Radio Today
BY Jen Seyderhelm December 18, 2023
Radio Today April 30, 2018
“If you don’t market yourself, you won’t be heard”: Hit105 CD reveals how new talent can land their next gig
It’s extremely interesting to understand where all the talent is today, yes the industry has become smaller in terms of roles available to a certain extent but that also is just the way of the future.
Nothing stays the same forever and instead of sitting back thinking “Why” and stamping our feet, or sitting on websites sending spiteful comment after spiteful comment we need to look to the future. There are MORE ways these days to get noticed and work in radio than ever before! The Podcast, internet radio, VLOGS, Blogs, Social media channels, Instragram stories, Facebook content. WOW, almost too much opportunity! So much content, so much incredible amazing talent out there, but no one really seems keen to get in front of the right people these days do they? I still hear “How do I get noticed”?
Is it because we don’t know how to communicate anymore?! I’ve been a content director for just over 2 years in Brisbane and maybe this is because I’m not a big familiar name or face in terms of people searching for feedback or get noticed but I hardly ever receive emails from announcers / content makers / podcast people. It’s strange as whenever I attend radio events people always complain that they aren’t being noticed, or nothing is working for them. When did you last send out an aircheck I ask…… Crickets SFX……. Exactly!
If you don’t market yourself, you won’t be heard. Just like my point earlier that there are more channels than ever before, it’s an audio Disneyland out there right now…. So that makes it even harder to be seen if you don’t reach out and market yourself. Plus by the way, if you send one aircheck per year to someone… that’s like waving to someone on a coffee run once a year and hoping he remembers your name & what you coffee order is…. I’m sorry but you don’t really exist yet!
So with that above, I’m asking all the fresh, excited and next generation of talent….. When was the last aircheck you sent? I will never (on purpose) not reply to every email I receive from anyone asking for an aircheck / help in the industry! I know a stack of other CD’s right now in radio looking for people in the industry for development shows, podcast ideas or all of the above and if you expect them to find you by driving through your town and catching your one talk break or searching through apple podcasts for a show we haven’t heard of…. Then you’ll be out of luck!
Yes some of the people do get lucky and get discovered through word of mouth and that’s amazing. Yes there will be people making radio that are reality TV stars or people with status but that’s also because they have put a big flag in front of their name saying choose me (Be it sometimes in very interesting and weird ways). Rather than saying, god no one has the chance to make it anymore, really try! Within SCA we’ve had a stack of new talent getting the chance to succeed. “Those Two Girls” out of Brisbane were discovered through video’s and events they were doing and caught the eye of Gemma our Head of Content. Danny Lakey worked his way up from regional radio to land a national network gig based in Sydney. Collective Noun did late nights on a station for 4 years and now are national! We also have a stack of new development shows and plans for creating new and exciting shows and we need people with talent…. Is that you?
Email…. Email…. .Email…. REPEAT.
No better time to start then now!
Or just email me and tell me how wrong I really am haha… I’ll take the good the bad and the ugly and I’ll always respond.
Mathew Eggleston is the radio content director at Hit105 Brisbane. This article originally appeared in Medium.
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Radio Today
BY Bray Boland September 19, 2023
Maaate – what happened to the ‘all-new’ SCA talent pipeline? aka ‘The Hub’, aka ‘The Hubble’, which was ‘The Hub’ but with a new hat.
Sure Wayne… but why not reach out and cast your net further rather than sitting back and waiting for things to happen? Getting discovered & getting feedback to improve happens in a lot of different ways maaaaaate.
Maybe everyone’s applying at Nova not SCA.
Wayne, another positive & insightful comment.
God forbid you throw your support behind one of the leading young minds in the industry…
Good luck with your next move!
Good comments Matt well said.
True, there are heaps of ways to get noticed. But I’m sure the majority of the people who actually do get noticed, have no intention of being on radio. So when they do get offered radio jobs, there’s not much left for the people that actually wanted that radio gig. Seriously, how many of those ex footy players had any intention to get into radio? They couldn’t even string 3 words together during their post match interviews.
Then there’s Sam Frost. She was on The Bachelorette. But because she was “the flavour of the month”, she was given a hosting role in breakfast radio in Australia’s biggest radio market. But no, they went one better, an ex footy player AND an ex Bachelor contestant on the Gold Coast.
Honestly though, reality tv stars getting gigs has been happening for literally years. If you don’t like the game, don’t play it.
Nowadays you need to have entertaining people who stand out hosting breakfast shows. If you don’t want to go on a TV show to get a gig in radio, find other ways to stand out.
Good read Eggo. Gonna get some stuff together for you soon 🙂
Eggo this is so spot on. I’ve always figured that people will think outside the box to get noticed. That said it’s incredible how we’ve almost come full circle in ten years and outside the box in many ways is sending an email to a content director. It must come as a surprise to so many CD’s who upon landing that gig brace their office doors to be beaten down with aspiring content creators to have their door still intact years later. This article is a really necessary wake up call to those that want to get on-air or move into a bigger shift or market; not in the sense of a dig at them or the millennial generation but a helpful reminder to keep marketing yourself and knocking on doors. Great stuff.
This is great for aspiring talent, however for established talent, as far as major networks go, the ‘pipeline’ idea is flawed, as is sending stuff to a CD. For example, if Jock A is not happy at his gig at Nova Ent, it’s problematic to send his aircheck to SCA CD or ARN CD, because the worry is, that the word will get back to Nova Ent that he’s ‘looking around’. I’d like to say I’m sure it would all be confidential, but this is a communications business, and I’m sure SCA CD would have to run it past the SCA GCD, and then the SCA Consultant etc, who’d need more info on Jock A, so start ringing around, and eventually; “are you leaving mate?” I don’t know the answer to the problem, but trust probaby isn’t it.
Eggo a future Network CD.
Great read. But Mathew….not every PD thinks like you. A lot of them are simply annoyed when new talent are trying to land a gig. I’ve been in radio 25 years and worked with alot of PD’s. And alot simply don’t care….. The whole SCA battle cry of…. “We’re always looking for the next big show” isn’t always the case. Alot of new people will see that and think they have a shot at a gig…when it fact… SCA is always looking for the next….D grade famous person to market so the sales….can sell adds.