l01: Analyse an audio-based problem in creative media
brief |
In this unit, we are to produce content for a new college radio station that both students and staff at Henley College can be proud of. In small production groups we need to develop a radio station concept from name to content that will appeal to all Henley students. Specific content requirements as well as legal obligations need to be researched and creative solutions need to made to ensure the station is a success.
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regulations
task 1 - Issues Faced
TASK TWO: TYPES OF STATION
- FM radio stations were built in the 1980's and they belong to FM radio station in Las Vegas. This method of broadcasting uses frequency modulation technology.
- DAB digital radio is a new way of broadcasting, using a network of terrestrial transmitters. This produces better sound quality and more information.
- Satellite this is simply a radio service that uses satellites circling the earth to broadcast its programming.
- Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the internet, this is usually referred to as webcasting.
- Podcast is a series of digital media files and includes episode being automatically downloaded
SETTING UP FOR AN ONLINE OR FM STATION |
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Regulatory bodies
who are they?Ofcom are a regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting telecommunications and postal industries and of the United Kingdom
how can they help?They help by giving us permission to play songs and not get fined for copyright, they also make sure that they contact the artist and make sure they get money each time there song gets played.
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who are they?PRS for Music is a society of songwriters, composers and music publishers.
HOW CAN THEY HELP?They help by licensing the use of our members' musical compositions and lyrics when they are played in public, broadcast on radio or TV, used on the internet or copied onto physical products such as CDs or DVDs.
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Setting it up
FM / Dab / satellite |
costs |
Internet radio station |
costs |
When setting up a radio station we have two options to choose from; use FM/DAB/Satellite or use Internet/Podcasts. When costs are considered, an internet run station is our best option. We would be spending over £1000 more on an FM/AM radio over an Internet station given the cost of the equipment needed. Alternatively, we could rent out a studio but we would spend the upfront cost of all the equipment within a week. Also, with the growing popularity of websites like live365.com, anyone can create their own radio station with music licensing and the ability to earn revenue. This means the college will not have to pay for certain licences as live365 already provide them, meaning some of the costs are lowered. Internet radio can also easily be accessed via mobile devices, which is the main platform our target audience will be accessing our radio station from.
Plan
secondary research
University Radio nottingham
Playlists |
The University Radio Nottingham have three main weekly playlists. Playlists A, B and C. These playlists consist of a variation of songs, mainly being successful chart toppers such as Rockabye by clean bandit and 24k magic. But also undiscovered, less popular songs such as unstable by Zac Abel. This is a very dynamic variation of songs as it both appeals to the target audience being students who are the main audience of music videos and chart topping songs, as well as broadcasting songs that are relatively unheard so that listeners can hear something refreshing and new, this also helps to prevent them from overplaying songs that are also being played repetitively on other radio shows.
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DJ |
There is a massive amount of dj's that work for University Radio nottingham with many difference roles. For example podcasts and other forms of narration. Most podcasts are structured so that there are two people presenting it for example Danny and Dylan, Katie and Jack, and Charlotte and Nimrat. However some podcasts consist of three people like Nick, Joe and nick. Other dj's tend to facilitate transitions between songs and during these sections of music playing the DJ's tend to have the responsibility of making sure listeners know the songs there are listening to and other responsibilities.
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Features |
There are many features on the University Radio Nottingham that are useful to people who want to find out more about the radio station. For example, blogs, competitions, and opportunities to get involved. These opportunities mean that the radio station is opening itself up for their audience to get involved, meaning the radio station can stay relevant to its listeners. It also makes people who feel inclined to get involved with the station more likely to get in contact as it is made clear and available. Also on the website there are many links to social media sites made available, this means that listeners are more likely to be interested in updates from the radio stations and also helps the radio station stay relevant with it's young student target audience.
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who can listen to it |
The URN radio is mainly intended for students that study at the University of Nottingham however, streaming the radio station is made available on its website therefore it's available for everyone to listen to. Their target audience are mainly students as their playlists consist of modern songs who's target audience are young adults generally.
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What times of the day does the station run?
The radio station is always broadcasting however official broadcasts with hosts have broadcast times that vary, on weekdays the radio starts broadcasting at 9 o'clock in the morning. However during the weekend the the radio station starts broadcasting at 8 o'clock in the morning. General broadcasts end at one o'clock in the morning however on sunday it ends at 0:00.
Advertising |
The radio station does not broadcast advertising as they are university funded and do not need income. And as far as my research can conclude they do not advertise themselves.
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Interaction with listeners
Listeners are able to very easily get in contact with the radio station in many ways for example there is a section on the website that allows you to send comments into the radio station. However this is not the only form of getting in contact that the station provides for example, they provide various links to their social media outreaches such as their twitter. This allows for listeners to get in contact and stay up to date on different platforms and not have to go to the website if they want interact.
Junction 11 radio
Running orderWebsite link: http://www.junction11radio.co.uk/
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This is the weekly schedule for Junction 11’s radio. As you can see, the running order is colour co-ordinated, and they have provided a key. E.G., all of the yellow slots are slots that are free. Junction 11 have given out contact details, so people who possibly wish to be on the radio can contact them and ask. Then their “interview” will be placed in one of the free slots. As you can see, there is a lot of shows on. These will be in the blue slots, which shows that they are taken up.
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playlists |
Junction 11 have not provided their playlists on their website. However they have stated that their music usually consist of genres from the Spotify charts, globally and nationwide. This way they can include a wide variety of music, to cater to all their listeners’ musical tastes.
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junction 11 managers
The station has been through many managers, ranging through all ages.
- February 01 to February 02 – Simon Hugo
- February 02 to February 03- Andy Flaxman
- February 03 to February 04 – Joff Hopkins
- February 04 to Septembar 05- Phil Grech
- September 05 to September 06- Dave Wiley
- September 06 to September 07-Chris Hinton
- September 07 to December 07 – Pete Fletcher
- January 08 to January 09 – Carl Pendlebury
- January 09 to 10 – Francesca Mercer
- September 10 to 11 – Sarah Collisson
- September 11 to 12 – Christian Diffin
- September 12 to 14 – James McCormick
- September 14 to present – Nick Sexton
You may be reading this and thinking, isn’t that one manager per day. Yes, it is, Junction 11 believe that is it important to sometimes share the mantle of responsibility around all the staff members of their team. This way, all of the people involved with junction 11, can have a taste of what it is like to manage the station for one day. Although the entire past manager list has not been uploaded to their website, this is the method they have used since launch of junction 11, and it is what they are still using to this day.
features |
One major feature of Junction 11’s radio is called UniPlay. UniPlay is a live broadcast that occurs on a Wednesday and Saturday night. The official timings is 19:00-late on both days. UniPlay broadcasts music, with genres such as dance, chart, indie, dubstep and more. The general idea of UniPlay is to get people hyped for their nights out. Junction 11 actually holds live events where their DJ’s perform live. However, these only occur on union nights.
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who can listen to it? |
The way the radio station can be listened to is via, FM signal and through the internet. Considering that they are using nationwide methods of broadcasting, pretty much anybody can listen to it. The way that it works online is via their website. There is a button on the website along the bottom of the page, which allows users to pause, play, and repeat the broadcast
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advertising |
The studio must be funded in some way, although some of that funding comes from the university itself, some of that funding comes from local businesses. These businesses’ wish to advertise their companies via the radio, this way, more people will know about their business, which will in turn provide more profit.
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what times does the station run?
The station broadcasts between 8 AM and 11 PM everyday apart from Sunday. These times will probably be the peak times for listeners, as everyone will be asleep between 11PM and 8AM. This way Junction 11 isn’t wasting time and resources on broadcasting hours that would be useless.
interaction with listeners |
Listeners can call, message, tweet and even snapchat into the station. The station regularly holds live broadcast events, For example, they have quizzes where listeners can call in and provide answers, sometimes for prizes, other times just for fun. Other times listeners can just call in to have a shout out.
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uNIVERSITY RADIO yORK
PLAYLISTS |
The website does not display the playlists that are aired on the radio. After listening to the radio stream, songs like rockabye by clean bandit were playing however the website does have a section where it mentions what songs they play but does not show how their playlists are structured. It features songs in that playlist such as chained to the rhythm by Katy Perry, Human by Ragn'bone man and it ain't me by Kygo and Selena Gomez.
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WHAT TIMES OF DAY DOES THE STATION RUN? |
The radio station airs from 9 in the morning to 12 at night. There is no exception to this in the schedule. |
fEATURES |
They have many features for listeners on their website for example. They have a stream available on their website for people to listen online. They have a section on their website for viewing news about the the radio station. This makes it easier for people to stay up to date with the radio station as well as staying interested. You also have two tabs on the website named speech and get involved. The speech tab is for the purpose of listeners sending suggestions and messages into the radio station allowing listeners to have their say, giving them more ways to keep up to date with the radio station. The get involved tab on the website means that people who want to contribute to the functioning of the radio station are able to.
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DJS |
The website does not say anything about their DJ's however, the website does refer to the structure of their organisation being broken down in teams. Some of the shows listed on the website also display the some of the DJ's that work on the station. For example, Amelia Beach, Tom Smithies, Jack Davies, Will Batchelor and others.
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WHO CAN LISTEN TO IT? |
Anyone is free to listen to the radio station as the stream is free for anyone to listen to online. You can also possibly connect to the radio station on a frequency but this will be a lot easier to do for people in the actual university or close to where it is being broadcast. The main target audience for the radio station will be university students however.
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ADVERTISING |
The radio station does not advertise on their website. It does not advertise on the broadcast after listening to it.
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Interaction with listeners |
The website provides many opportunities to get involved with the radio station and get in contact for example, there is one tab named "speech". This tab is used to get in contact with the radio station so the listeners can have their say for example music suggestions, comments about the station, improvements and so on. There is also another tab called "get involved. This tab is more for those who actually want to help with the radio station and want to work with them. There is more than enough opportunity for people to get involved with station if they so wished on the website.
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