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• Radio producer case study 3

Radio producer case study 3

This Case Study belongs to Radio producer.

I graduated a couple of years ago in media production. I really enjoyed the university experience but I don’t think my degree was the major factor in getting into radio. You don’t need to have media production and it’s quite possible to get in without a degree. But you won't get in without commitment and determination and a portfolio of relevant experience.

I have a dual role with Galaxy. I produce a variety of dance music specialist shows and I also look after Galaxy’s digital station, the pre-recorded programmes for Sky, Cable and DAB Digital Radio.

A careers adviser at school suggested I get some voluntary work and so I started doing regular slots with Radio Lollipop, a hospital radio station. Initially I just sat in and observed, got the music out, sorted out the library. I was learning all the time and when I got to presenting my first shows realised I’d got the bug for radio. I did some TV on my degree course where the teams are much bigger - I think it’s the intimacy of radio, the fact that you can do all the different tasks yourself.

When I was at university, I got part-time ad hoc shifts with Galaxy Radio as a technical operator, playing pre-recorded shows, making sure that the right audio plays out, checking that the right adverts go out at the right time. This led to weekend shifts with the network hub, Galaxy Yorkshire, where I worked Saturday and Sunday nights on live shows. Here I worked with presenters, sorted out text, looked after guests, again learning all the time. I would say I’ve learnt 99% of what I know on the job, watching other people and getting technical know how as I’ve needed it. Currently I use RCS, a Windows-based radio playout system for music and adverts. We also use Protools and Adobe Audition.

I love my job, which is just as well as I work six days a week, more in summer when we get involved in festivals and events. As soon as the summer is over, I’m looking at the calendar for the next year and deciding which events and festivals we get involved with. We’re not just a radio station - we really engage with young people in our target market and we hire people, not just voices. The highlights are high - for example, when one of my presenters won a Sony award recently, and working at such events as Creamfields and Ibiza. I find it hard to think about the downside although there are terrible moments, like the time in Ibiza when I left the fader up and managed to swear loudly four times in two seconds!

My advice to students, whatever your subject, is to get experience working in student, hospital or community radio. Accept that you'll have to spend some time working for little or nothing, but use the time to make yourself known. I got in because I sacrificed every weekend and the bosses knew me when I came to apply. If you want to work in radio, start now!

Case Study sourced by of , 10 October 2007.