Hi folks, this week's playlist winner is Jim Dupuis, host of Jazz Notes
(Wednesdays, 2-4 PM). Jim played a track from Jason Marshall's new album (#184
on the playlist) and wins a CD from the promo box.
Keep using the play cards, online logs and charts to find artists that aren't
being played for a chance to win next week. Keep that variety up!
--
For this week's programming tip, I'm going to focus on a specific question I
was asked during our recent round of programming seminars. A volunteer asked me
if it was okay to drop some blues into his show, even though we already have a
lot of blues in our programming. He was worried about stepping on the toes of
of other programmers if he did so, and taking away listeners from the blues
shows already on the air.
The short answer is yes, of course it's okay. The long answer is yes, of course
it's okay, but be aware of what you are doing and what's going on with other
shows at the station. We'll start with an example from the question asked. Of
course, we already have two shows on the air that focus entirely on blues, but
they do not have a monopoly on blues music. Just because one show focuses on
something doesn't mean that your show can't take parts of that show. Other
shows are already playing blues as parts of their shows, such as Jim Dupuis'
Jazz Notes program, Eagle Anderson's country show, and some of our folk
syndicated shows. And, if you listen closely to our two blues shows, you'll
find they are doing something different from each other, that is Doc's Thursday
night show focuses a lot on classic blues and Vince's Tuesday show focuses a
lot on modern and contemporary blues. Even though the shows look the same, they
have different focuses and different approaches to the show, some overt and
some more subtle.
Eclecticism is at the heart of every good program on campus/community radio.
There is no rule that says that a show can't play a certain type of music, as
long as you, as a programmer, can explain why it's being played. Context is
very important to anything broadcast in campus radio. Often, we play unknown,
underappreciated and eclectic styles of music that sometimes need extra
information for your audience to understand what they are listening to. Any
time you can add extra context about who the artist is, what they stand for and
how they fit in to your program is a great way to draw the listener in.
Connections between the items in your show, whether than be different ideas in
a talk show, different pieces of music in a music show, or how a piece of music
fits with a piece of spoken word, is all fantastic content. Good programmers
think of how the elements of a show connect with each other, and that's the
essence of eclectic programming. Eclecticism does not mean randomness, in that,
you should never be playing random music back to back without thinking about
what you are doing or, more importantly, listening to it first. Eclecticism
means variety with meaning. Good programmers can link blues into an eclectic
program, worldbeat into an electronic program, folk into a country program, or
metal into a classical program. The only limit is your creativity.
Range is vital in any campus/community program. Always think about ways that
you can expand out the range of your show. If you are doing a show on
literature, you don't need to just stick to reading literature over the air.
You could be interviewing local or non-local authors. You could attend open mic
poetry show and recording poets reading their work. You could look at the
business end of writing, and talk about publishing and navigating the world of
book sales. There's tonnes of music about literature too. The same goes for
music. Don't feel like you are constrained by your show's format. If you do
feel like you should be playing a certain type of music, it's usually a
constraint you've placed on yourself for some reason. The only person that puts
limits on your program is you. Any time you can bring in a different idea, or
style of music into your show, and explain it to your audience, is an
opportunity for both you and your audience to learn and enjoy.
Another good way to keep your show interesting and eclectic is programming
awareness. This has to go with being aware of what other shows are on the air
and being aware of what they are playing. Good programmers are also good
listeners and consumers of media. They are aware of what other shows do and
play, and actively work to avoid what they play to keep their own show unique.
They are also keenly observant of anyone doing unique programming, and taking
ideas from that programming to use in their own show. Good programmers also pay
attention to other shows that are similar to their own, and work on ways to
make them less similar. An example from my own program, my experimental
program, Do Not Touch This Amp, where I pay attention to other shows on the air
and consider if I should be playing more or less material from those genres.
For example, in the past, when we had less electronic music programs on the
air, I tended to play more electronic music in my show. Now that we have 2
shows that are doing electronic exclusively, and another adding a lot of
electronic material, I tend to play less, but instead focus on the electronic
music NOT being played on those shows. We currently don't have a lot of louder
music programming, like punk and metal on the air, so I've been taking time to
explore more loud and noisy material in my show, because it's under-represented
on the air right now.
--
Steve Marlow, Programming Coordinator
CFBX 92.5 FM www.thex.ca
Campus/Community Radio for TRU and Kamloops
