Guide

1.   Describe the styles of music based programming that you have listened to for 2 commercial radio stations, 1 public service radio station, 1 Internet radio station and 1 in store radio station that covers;

·          the ratio of speech or other audio to music;

·          station branding and identification;

·          the suitability for its intended target audience;

Presenters styles, eg personality, anonymous; vocal delivery, e.g. conversational, informative

Internet Radio

Internet Radio

The internet radio station I listened to was 'North Manchester FM'. The show I listened to was Three's a crowd, on air from 7-9 PM and hosted by Ryan and Tom. They mainly cover the urban spectrum of music, covering such sub-genres as hip-hop and house. I only analysed the first hour of the show, as  that is the amount of time that has been selected. The music to speech ratio is roughly 90% to 10%. This is because there were no adverts during the broadcast, only music, jingles/stations ID's and a very small amount of speech. I listened to it online, on North Manchester FM's listen again section. As it was in the form of a podcast, i could pause, rewind and fast-forward it at my leisure.

When the two presenters were speaking it was often short, limited and very informal. They would often speak between each songs but, their conversations would be short and they quickly moved on. The language used was extremely informal, using slang words such as 'tunes','bangers' and 'belter'. These sort of slang words are more familiar to Manchester and as North Manchester FM is aimed at the titular location and an urban-enjoying audience, the informal language used is justified. Commercial radio stations and Public Service radio stations reach many more listeners, such as a region or the entire nation, so their language has to be neutral and formal. 

They also promoted what was coming up but, only for their show and not for other things featured on the station. This is opposed to commercial and public service radio stations which usually talk about things coming up in the next few days, regardless of whether the current presenter is involved with it. The things that they promoted were exclusives (a 'cheeky exclusive' as it was described) and songs that were coming up. 

Only one kind of jingle was used and it was only simple, stating the shows ID: 'threes a crowd'. They were used at strange times such as halfway through a song or toward the end of one, rather than in between them. I though this was quite strange as it provided a distraction from the song and virtually all radio stations play jingles on their own. The jingle lasted around 3 seconds and was only played 5 times during the hour.

The presenters engaged with the listening audience a lot, encouraging them to contact them through twitter and  and to have a look at their soundcloud account. At the start of some songs and sometimes during them, they encouraged listeners to dance to them saying things like 'whip out the glow-sticks'. They also give jokey, informal instructions to the listeners such as 'strap in'. They were very informal throughout but, it was humorous at times and the absence of adverts meant the show went at a fast pace with the constant flow of music.

Commercial Radio

Smooth Radio

The first commercial radio station i listened to was smooth radio. I listened to it from 3 o'clock till 4 o'clock and the music to speech ratio is roughly 60-40% . The show was presented Emma B, who presents smooth radio every Sunday from 2pm-6pm. I looked out for a few things in my analysis, such as the language used, the number of jingles/stations ID's and the type of adverts.

During the hour twelve songs were played, the same as BBC Radio 1. Also in the hour fourteen jingles were played. These differed from long ones which said "This is smooth radio..." to short ones which simply said "smooth radio". The station is aimed at older people and this is reflected in the types of songs being played, which are generally easy listening tracks such as old pop and disco hits from the 70's and 80's as well as rock and roll songs from the late 50's/early 60's. Due to the target audience the station didn't venture outside of it's few selected genres. This means genres such as hard rock, metal or more recent styles of music such as RnB were not played.

For the first thirty minutes of the show, music was the dominant feature. However, for the next thirty minutes advertisement breaks took up fifteen minutes. This is a huge contrast to the first half as no adverts were played then. Due to the long ad-breaks the music to speech ratio was roughly 60% to 40%. The conversations struck up by the presenter was rare as she only spoke to either announce a song or reveal what was coming up in the show. She did however speak about Christmas and things related to it such as presents, food and music. Throughout she was cheery and very informal, with an enthusiastic voice. However, there never raised her voice or presented in an over the top manner, most likely to cater for her listeners' needs and ideal presenter.

The types of adverts played reflected the target audience of the station. As such quite a few of them were health-based, a topic that affects older people meaning they will most likely benefit them. The adverts included cancer screenings, care homes and in-home lifeline cords. Other things that affect older people seasonally were also included like radiators, as freezing during the winter period is a concern for older people.

At the start of the hour there was a four minute news segment. The news was varied but was clearly more tailored for older people, in contrast to Radio 1 or Capital. It covered the Philippines disaster, remembrance Sunday, a Commonwealth meeting, brief golf scores and a weather report. These items are genuine news stories rather than celeb gossip that is most likely found on stations aimed at younger people. The news was followed by a singular advert for help with muscular aches and pains.

I really liked this show as I enjoy classic music from the past few decades. I thought the presenter was more age-neutral than the adverts that featured on the show, which was very good. My only criticism of this show  is the amount of advert breaks. While they were fairly short at around four minutes each they were all shown within the last thirty minutes. As a result of this the show seemed to slow down. If they were more spaced out it would make it more varied and give the show a more fluid flow.

Capital Radio

The second commercial radio station I listened to was Capital Manchester, part of the nine-station Capital network. I listened to the station between 2 o' clock and 3 o'clock, with the hour being presented by James "Bassman" Bassam. The hour consisted of approximately 60% music and 40% speech and other content, the same as Smooth Radio which had the same approximation. As i did with the previous shows in which I analysed, i looked for the types of songs played, advertisements, speech content, jingle occurrences and the type of language the DJ used (for example, the type of voice and use of slang). There were fourteen jingles in the hour, often being played before songs and to separate them. They ranged from short ones which simply said the stations name to ones which said "Manchester's number one hit music station".

During the hour thirteen songs were played, one more than both Radio 1 and Smooth Radio. Though Radio 1 is a public service radio station and therefore has no adverts the similar song-count is due to a higher amount of DJ chat on the BBC station. There were also sixteen jingles played during the hour slightly more than its other radio counterparts. I believe this may be to fill up more time in the hour, as the planned music and speech content may not have got it up to that mark. Capital Radio is generally aimed at teenagers and young adults, with this being reflected in the types of music it plays. The station plays mainstream music, which include genres such as pop, dance and house. Types of songs which fall under these categories are typically loud and fast paced so being played on Capital with its target audience is justified.

The thirteen songs played were all within the top 40, excluding three which were 'recurrent hits' -'This Is What It Feels Like', 'Same Love' and 'Can We Dance' . All three are from different genres: House, Hip-Hop and Pop-Rock respectively. Though they aren't played as much they are still in the public interest as each of them were hits when initially released. Also, including older songs from different genres appeals to a wider range of people, rather than just fans of brand-new music. One song played was "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. This song is from the soundtrack to 'Despicable Me 2' a popular animated film which has appealed to all ages. This makes sense to play it as many will have heard and presumably enjoyed the song during the film. 

The DJ, "Bassman" rarely spoke in the hour as there were many back to back songs played including at the end of the hour when four songs were played back-to-back only inter-spliced with jingles. When he did speak it was either to (back)announce songs or to say what was coming up within the next hour. He also advertised other Capital Radio shows, including a show the next day which featured Avicii, who is a prominent and popular mainstream artist. As many like him this would most likely attract people to watch the show and gain the station more listeners. He was like his Radio 1 counterpart, Scott Mills in his presenting style. He was enthusiastic, loud and had a sense of humour. He used slang words such as 'drop the beat' and 'tune'. This would generally appeal to the target audience. His style was in contrast to Smooth Radio's presenter Emma B, who was more laid back and calm but, this will be down to the more older audience for that station.

There were two advertisement breaks during the hour with a lot of the adverts being repeated for the second airing. These included apprenticeship offerings, shop sales, holidays and film adverts. These would generally appeal to people over 18 as that is the age when people are looking for jobs and have little money to spare, so are looking for sales everywhere. The film advertised, 'American Hustle' also has an '18' certificate so this follows in line with the other adverts being aimed at older people. Car insurance was advertised, which would appeal to young drivers, whose insurance will be very high, meaning they will want to look for cheap options.The adverts also told people what was happening in the stations region, such as art exhibits at the Lowry and the weather. These would also appeal to older listeners. The adverts were primarily based at older people as the younger listeners may not take as much care at listening to the station as others. Parents could also be targeted as compensation companies were also advertised. This makes sense as many parents will have to listen to the station with their child, in the car or at home.

The news was more aimed at older people, not advertising anything that may be deemed fun or interesting for young children and teenagers. The stories ranged from national to regional news. They included a missing child, a rape case and the birth of Mike Tindall's and Zara Philips' baby. They were serious to start off with but strayed into more light hearted stories, most likely as to not end on a bad note. The news ended with a report on the regions weather. The stories were typically aimed at adults, with none of the stories typically of interest to a young person.

I enjoyed listening to the station very much as i like hit-songs which it primarily played. The station also cherry-picked the best songs from the past to play which i thought was very good. The DJ was fun and while he didn't speak much i believe him to be a good addition to the hour, adding an entertainment factor to the station. There were several things i disliked about the station however, as i think more recurrent hits should be played, as this would appeal to more people, me included. The adverts or news weren't of interest to me and most likely people of a similar age or younger. Due to this i think there should be more attention paid to the younger listeners in these areas. The scheduling was also an off-putting factor for me. At the start of the hour songs were being played periodically, with adverts and the DJ talking being played in-between. However towards the end four songs were played back-to-back with only a jingle separating them. I think this should be changed so the songs and other content have a nice, even, smooth flow.

In-Store Radio

In-store Radio

The in-store radio station we listened to was that of SubWay's. I listened to their station for an hour from 9:30-10:30 in one of their resteraunts. However, Subway radio can also be bought and listened to via a USB for £55. Throughout the broadcast there was 14 songs, covering many different genres of music including pop, rock, indie and easy listening music. Nearly all of their song were recurrent hits, such as 'Photograph' by Nickelback and 'She got me dancing' by Tommy Sparks. They were released in 2005 and 2009 respectively. Though rarely played on other radio stations, they are still popular songs and remain in the general public interest. 

There were no adverts, no presenters and no station ID's. I think the addition of these factors would help the radio station, as it would add to the variety and make the broadcast of song after song less robotic. I have previously heard adverts in subway, but they are only promotions for itself such as new deals on food and sporting events (such as charity runs) that they are sponsoring . At times there was some dead air but, they generally didn't last more than 10 seconds. i think this was because the broadcast was automated and may have had technical issues.

If there was presenters the station would seem more realistic and professional and i think it would enhance my listening experience if there was more variety to the radio.

Public Service Radio

BBC Radio 1

In my analysis of Public Service radio I listened to BBC Radio 1 for an hour between 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock. The presenter at this time was Scott Mills, who presents the afternoon slot from 1 o’clock till 4. I looked out for various things during my analysis: The number of station ID’s/jingles, adverts, promotions, presenter talk and the number of songs and their type.

During the course of the hour twelve songs were played. At between three and four minutes each the amount of songs equated too roughly 40-45 minutes.  This means that there was approximately 70% music and 30% speech based programming.  The station mainly plays contemporary hits. Eleven of them were recent chart-toppers or new releases while one was a recurrent hit. This was LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’ which although nearly three years old is still a very popular song that appeals to listeners. The target audience for Radio 1 is 16-25 year olds, so the pop, RnB and urban music would generally appeal to the wide listener spectrum. Songs were either back announced or revealed before it played, or less frequently played without any immediate announcement but, were revealed to be coming up earlier in the show.  Jingles and station ID’s were regular and were usually played before and after each song.  They differed from short ones, which simply said the station name to longer ones which added a tagline. They were often shown so there was a continuation of promotion of the station throughout the hour and too constantly remind the listener who they are listening to.

There was only one news report at half past 3. The topics covered were a mixture of sports and general news including, politics, unemployment problems for school and college leavers and football and rugby results. It also covered a soldier’s death in Afghanistan, DVD piracy and care home abuse. These things generally wouldn’t appeal to some of the target audience but, some older listeners would be interested in this. However the sport it covered and the news that affects younger people would attract the age range. At times the presenter would engage in chat with his co-presenter, often talking about things such as the music they were playing and current affairs such as film and television as well as news about artists. There were several promotions during the hour, usually about upcoming events such as competitions and songs. They also referred to the BBC website and the BBC iPlayer, which are other departments of the BBC.

The presenter of the show, Scott Mills and his co-presenters type of language was quite informal and jokey, with them having enthusiastic voices. They would often joke among themselves, sounding normal and natural. During a competition that lasted just under ten minutes in the hour, there was a lot of joking between the presenters which seemed to tire after a while, though it remained fluid and they remained happy and enthusiastic. They most likely did this so there was a good music to speech ratio, as they rarely spoke at other times.  Throughout the show they rarely chatted among each other, as it was more of a quick conversation, filling in between songs.

I liked Radio 1 very much as there weren't any silences and they were either talking or playing music. The music was generally good and the presenters were fun and gave the station a smooth flow.