At the end of the article is a list of the BBC's best original output for 2012. Read the list- how does this content cater to the BBC remit? Does it cater for diferent audiences?
3 March 2013 Last updated at 09:26
The art of radio scheduling
Lauren Laverne is one of 6
Music's high-profile presenters Is radio scheduling a dark art? An Audio & Music session on Tuesday - part of the division's awards day - took some of the mystery out of how tracks get onto a station's crucial playlist.
But after an hour of colourful grids, clocks, pie graphs, scheduling software, A, B and C lists and the non-surprising admission that presenters don't like certain bands, the entire process seemed more complicated than trying to cook something original for Heston Blumenthal.
6 Music producer Lauren Brennan, who schedules about 60 hours of music a week, explains that the digital station's playlist is low rotation. If the song is considered an 'old track' - such as Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit or Aretha Franklin's Respect - you shouldn't hear it in the same programme more than once a month.
In fact, 6 Music prides itself on its eclectic mix, which doesn't happen at the push of a computerised button. On average, 11 songs an hour are scheduled by the 6 Music team. This leaves about two free plays an hour for a daytime show; the free plays are chosen by the production team.
Matter of taste
There are a huge number of things to consider before scheduling a song, too many to list. One of the most crucial is getting support from the producers and presenters of radio shows. With a hint of weariness in her voice, Brennan explains that she does sometimes have to consider a presenter's personal tastes. One, she says, doesn't like Saint Etienne and another dislikes Prodigy.
It's for this reason that she monitors programmes. Effectively, she spies on the shows under her remit, to see how often they drop songs she's scheduled for them.
Another important thing to consider is 'flow'. You can't just play any old thing at any time of day, because it might jar with the other songs being played around it. Or the track might be too depressing for a Monday morning. You want to get to a point 'where it ebbs along and really shows off what a station does', she says broadly.
Her ultimate aim is be able to showcase the 'essence' of 6 Music in just 15 minutes. So she also considers pace, texture, the opener, the time of year, band activity, network events, upcoming music features, release schedule, genre, crossover potential, record labels, trends and whether the artist has built up loyalty with the station.
Any good?
But the main thing to remember is: 'Is the song any good?' This is a matter of taste, of course, and Brennan and her colleagues are the ultimate arbiters of it.
She explains that she was sent an album by an unknown band called Daughter, a boyfriend-and-girlfriend duo from London. She liked it enough to champion it many months ago, and now Daughter is on both the Radio 1 and 6 Music playlists. Unlike some of their commercial rivals, 'we can hear a brilliant record and take a chance'.
It's a cutthroat business for a reason, though. Holding up two sheets of A4 paper with minuscule writing on it, Brennan says that it's the 6 Music March release schedule. There are about 220 singles and 60 albums squeezed onto it. She has to listen to every single one and decide which will make it onto the current playlist, also known as the A list.
The 6 Music scheduling team meets every Tuesday for two hours to debate the merit of each band and song. By Saturday, you will hear how their decisions have affected what gets to air.
'A little crazy'
At the moment, bands such as Alt-J, Toro & Moi, Depeche Mode and David Bowie have made the cut. They'll sit on the playlist for about six weeks and get replaced by something else; it's not a big window compared to other stations.
For someone who loves music, Brennan's job might be the ultimate gig. But there's a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. It's not a series of parties with record labels.
The producer whizzes through the importance of the 'history grid', a huge blob of colours that tells her how often a song has been played in one of her shows. It's hard to imagine staring at this all day long, as she often does. 'It can start to make your mind a little crazy,' she admits with a wry smile.
Audio & Music Awards - The Winners
- Best broadcast innovation: BBC iPlayer, Radio Mobile App, A&M Interactive
- Best music production: The Spirit of Schubert, Radio 3
- Best drama production or reading: James Joyce's Ulysses, Radio 4
- Best factual production: Asian Network Reports Special: Possession, Jinn and Britain's Backstreet Exorcists
- Best initiative for reaching new audiences: Radio 1 & 1Xtra Hackney Academy, Radio 1
- Most distinctive moment of the year: Victoria Derbyshire, 5live
- Best collaboration: Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, 2012, Radio 1
No comments:
Post a Comment