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Music Programming Essay

In a blog post/PowerPoint presentation, describe what 'music based programming' is and then discuss all the different types of media where you would find music programming or 'playlists' that have been especially formulated e.g. radio, in-store radio, internet radio etc. 

Talk about specific radio stations, different program mes on these radio stations and the types of music played on them. 

You should discuss who the audiences are for each of these program mes and how successful you think the shows are at reaching their audience with their music playlists. 

Music Programming is the planning of playlists to be played on a radio station and this is a very important key in keeping the audience of any radio station.

I am going to talk about Radio 1, Absolute Radio and ASDA FM. The only shows I seem to enjoy the most on Radio 1 are the Breakfast show and the Zane Lowe Show. Since this is a station targeted towards 16-21 year olds, a lot of pop, hip hop and chart music is played. The reason why I think these shows are successful in reaching their audience is the music playlists they arrange for the shows and also the topics they talk about for example; in Zane Lowe's show he always interviews artists which is something that I or the audience look out for and he is always the first to play a new track as it is one of his segments on his show and I think that makes his show stand out from the rest. The Breakfast Show on the other hand also has quite a number of interesting segments on it which involve the audience for example; they have a segment that involves 'show bot', a computerized system that holds multiple choice questions with the audience that are usually about celebrities which is again something that the target audience is interested in. In overall both shows start bright and finish strong in terms of their music playlists and I think this is major factor in keeping the audience entertained especially for the Breakfast Show since it is in the morning when most people are not in the best of moods thus need something to cheer or get their day going.

I personally am not a big fan of Absolute radio but when I do the only show I seem to listen to is The No Repeat Guarantee show and the reason why I think they are able to keep their audience is the policy of show where they do not repeat any songs form 10 am-5 pm every single day hence the name of the show. The music that is usually played on the show is mainly rock and maybe a little bit of pop but always basing on what the target audience likes which is 25-44 year olds and I think most radio shows have the start bright finish strong policy for their playlists and I think all this depends on the music the shows play but mainly how they arrange them.

I would not consider ASDA FM to be the most listened to station by choice but more or less as a form of entertainment for the people who shop in the supermarket and I guess that is why it has the become the most listened to station in the UK as a lot of people shop at ASDA. Because the station plays a wide range of music and has no program mes, keeping their audience and entertaining them is a major factor in keeping the radio station going. The radio station does not really have a target audience as people of all ages come and shop in the supermarket and it has been successful in entertaining their audience by playing music depending on the time and which audience is expected to be listening at that time for example; during the morning hours a lot of calm rather relaxing music is played because the audience at that time might be people of an older age like the elderly or mothers during the school run. Another example would be during the afternoons like at about 3 o'clock, kids music is mainly played because that is when the kids are done with school and then heavy stuff like rock and dub-step are played at very late hours because the audience at that time consists of mainly young adults. Although this station does not have any program mes this station really does a good job in entertaining its audience.

Internet radio on the other hand plays one genre of music for example 1 Xtra which means that it is only targeted towards a specific audience. The main reason as to why I think they are able to maintain their audience as some do not involve any speaking for example ; Spotify radio which also means that the radio show can just be a playlist of 20 tracks that have not got anything to break up the tracks like audience interaction or back announcements.

    

Staff Radio Workbook

Radio habits questionnaire (for older audience)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mZGLVbym_LvNO_TJMWZ6Ge1e8QApZ_mHzDHleg4HnDM/viewform

radio workbook

ASDA fm and how it is effective to its audience

    First of all I would not consider ASDA fm to be the most listened to station by choice but more or less as a form of entertainment for the people who shop in the supermarket and I guess that is why it has the become the most listened to station in the UK as a lot of people shop at ASDA.

To be honest I did not spend a lot of time listening to it as I did to radio 1 but I was able to pick up a few reasons on how the station is effective to its audience. The station plays a wide range of music considering that people of all ages come and shop in the supermarket and every type of music is played depending on the time and which audience is expected to be listening at that time for example; during the morning hours a lot of calm rather relaxing music is played because the audience at that time might be people of an older age like the elderly or mothers during the school run. Another example would be during the afternoons like at about 3 o'clock, kids music is mainly played because that is when the kids are done with school and then heavy stuff like rock and dubstep are played at very late hours because the audience at that time consists of mainly young adults. This is effective because it sort of keeps people slightly entertained as they do their shopping and everyone is entertained as the genre of music played is very vast.

Because the station plays a wide range of music, it gives an opportunity for upcoming artists to share their music with such stations. Although people do not put much attention to listening to the music played but instead on their shopping, new music is still played once in a while and this is effective to its audience as it helps new artists and music get noticed. 

To summarise it all I think the stations main purpose is to serve as a form of entertainment in the supermarket which it does really well but i do not think I can listen to it the whole day as it has no feel to it and that is to say; most radio stations have shows and programs which play a great role in attracting its audience and keep them entertained which is something that this station does not have and I think that is why people are not so much into it but rather forced to listen to it while shopping but I guess that is how such stations should be because basing on a scenario where a person is in a rush to get his or her shopping done, that person will not be bothered to listen to a show while shopping but at least will be captured by a song that might be played at that time which might as well be effective as also makes his or her work less hectic and boring which I guess is the main effect on people who listen to the station.

How effective is BBC Radio 1 at serving the target audience(15-29 yearolds) through its music scheduling

Before I go into detail I have to say I have not been the type of person who listens to radio quite often but there is something about this station that keeps me glued to it and I guess its because of its music scheduling as well as the program line.

Being that it's a station that is targeted at a 15-24 age group, I think it does an excellent job at entertaining people of that age group. The first time I listened to the station (which is quite recently, about a day ago) I discovered that the music the station plays is very uplifting and always gets you in a good mood no matter what day or time it is. I remember I was listening to the breakfast show and I expected a lot of talking and less music which was totally different because the music that was being played made me think that it was a Friday afternoon or night and got me in a happy and kind of relaxed mood and yet it was a Monday morning which made me quite like that station because they know what people of that age group want to hear and not basing on what should be played at what certain time. Being a breakfast show, one would expect a lot of talking and less music which kind of similar to the programme but what I think makes it different from the rest is what they talk about or do during the show for example; they hold interviews of famous celebrities and always play quizzes like the other day when I listened to the station they were interviewing a band called The Vamps which is a well known band due its single can we dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqSww10eeKw) which I think is effective to the target audience including myself because it boosts one's mood and kind of prepares them for the rest of the day.

As I carried on listening to the station I noticed that the music that was being played was of a constant feel or type if I should say but the genre kept on changing for example; the station was playing a bit of indie, lots of pop, some Hip Hop, a bit of old school and as well some RnB but keeping in mind that the music is targeted at 15-24 year olds which I think they are doing extremely well because as an individual, am very critical when it comes to music. I am mainly interested in the vocals of a song no matter what genre the song is but off course as any other person, one has those songs that one always skips in a playlist but I do not know how this station does it but its music scheduled in a way that when a song is played that is not really your taste, you still listen to it not  because you have no choice but because you are already in the mood and that certain song all of a sudden sounds amazing which I guess is effective to the audience since it broadens their taste in music.

In over all I have to say BBC Radio 1's music scheduling is really good and it definitely meets the needs of its audience, that is music wise.

what i learned in my first radio and music production class

 Being my first ever lesson in a radio and music production class, I found it quite enjoyable because I learnt about things that I would not have thought of learning most especially in radio production. In this lesson I learnt about the history of radio and how radio signals are transmitted to different radios in a wide area. Although this is connected to radio production, I would not have found it important because I did not think that really mattered in the type of career I wanted to have in terms of radio which is to be a radio presenter but I guess I was wrong.

To go into detail and basing on what I learned, radio was invented by Marconi, Faraday and Tesla who are some of the scientists who contributed to the theory and invention of this piece of media technology which was first used in ships to send distress signals via Morse code and also during WW1 to send messages. Later in 1922 BBC began in London and was founded by Marconi and by 1925 it had spread throughout the UK and was playing music, variety programmes and news.

Apart from that I also learned about the different types radio like; commercial radio which is funded by advertisers whose adverts are broadcast on the station, community stations which are mainly in small communities or towns and many of these radio stations are ex-pirate stations, internet radio and also BBC which seems to be the only radio that is funded by the TV licence fee and government grants in the UK. I also learned about OFCOM which is an organisation that acts as the police for the radio and its main function is to give out licences to stations in order to broadcast, set rules that radio stations should follow and also deal with complaints.

Radio Q&A

1 What is a station's "Music Format?"
This is the overall music content broadcast on any radio station.

2 What is an ABC Playlist?
This is a playlist created basing on how popular a song is and how many times it is played on a radio station i.e; songs on the A list get played usually 3 or 4 times a day because they are popular hits, songs on the B list get played usually 2 plays per day because they are fairly popular or liked and C list songs get played once a day and these songs may mainly include new artists or new songs.

3 What is "Music Scheduling?"
This is the act of organizing a music playlist on a radio.

Radio Questions

Radios I listen to and why I listen to them

I am a person with a mixed taste and in terms of radio I listen to Kiss FM, Capital radio and at times Heart radio if am feeling a bit relaxed or tired.
I only listen to radio when am hands on on something, maybe when am doing chores or something related to that.
Most of the radio stations I listen to play a lot of pop, RnB and Hip Hop with the likes of Rihanna, Chris Brown, Jay Z, etc.
Out of all the radio stations I have listed I think Capital radio is my favourite because it really suits my taste of music and I find all the shows on the radio interesting.