Producer's Corner
Tips and Tricks to Get Your Work on the Air
So you want to be a successful radio producer?
The single most important factor in determining your success is the quality of your work. People want to hear good radio. And there's no question that radio stations are hungry for good radio and are finding it here -- PRX works with more than 400 radio stations and has paid over $500,000 in royalties to producers.
That said, there's no simple formula for getting your piece picked up. But we can make some helpful suggestions based on the experiences of successful producers and feedback from station programmers:
Table of Contents
Before Posting
Learn From The Best
- The way you present your piece is important, but above all, it's the content of your audio that matters most. Here are links to some of our favorite resources on creating great radio:
- The Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) is an alliance that creates opportunities for and represents the interests of radio producers. Their web site provides an excellent Resource Guide and links to Articles and Books & Magazines that can help you produce better radio.
- The annual Third Coast International Audio Festival posts archived recordings of all of their group sessions and workshops, going back to 2001. It's not quite the same as attending, but you can still hear advice directly from some of the biggest names in radio.
- Hearing Voices is a collective of independent radio producers that publishes a huge amount of material on their web site -- and they've also got a great blog full of excellent radio tips (and random YouTube and Flickr finds!).
- The Transom Radio Hour is a series of hour-long audio programs on the art of making radio, featuring interviews with producers, from the ever-helpful Transom.org
Read Reviews
You'll get to see what listeners like and don't like, what stations and licensors are looking for, and why. You'll also pick up general advice that might help you improve your work. Click here to read some of our most recent reviews.
Image by Jennifer Rowsom. Watch Station Activity
Keep an eye on what pieces are getting licensed the most frequently, so you'll be able to model your own work accordingly. You can find a constantly updated list of what our stations are licensing on the Pieces page.
Another great resource is the list of the past Zeitfunk award winners -- given to the producers whose work gets the most licenses, previews, and reviews on PRX.
Polish Your Work
Technical quality needs to be excellent. Even the best story will probably not get licensed if the volume is uneven, fades are choppy, or ambient sound is too loud--the finishing touches are essential. You've got to use the highest quality recording and editing techniques that you can.
Have someone lend an ear and critique you on content and editing. Some great resources on this include Transom's tools page, AIR's Mastering Our Craft page, independent radio producer (and PRX user) Paul Ingles's huge bundle of tips.
Connect With Other Producers
If you hear a fantastic piece, let the producer know directly, and if you don't know how something was done, go ahead and ask. Radio producers are a pretty cooperative community, and we can't imagine anyone refusing to explain their creative process or special production techniques to someone who asked kindly. You can easily get in touch with producers whose work you admire by clicking "Contact me" on any member's profile.
When Posting
Make Your Listing Complete!
- Don't just write a short description; instead, make a full pitch to stations. Here's how:
Image by Dan Strange. - If there's any particular time of year when your piece is more timely, be sure to add a "Date Peg", since many stations license material for specific seasons, holidays, or anniversaries. In our experience, relevant date pegs are more likely to get attention than any other single part of your piece's description, providing an extra little hook to get stations' attention.
- Include an intro, timings, cues (for longer works), and any other information that makes it easier for stations to say "yes" to you.
- If possible, add a script in the "Station Info" or "Attachments" section of each audio piece's entry on PRX. Add any relevant links--to your own work and affiliations, and to resources where any listener who is still curious can find out more.
- It's also great to take advantage of PRX's "Series" feature -- so if you're adding several related pieces, consider bunching them together as a series so that other people can find their way easily between related works.
Make Your Listing Pretty!
Include your own pictures, or find one that you can use (Flickr's Creative Commons-licensed photos are good for this--just remember to credit the source). Give a paragraph or two accurately and fully describing the piece. Pull out some of your favorite quotes and mention those in the blurb about your piece.
Make Your Listing Versatile!
Image by Michel Filion. If it's long (more than, say, 15 minutes), consider including a 15-, 30-, or 60- second promo, for stations to use on air or just to play while they're browsing PRX for an accurate taste of what's in the piece. Consider producing edited versions of your piece to fit the most common NPR-affiliate and other public radio stations' formats, creating a 1-minute "billboard" and leaving newscast, funding credit, and promo holes in your work. See KUOW's explanation for more information on this.
You could even try posting alternate versions of the same piece -- try a 6-minute version of your 30-minute piece. Why put all your eggs in one basket?
Be Liberal With Your License!
The more you allow radio stations to do with your work, the more likely it is to get licensed and to get heard. Your name will be attached to your work no matter what; it's just a question of how much you mind your work being reproduced digitally beyond PRX after the licensing takes place. (N.B.: If you're using copyrighted material in your piece, you'll have to be a bit more careful about this.)
If you select broader permissions, you can also get your work heard through IODA and Audible, which, in short, may list your piece in iTunes and other online stores and venues. You can also allow non-stations (like The Economist podcast) to license your pieces. (Yes, you'll still get paid for these licenses!) What do you have to lose?
For more information on licensing to other distributors, see this article on new distribution options.
After Posting
Spend More Time at PRX
As you look at other people's profiles, read about their work, and listen to their pieces, you'll also leave a "footprint" behind you, and people will notice you. More people paying attention means more people listening.
Image by Noël Lee. Watch Your Own Profile
Keep an eye on your "My PRX" page to see who's been looking at your profile. You're not the only one who leaves footprints, after all...
Review Other People's Work
This is a great way of engaging with the community--listening to other pieces can teach you a whole lot about great (and not-so-great) radio, and it can also help garner more attention to your own name. You might even make some PRX friends!
Get Reviewed
If you've done something that you think people might really like, you can use PRX's "Contact me" feature to ask anyone to review your work. And even if no one likes what you've done, you'll probably at least get some constructive criticism.
Email PRX
If your piece is particularly relevant to a recent or upcoming event, we may feature it on our front page, in our "editors' picks" pages, or in an email newsletter to stations. You can reach us at editor@prx.org -- let us know at least 6 weeks ahead of time, so stations can plan their programming far enough in advance. (See "How We Pick the Editor's Picks" for more information on this process.)
Spread the Word Outside of PRX
Although PRX covers the radio world pretty extensively, you probably want "laypeople" to hear you work too. Don't be shy, promote yourself! -- put links to your profile, reviews, or latest works in your personal web page, your blog, your Facebook or MySpace profile, and consider email-blitzing your friends, family, and coworkers.
It's a tough world out there: self-promotion is the new modesty.
Image by nogg3r5. Got a Podcast?
If you're a paid member of PRX looking to promote your own podcast, drop us a line (with your name and the RSS feed) and we'll consider your podcast for the PRX podcast page.
Thought of something we missed? Got your own strategies for pitching your work through PRX? Let others know: email us at editor@prx.org and we'll post it here.
© 2007, The Public Radio Exchange
