I mentioned before that I somehow became a college radio nerd, and I don’t usually get to share that story with other people very much, mainly because I don’t often find people who understand the ins and outs and can recognize bands as much as I do, and don’t appreciate how technical it can honestly get. It’s weird, and the past two years have been one hell of a journey.
But let’s go back to the beginning, where I, a small freshman, came in expecting to do this on the side. I thought it looked cool and my background in Halsey, Lana Del Rey, and Twenty One Pilots was perfect for a college radio station!
Bitch, you thought!
The training director also mentioned that there was a job opening up for music director, and since my mom was harassing me to get a job, I figured that would do it- right?
So, I showed up…and I never left. I was given music to review that I did poorly, and had gigabytes of old albums dumped on me over breaks to listen to and familiarize myself with. I figured out who I liked and didn’t like, and that took more work than I anticipated. But it was fun work! Not many people get to say they listen to music for a living (I use that term loosely- more on that later), and that made me feel cool! But I didn’t get the paid job, and instead was being groomed for program director, which was unpaid. I could still do work in music, but I would still be in charge of scheduling. Still working for a radio station, still cool.
A few weeks later I was given the job by sheer luck, mainly because the guy in front of me was going abroad. I couldn’t complain, and man was I excited to tell everyone about it! I spent more time over the summer learning more albums and still doing reviews while giving input on some cleanups and changes to the station while sitting in the woods. People had barely met me, mainly over transition phone calls as an assistant for a semester and over my twitter presence. But I got to know them, and the people I met digitally were honestly, really nice. It helped me accumulate more conversation topics with the promoters I hadn’t talked to yet, and still helped me share what I was listening to and really appreciating.
Over the summer, however, WZBT made a transition to Spinitron over the College Music Journal, whose charts were still posted, but the staff and social media presence were silent. As people waited in anticipation over the upcoming CMJ Festival (a giant radio festival in NYC), WZBT saw the silence as a sign, and jumped ship. This wasn’t a popular move in the industry, and we got dropped from a ton of physical mailing lists. With the demand increasing for them and getting more aggressive, it was extra work on my part to spend my office hours tracking them down and sending emails. I never took to Twitter about it, but I was cracking under pressure from that and the fundraiser and more.
CMJ renewed our subscription for six months out of the blue- and I wanted no part of it, but I played nice. You have to play nice, and that’s okay. I had had the industry portrayed as a group of people who wanted to take advantage of me for adds, but honestly I realized that at the end of the day, we’re all people just trying to make a paycheck, and music is subjective, and that is okay.
CMJ died when the last staff member jumped ship after weeks of no pay. I hesitated on NACC, but I was exhausted from shit hitting the fan in November. I relaxed my policies because I needed to relax. I added what I wanted, and I took into account what everyone else wanted because obviously, someone saw merit here and thought it would work for the station. I was sick of arguing, so I let it slide.
So, what did I learn from this two year journey?
- People can really, really rock… or really, really suck. There were cases that have popped up in the past year that definitely have proven that people in college radio can be scummy, sexist, and creepy. I’ll call out Adam Klein of CMJ and the band PWR BTTM specifically, but I’m sure there are plenty of others you can think of. But as the college radio space becomes increasingly safe, and tolerance for that shit decreases dramatically, I hope the last two years see those people pushed out. I’m very grateful to the people who have helped me learn A LOT the past two years, and I’m excited to learn more from them.
- Not many people know what you’re talking about. I can throw around names like Spinitron, CMJ, NACC, various promoters and bands, etc. all the live long day, but when I go home no one has a damn clue what I’m talking about unless you are an active participant in that community. It’s too much to keep up with. No one gives a shit how you know which band is on what label with which promoter, and aren’t as enthralled by the guessing game over which promoter is going to have a big album. You’re just a nerd. You’ll be lucky to run across someone who does, and those who I’ve stumbled across have suggested I go see Animal Collective on shrooms, tried to kiss me over liking LCD Soundsystem, or just ghosted me. It happens.
- Not many care as much as you do. That’s harder to find in Gettysburg College, where I woke up every Saturday morning to the sound of country music playing from the frat across the street. The DJs don’t care as much as I do, and that’s partially because we cared more about numbers than the music. That makes us unique, and definitely leans us more freeform as far as live programming. As long as the automation is correct and everything is in place, my job is good.
- It’s supposed to be fun. Don’t let it be a burden on you and your studies. My mom kept reminding me she didn’t send me to school to learn radio. I’m here to learn political science and other classes. This is a side project, and it honestly started consuming me at one point. Relaxing the reins really helped me, and it meant I got to appreciate what I did listen to more. It also meant more albums got programmed and seen for their value rather than having it be added and then unceremoniously voted out of heavy rotation and an add by a narrow margin by my staff. I think it’s diversified our programming as well, and that is a good thing!
I still probably will learn more as I continue my journey down this weird, wacky, wonderful path called college radio. It’s been a great time so far, and I’m really thankful for the opportunity that I’ve been given to take it.
Make good choices,
Britt
Lipstick Prints on Coffee Mugs 