But will UMass Boston DJ's have their own voice?

[notlob]

It is probably a fair statement that Fans of Former Folk Radio WUMB - https://www.facebook.com/FansofFolkRadioWUMB, a Facebook group which identifies its administration structure as "The several administrators of this page are former members and/or employees of WUMB, who for personal or career reasons wish and need to remain anonymous..." takes a dim view of Boston NPR affiliate WUMB's management and production, particularly the weekday/evening AAA programming.

In response to a new article on the UMass website

Student DJs Host Weekly Shows on WUMB
October 31, 2011
Colleen Locke
http://www.umb.edu/news_events_media/publications/the_point/student_djs_host_weekly_shows_on_wumb/

Fans of Former Folk Radio WUMB extracts a quote

“We started out reading prewritten scripts, recording them and learning about editing the audio,” says sophomore Jared Ward, a psychology and social behavior major. “Eventually we moved on to writing our own ‘breaks’ and promotions. That's when it became easier, because we were able to add in our own personality to the readings.”

And poses a question.

"If one has listened to these programs, the breaks do sound scripted, thanks for the confirmation. But the article artfully, intentionally or otherwise dodges the question "do these student DJ's have the artistic freedom to produce their own program content, or are they basically "talking heads" reading scripts about songs selected for them from the WUMB playlist?"

From listening to a few hours of the student programs, my own observation is "no", the songs I hear played are from the the same playlist the paid Monday through Friday DJ's do their voice-overs to.

It is shame that an educational institution, through its licensed radio station, restricts students' creative freedom, and their air training is turning them into talking heads.

 

[notlob]

For the record, in a blog article 10/13/11 - http://notlobmusic.blogspot.com/2011/10/they-call-script-reading-talent.html - I expressed concern about script reading and artistic freedom restriction.

 

[thetheo]

I don't disagree that it's a shame. Stations like this should be free form, or at least have some rules/guidelines but still let DJs do their thing.

That said, when was the last time DJs at WUMB have had control over what they played? It's been "programmed" for quite a while. As is WERS, and dozens (if not hundreds) of other college/community stations across the US.

I don't like it, but it's a pretty regular occurrence.

 

[TheBigA]

I don't know...I used to mentor a high school radio station, and most of the kids were pretty nervous. They knew their friends were listening, and they didn't want to screw up. So they worked off prepared scripts and playlists. No one told them to. They just felt more comfortable having something in front of them in case the mind went blank. When I auditioned for my college station, it was all free form, all student run, and again, most of the students wrote scripts. Not everyone is a natural in front of a mic. I've taught public speaking, and a key part is having clearly-prepared notes to work from.

The other thing is this station has a bit of a specialized music format, right? It's not like they're all playing their personal choices of music. If they did, it might be a lot more pedestrian than what this station normally plays. So you have to balance the interest, the speaking ability, and the musical knowledge. They managed to come up with five people. I'd say that's pretty good.

 

[aaronread]

What matters more: playing what the audience wants to hear, or playing what YOU want to hear?

In the World of the iPhone/iPod, the latter is no longer a viable option for broadcast media.

 

[carmen]

What matters more: playing what the audience wants to hear, or playing what YOU want to hear?

seems to work for The Record Hospital, and most shows on WZBC/WMFO/WMBR - what part of "No Commercial Potential" don't you understand

Brown has WBSR for students, BU has WTBU, it sounds like UMass lacks an student-run flipside to its quasi-spunoff commercial station?

 

[TheBigA]

Keep in mind that a lot of colleges (Vanderbilt, Rice, USF) have sold their student-run radio stations in the past year. There is no requirement that a college provide a radio sandbox for its students.

 

[raccoonradio]

Brian's slogan for WMWM: "The radio station that plays what we like, and we play it till you like it".
I have freedom to play a wide variety of blues and related music and it will be a blend of old and new,
known and unknown, etc. As with other blues/folk/rock, etc. shows hopefully people will experiment
and find music that not only have they enjoyed in the past, but they're willing to discover new music.
The weekly concert calendar, interviews, and so on.

There are certainly outlets where one can hear the familiar but for those who want to discover new stuff
that they may wind up enjoying, you have college/alternative radio, the Web, sat. radio, HD radio,
even those channels on cable (Music Choice) that have their own little formats. Great chestnuts of
blues, classic country, or album rock; local bands; experimental music, and so on. Even without
college radio, etc. there are new ways to discover music on radio and in other places.

 

[TheBigA]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/college-radio-heads-off-the-dial.htm?_r=1

 

[Neanderpaul]

You do all realize that college is supposed to prep students for life in the real world?

There's no sense in giving anyone a false sense of how it works. If people want to do "their own shows," they can do that and upload them as podcasts to student web pages and invite anyone interested to listen.

Unfortunately, the real-world radio station no longer works like College stations of years past.

A licensed College broadcast outlet, should be run in as close to the way radio works in the real world as possible. It's not a million dollar toy.

Closed circuit radio? Sure. But broadcast? Do it the way it's done in business. Students are there to learn real-life skills. The campus station should be run as such.

I'm not saying I like it. I'm saying that's how it should be. No sense in deluding students who are paying thousands into believing they can get a job in the industry and call their own shots. That's the domain of Broadcasting Schools.

When I was at FSC, the station format was structured. We followed the clock & had minimum rotational schedules to adhere to. Those were the conditions of doing a shift there. It wasn't out of line to ask to be required to have certain discipline to do the gig. It shouldn't be at WUMB.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Agreed that a bunch of kids romping around doing and playing whatever they want does nothing to prep them for a career in radio. Imagine if the engineering department at the school, or the biology department said "sure, do whatever the hell you want. Design a building built with toothpicks, invent new anthrax because you 'want to'."

There is a balance between having a good time on air and artistic freedom vs. prepping for a real career. If you want to "play radio" go to a school with a 10 watt class D or make a podcast.

Who gets a job in radio? The Emerson student at WERS who comes away with a great aircheck, or the one at the free for all station playing music masturbation and cracking jokes to his friends in the next room over?

 

[TheBigA]

Who gets a job in radio? The Emerson student at WERS who comes away with a great aircheck, or the one at the free for all station playing music masturbation and cracking jokes to his friends in the next room over?

Neither. The guy who gets the MBA at BU.

 

[WNTIRadio]

You think you need an MBA to be on the radio? I know of about 6 Emerson grads (recent) who all have full time and management jobs in radio.

An MBA for radio is pointless, unless you're in sales or a GSM. Otherwise, it comes down to "do you sound good on the radio and will you reach my target demo?" They won't and don't care if you have an MBA or not, or even a bachelor's degree.

 

[WNTIRadio]

PS- If you're smart enough to get an MBA from BU, then you're smart enough to NOT be in radio!

 

[TheBigA]

You think you need an MBA to be on the radio?

No...I thought the question was who is gonna get a JOB in radio. Right now, there don't appear to be many jobs for on-air folks. At least jobs that pay. But you're right....being a DJ doesn't require a college education. I didn't even have a high school diploma when I started.

 

[4CX1000A]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/college-radio-heads-off-the-dial.htm?_r=1

If college students no longer own radios, it's because radio has done a poor job of reaching them, and that includes college radio.

Radio needs to move beyond just playing music. It needs to return to its roots in show business, I think, and focus on how it can better serve listeners.

If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear, it does not matter whether it makes a sound.

 

[TheBigA]

If college students no longer own radios, it's because radio has done a poor job of reaching them, and that includes college radio.

Not necessarily. That's like blaming the horse for the invention of the automobile.

I also wouldn't paint radio with one brush. There are radio stations that do shows in the classic 1930s sense. That wouldn't necessarily help in attracting colege students. And there is no one single way to serve listeners. Everyone wants it "their way." We live in a Burger King world.

The fact is that lots of people listen to radio, and a lot of them are colege students. But in the context of this thread, a very small number of them listen to college-run radio, and a very very small number of people listen to WUMB.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Since the advent of the television, the need for 1930's style radio has gone away since well, the late 1950's. It's not going to come back anytime soon. Since the 1950's, there's now 900 more channels, movie channels and on-demand. You tell me who's going to sit in front of the radio to listen to the new adventures of the Lone Ranger?

I'm a big fan of the old radio shows, but I'm also realistic in that they're not coming back.

If you look at WERS, there are students in management positions at the station that work under professionals. They ARE getting real jobs in radio, not just on air. The guy with the MBA from BU doesn't know how to operate Selector or Adobe Audition, write a news story or read Arbitron ratings, so he's not going get a non-sales job.

 

[Signpost]

Students are there to learn real-life skills. The campus station should be run as such.

College stations like WERS sounds like on-air broadcasting schools. I hope anyone there who wants a job in broadcasting gets one. On the other hand, WMBR, WZBC, WMFO, are staffed by people who have no interest in commercial broadcasting careers, they're doing shows for the love of it, and are in a position to leverage the art of broadcast to places commercial stations would never dare go.

I would submit that the adventurous DJ who can create compelling content without the discipline (and restraint) of schedules, rotations, formatics, etc.. would ultimately be a more compelling broadcaster given those restraints later on in their career, especially given the mechanical performances most stations deliver today.

When I was at FSC, the station format was structured. We followed the clock & had minimum rotational schedules to adhere to. Those were the conditions of doing a shift there. It wasn't out of line to ask to be required to have certain discipline to do the gig. It shouldn't be at WUMB.

Each station is different, and of course it's the station's perogative to install formatics. I personally prefer the free form, freewheeling college stations, especially when the jock on the air has the talent to exploit that freedom.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Each station is different, and of course it's the station's perogative to install formatics. I personally prefer the free form, freewheeling college stations, especially when the jock on the air has the talent to exploit that freedom.

Problem is that the ones with the talent are very few and far between. Most are just giggling on the air, rambling and entertaining their friends.

If commercial FM still had the real talented jocks that did that type of radio on the air, then the younger crowd would have someone to look up to and emulate as they get their sea legs. Unfortunately, they're not and most of the "freeform" jocks sound aimless and self-indulgent.

A history class consisting of the west coast (KLOS, KMPX etc.) and east cost (WNEW, WBCN etc.) should be mandatory before you get on the air and go freeform. Because even those "freeform" stations had some rotation that had to be followed, and some formatics and rules. What made it truly great was that the jock could weave all of that in with their personal taste and come up with a compelling radio program.

As a former colleague once said regarding freeform radio, "Even free range chickens live in large pens".