Radio One
BBC radio 1 aims its products at the 15-29 age group, though the average age of its listeners is 33 according to some sources. It broadcasts mainstream popular music of a range of genres throughout the day and more unusual genres after 7pm.
Radio 1 has been broadcasting since 1967. As it is part of the BBC, it cannot broadcast commercials and has to comply with the BBC’s Royal Charter.
Benefits of music promotion through Radio 1
· 11.7 million weekly listeners
· Targets young demographic who buy a lot of music
· Evening DJs like Zane Lowe target more niche audiences
· Selective about what they play which adds sense of prestige to those who make it onto playlists
· Cross platform institution, with popular website and involvement in live music events which are broadcast on BBC1 and BBC3. Can be heard online or through digital TV and there are playback services
· Receptive to songs which are being discussed online – social media can influence whether a song gets played (Carly Rae Jepson?)
· Sister station ‘1Extra’ plays urban genres which targets niche audience
· Individual DJs champion songs with ‘My Big Thing’ which is basically a song they like and wish to promote. They play it every show and it changes each week.
· Radio 1 stages live events in the UK and Ibiza every year. Their ‘Big Weekend’ event includes major stars like Lady Gaga and often takes place in areas of the country other than London, like Carlisle, where a proportion of tickets went to local people. This year their big live event is in Hackney, East London, with performances from Jay z and Rihanna. The area is often associated with gun crime and deprivation but tickets are free and it fits with the regeneration of East London for the Olympics.
· Radio 1 can be heard in the USA through satellite radio service SiriusXM.
Possible disadvantages
· Daytime playlists difficult to get onto – producers/DJs discuss and pluggers work hard to try and get songs on lists, music snobbery may prevent some from being played
· Two-step flow model operates, with DJs acting as opinion-leaders, making audiences largely passive
· Real audience possibly older than target demographic
· Listening figures fluctuate, popularity of DJs also changes regularly
Audience participation and interaction
· ‘Ten minute takeover’ every weekday at 6pm on Greg James’ show. Listeners text in songs they want played and three are picked at random. Some restrictions will apply – the song will need to be appropriate so as to avoid complaints to OFCOM, and it needs to be in the Radio 1 computer system. Makes range of songs played more diverse – today was Usher, Keane and Busted.
· ‘Feet up Friday’ (also Greg James’ show). Every Friday teams compete to host the show for half an hour. They pick all of the songs.
· Interaction through Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Response to the digital revolution
· bbc.co.uk/radio1 has a live feed with name of every song being played so can be downloaded from itunes easily.
· If listeners sign in to ‘love stuff’ the website will suggest things you might like – not just songs but will direct you to appearances from artists or news about them – personalized service
· Offers downloads of popular interviews eg ‘Harry Styles chats to Grimmy’.
· Photographs and videos of guests, for example Live Lounge appearances can be viewed.
· A webcam in the studio streams video content to the website.
· There is a mobile version of the site.
· Through iplayer you can listen again to shows.
· Radio1 have their own YouTube channel which includes a range of extra content like ‘A history of dubstep in 4 minutes’.
· You can follow Radio1 on Twitter or interact on their Facebook page.
· Radio 1 live events are broadcast on digital TV with use of the red button to catch up on performances.
· DJS have blogs, like Zane’s Hottest Record blog. Seen as authority on new music.
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