1. Music Based Programming Review By Megan
Robinson
At the beginning, Damen gave us a booklet about the music based programming. I finished it all then
I decided to work with Paige for the radio studio. Before we started to produce, we had to research
about different music radio, different radio jobs. But I struggled to listen to different radio stations
on the internet, so Paige and Jessica (study support) did it together. They told me about them and
explainedwhat they researched. Damen then gave us another task to talk about three different
styles; Broadcast radio, Internet Radio and In-Store Audio. To write about them, I used the notes of
Paige and Jess did and also some internet research.
Paige and I were asked to produce a broadcasting radio and anin-store radio. At the beginning, we
had to choosenine songs each. Then we discussed our song choices and decided that my songs will
be on the broadcasting radio and Paige’s songs will be on in-store radio. Also we have to talk about
the songs so Damen asked us to research from Songfacts about the songs I chose and put that on the
script so me and Paige could talk about it. Next Damen told us we had to create two scripts – one
for broadcasting radio and one for in-store radio. At first we didn’t know what to write but we
remembered what we researchedfrom other radio shows, and we looked back and see if they could
give us ideas. The broadcasting radio script, we had a little conversation between us like friends are
talking to friends pretending we are in real life instead being in the studio. On the in-store radio,
Paige chose 12 songs and on the script we talked about what they actually talk about in someone’s
in-store radio like what’s happening in the shop and what songs were on there.
When we had finished writing the scripts we went to the Radio Studio with Damen to look around
and see what it was like in there. He also showed us how to use the equipment and gave us some
tips. Next we went there for a practice and began learning how to use it. We had to practice quite a
few times. Whilst we were practicing we wanted our show to sound better therefore we decided to
create 7 jingles – (4 on broadcasting radio and 3 on in-store radio)and also we did the news and the
band gossip. To record these we had to use voice recorders to record the sound on the jingles and
news and then we edited our jingles in the software called Reaper. We both edited them by
ourselves and made different jingles even though we only used at least two different jingles in each
show. We enjoyed making jingles because we learnt a new skill and it was good to experiment.
We went to the Radio Studio with Chris (Media Technician). He showed us how to create the
schedule for our radio shows. We used our scripts to allow us to see where everything would go. We
also had to estimate how long the live chat would be so we could plan how long our show would be
including everything. This showed us if we had enough material or if we needed to add anything.
Once we completed both schedules we were happy with the lengths and the contents of our scripts.
Whilst Paige and I were practising with the soundboard at the Radio Studio, at first while we were
talking into the microphone we thought we had to switch between them however once we listened
back we realised that it was better to have them both up at the same time as then there was no gaps
in speaking. When we were playing the songs we had to use the soundboard to introduce them,
there were two options so you could play one song straight after another, these were called playlist
A and playlist B on the soundboard. It was difficult to get used to using the soundboard because

2. sometimes we covered our speech with songs and vice versa. There were other minor issues that we
came across whilst using the soundboard and we will work on improving these when we practise
more.
When Paige and I were speaking, we read straight off the script. This sounded staged and therefore
to make it more relaxed next time, we could have notes instead and therefore our DJ chat would
sound more relaxed. The more we practiced, the more confident we became.
Eventually we went to the Radio Studio to do our final recording of our radio shows. We had to
change small things in the script to make it better for our radio for example, we decided to
introduceourselves and say goodbye. We did our broadcasting radio first then Damen put it on my
computer and we listened to them and see if they were okay and if not, we could go back and do it
again. However our first attempt at recording was good so we used that this for our final recorded
Broadcasting radio. When we came to record our in-store radio we thought we would be much
better because we had lots of practice recording the broadcast one, however we had not practiced
our in-store radio script therefore we made a few mistakes when recording this. At first Paige made
a mistake by reading the wrong part so we had to restart it and record it again then when we
finished itwhen Damen uploaded it onto the computer and we listened to it, there are still some
small mistakes but Damen says that these are fine and we can develop our skills better next time by
learning from these mistakes.
The target audience for our broadcasting radio show will be teenagers/ young adults. When
conducting our research we had a list of songs that we showed to our classmates and asked them to
choose some of their favourites. This helped us to decide which songs would suit our target
audience. The songs we chose are by well-known artists that have been famous and the majority
have been high in the charts. I think the broadcast show was good for my target audience because I
enjoyed the songs and I fit into the age bracket.
The In-Store radio would be played in a Pulp store that sells merchandise from the different bands.
The songs we chose were from these bands because we felt that if someone was shopping in there
then they would like the music from the bands they were buying merchandise for. Therefore our
target audience could be anyone who is interested in rock. We think our show was good for the
target audience because it got them involved for example when we played a certain song whoever
went to the till first won a signed T-Shirt by the Killers.
Next time we record another radio show, if Paige and I make any mistakes we wouldn’t restart it
again, we could joke around which would make it more relaxed and sound like a normal radio
station as quite often you hear mistakes. I also would not read directly off the script as this would be
more casual and would be more likely to engage listeners. Another improvement I could make is to
plan what I will say in the introduction to the songs because this didn’t work very well for our radio
shows. Overall I have enjoyed planning and creating the radio shows but next time we will try to be
more organised and this will hopefully help our shows sound more professional.