Radio show screen grab

 
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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