Radio has been around for over a century now. In the time since its genesis, the broadcasting industry has grown and shifted in so many countless ways. Today's online radio is completely different from the days when families used to sit and listen to a big hunk of metal in their living room. As with all things, the nature of broadcasting is continuously changing. Which means if you want to get ahead in the industry, you need to keep up with radio trends.
Now, it's not easy to be the first person to know what's hot and innovative in the industry. Being that person takes some acquired skills, new habits, and lots of hard work. Everyone's got their own methods. Today, we'd like to share some of ours with you. Below are seven ways to stay on top of broadcasting industry trends so you can be the envy of other DJs everywhere!
Listen to Other Radio Stations
In his book On Writing, Stephen King said, "I think the best writers are voracious readers who pick up the cadences and the feel of narration through a number of different books." We feel the same rules apply to being a broadcaster. In order to improve your station and discover trends you may have been overlooking, you must voraciously listen to a number of radio stations other than your own.
We encourage you to listen to various stations that cover a plethora of genres, as well as both terrestrial and online radio. With online radio, make sure you're listening to stations across different streaming platforms; like Live365, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio. This can help you see if there are any differences between the ways platforms operate. Once you've got a good amount of hours of listening in, compare and contrast the stations you've listened to. What were some things you liked about each station? Things you disliked? Did some broadcasts share similar systems, segments, or rotation styles? Figure out what's working on the radio stations you listen to, then implement those strategies and trends into your own station.
Check Broadcasting News Sites and Blogs
In other words: keep doing what you're doing right now!
Yes, the Live365 blog contains a treasure trove of relevant broadcasting tips and music news. Our goal is to help anyone in the industry stay up-to-date with current events and trends. Sites like ours are designed to cater to the concerns, wants, and needs of broadcasters as the industry expands.
We report on things like popular broadcasting equipment, updates happening with our platform, song/album releases from artists, and more. Therefore, if you want to be ahead of the curve and know what's going on in the industry as soon as new things happen, you should be checking our blog daily.
Review Music Charts Regularly
When it comes to station music trends, music charts are your best friends. You don't have to go through too much trouble in order to find what songs are "in" right now. All you have to do is check a trusted music chart like the Billboard Hot 100 or Apple's Top 100 USA to see what tracks are most popular.
Remember: it's best to consult an array of different music charts when picking music to program, not just one chart. This is because not all chart data is the same, and listening habits in different locations can vary. We highly recommend you consult Live365's music chart masterlist in order to build up a library of sources. And for more information on how to keep up with music releases, check out our guide here.
Network!
How are you going to know what's trendy if you don't communicate with humans who create and perpetuate those trends? Keeping up to date with industry trends means building a network of broadcasting friends and keeping in touch with them. Not only can you connect with broadcasters on platforms like Live365, but also in real life conferences, events, parties, and panels. And of course, social media is worth a try. If you need some pointers on networking, make sure to check out our guide regarding how to do it within the broadcasting industry.
Ask your fellow broadcasters what strategies they are implementing in order to stay up-to-date with broadcasting industry standards. What tools and tricks are they using to stay cutting-edge? Record their responses and use some of those tips to improve your station. And if you can, thank them for their help on air!
Figure Out How Listeners Are Listening
If you want to be the Nostradamus of predicting new broadcasting trends, research and data are going to be the equivalent of your crystal ball. To focus on the trends, focus on listeners first. Use data to find out how they're listening to radio and for how long. Then, tailor your programming to their habits.
For example: you may notice that a station you're connected with is programming 8 minutes of tunes, then switching to a segment or commercial break for 5 minutes. You decide to implement the same system, and by checking your station data, you realize your audience engagement is going up. Congratulations: you've just discovered a successful trend and have weaved it into your audio show.
Remember: in the world of content creation, bite-sized programming is in right now. While unfortunate, it's a fact that peoples' attention spans are getting shorter. Find ways to work with your listeners – to make things more digestible for them. Being a trendy broadcaster means being able to cater to an audience's changing tastes. Additionally, make sure to get your radio station on popular platforms! Being trendy also means being popular, and you can't be popular if no one's listening.
Work with the Digital Era
Unless you're living under a rock, you're going to be using the internet to discover new trends. Broadcasting blogs are all online. Music charts are all online. Online stores now sell audio equipment. TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube – spaces where you can learn about the industry and where its heading – are all online. You're online reading this right now, on Live365: a site that hosts online radio stations!
Do you get the point? We're in the 21st century, and things are heading in a more digital direction. If you want to be on top of industry trends, you can't try and fight it. Instead, you've got to use your computers, phones, and other devices to work with the digital flow.
Create Your Own Trends
The #1 surefire way to stay on top of broadcasting industry trends? By being or creating a trend yourself. You've got to be unique. You've got to be fearless. You may even need to be a little crazy. But if you want to be a leader in this industry, you need to find ways to do things easier, flashier, and more efficiently.
This could mean investing in and experimenting with fresh-off-the-market microphones to see which ones are the best quality. Or it could mean creating a new game segment for guests that no one has ever played before, or adopting a DJing alter-ego with lots of swagger, confidence, and original catchphrases. Heck, you may even need to be willing to have a correct contrarian idea.
For example: people thought Steve Jobs was crazy because he believed, one day, a computer would sit on everyone's desk. He was correct about that contrarian idea – while also perpetuating that belief with the creation of Apple computers and becoming a pioneer of technology. If you want to create a trend that changes the broadcasting industry to that great extent, you need to find your own contrarian idea and execute on it. Think big and work hard. You never know in what ways you may begin the next broadcasting industry trends.
That's it for our tips. Once again, make sure to visit the Live365 blog to stay up with the latest radio trends. Happy broadcasting!
Ready to start your own station? Contact one of our Product Consultants or visit our website today.
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Article Image: A woman holds binoculars up to her eyes, with one eye showing the graph for an upward trend and the other showing the descending bars of a downward trend. (aremafoto via DepositPhotos.)
