his final year of an English
Literature degree and is looking for career opportunities for after University