Radio College

What you didn't know you needed to know about college radio.

[radiocollege]

How to Build Radio Station Remote Kits for the Digital Age

Radio broadcasters can use on-site interviews to create multiple types of digital content. Here's the gear you need for different situations.

Excellent resource on putting together a field kit.

[radiocollege]

The Ultimate Podcaster Holiday Wishlist - The Headliner Blog

More than 230 of you responded to our survey to help us put together the ultimate podcaster holiday wishlist for 2020.

Here’s a good run-down on equipment to start a podcast.

[scadatlradio]

New music: Nov. 3, 2020

The Avalanches - Wherever You Go, Interstellar Love Sounds Like: Jamie xx, Leon Bridges, The Books

Open Mike Eagle - The Edge Of New Clothes, The Black Mirror Episode Sounds Like: Aesop Rock, R.A.P Ferreira, Busdriver

Gorillaz - The Valley of The Pagans, Aries, Momentary Bliss Sounds Like: Beck, New Order, Slowthai

Dope Body - Curve Sounds Like: Little Women, Women, Ty Segall

[radiocollege]

Excellent use of your blog to promote new music.

[radiocollege]

Perusing the Internet for college radio T-shirt ideas and came across this gem from KCR College Radio at San Diego State University.

[radiocollege]

As you listen to our podcasts and others, here are some things to make a note of, especially as your radio station starts to dip its toe into the world of podcasting.

An increasing amount of content on this blog is links to articles written by Seth Resler of Jacobs Media. I regret nothing. The man offers some great advice, including this article on how to aircheck a podcast. 

As with any college radio talk program, the emphasis on structure is important. When proposing a new show I give my students a broadcast clock diagram and ask them to draw out for me what segments are going to go where (it’s that board op training at an NPR affiliate coming back). Two dudes talking about sports for an hour ... boring as heck. But add a little structure and see what happens. First, we are going to run down sports scores from around the conference, then preview upcoming games, move on to a player or coach interview and finish up with our star athlete of the week. See how much more interesting that sounds?

[radiocollege]

12 Ways to Promote the Hashtag for Your Radio Station's Next Event

Creating a hashtag for your radio station's event will encourage listener to post about it on social media. Here's how to promote your hashtag.

Some good tips on how to use a hashtag to promote your college radio station’s next event. Do you have a hashtag for each major event your radio station hosts? If so, be sure to include it across all social media and encourage your staff and audience to do the same. I like idea of including the hashtag in on-air and other non-social media promotion.

Don’t forget to also capitalize on your coverage of other events by using the host’s hashtag. That way when anyone searches for a specific hashtag your content will show up. That - along with tagging your location on Instagram - will help increase your follower count.

[radiocollege]

Avoiding Pitfalls of Radio Interviews

I heard the most atrocious radio interview one Thursday afternoon while driving... I was only a minute or two into the interview before I unleashed a string of obscenities at the radio and changed it to something that was easier to listen to. Like the sound of homeless cats in heat.

As college radio DJs we are are used to preparing for on-air interviews (I helped with one just today), but rarely do we think of the band preparing to be interviewed. This post is an interesting take on “how the other half lives.”

[radiocollege]

This is what a radio antenna looks like, dismantled on the roof next to the tower.

[impact89fm]

Next up in our Summer Festival Spotify Series is @pitchforkfest! Stream our lineup faves:

[radiocollege]

@impact89fm presents this awesome way to incorporate Spotify into your college radio station operations. Lots of your listeners turn to Spotify to find music, so a good station should strategize on how to make a meaningful presence there. Summer festival guides - local and national - are a great way to engage you audience.

[wknc881]

Moogfest 2016 Artist Map

Our resident computer scientist slash mathematician dJ/dx brings us another mapmatical masterpiece with the Moogfest 2016 artist map. Using Mapbox, artist pictures and bios from the Moogfest website and a lot of coding magic, dJ/dx presents this awesome look at the 80+ musicians traveling to Durham this month.

Click to view in Mapbox

[radiocollege]

NC State's @wknc881 is proving pre-festival coverage of Moogfest 2016 with this creative visualization of where the festival's 80+ artists are from. Is your college radio station making digital art on your website?

[radiocollege]

Are you an aspiring radio DJ? Do you have a great radio D.J. name but don’t have a radio show? Join the WSPN pre-orientation program to learn everything you need to know about being a radio D.J.

Having a special time set aside during new student orientation to train incoming radio staff is a great way to make them feel welcome and allow them to hit the ground running at your college radio station. I participated in a student media orientation for my college newspaper as a pre-freshman and found it very helpful.

Skidmore College offers a “Skidmore on the Radio” pre-orientation program that looks fantastic. Check out the link above for more information about it.

[radiocollege]

How to Write a Social Media Policy for Your Radio Station

Here are some tips for creating a clear social media policy that will set expectations and keep everybody on your radio station airstaff on the same page.

Seth Resler of Jacobs Media offers some tips on creating a social media policy. The tips are a bit generic, but definitely a good start to get your college radio thinking about a social media policy. You will also want to make sure that anything you come up with works within your school’s social media policy as well.

[radiocollege]

How to change your podcast information in iTunes

Everything about how your show is listed in the iTunes podcast directory (and many other podcast directories) is pulled directly from your RSS feed. Here's what you need to know to change the information.

Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular and college radio can really benefit from getting into the mix. This article from The Audacity Podcast has great visual information on how to navigate settings to make your information show up in iTunes exactly how you want it.

[radiocollege]

The Ultimate Guide to Font Pairing

Good graphic design doesn’t happen by mistake, and neither does clever font marriage. Use this guide to font pairing to create your own beautiful designs.

Why does a blog about college radio contains so many posts about design? Because I am guessing you know about as much about design as I do: virtually nothing. Good graphic design helps reinforce your brand and get more people to your events, so it is very important to have at least one person on your staff that knows more fonts than Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman. I especially like paring #16 of Oswald with Montserrat Light and Cooper Hewitt.

[radiocollege]

Burger Records with a neat way to showcase your YouTube content on Instagram.

[impact89fm]

The Undercurrent S2E10: Whatever It Takes

Today on the show, it’s Whatever It Takes. We hear stories from people who have made a commitment to something, and will do whatever it takes to make sure it happens. We have a story of a young man wondering if he has what it takes to make it in music. We have a story about the lead organizer of MSU’s Take Back the Night, and we hear the story of a young black man making an alternative type of living.

Listen to the full podcast here

[radiocollege]

Sounds like a great “This American Life” style program that would make a great entry for @askcbi-blog’s National Student Production Awards in the best regularly scheduled program category.

UPDATE: I listened to the podcast this week and it was EXCELLENT. A great example of how college radio can produce high quality content.

[radiocollege]

A “step and repeat” banner (you know, that stand-up banner with a logo that repeats you often see on sports post-game press conferences on TV) can cost $100 or more. @wmscradio at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J. has the right DIY college radio idea. Indie singer/songwriter Lauren Marsh poses in front of what appears to be a series of printed logo tacked to bulletin board. A+ idea.