Welcome back!

I’ve been involved with college radio for 6 years and while the trademark of college radio is “dead air. . . um. . . dead air.” I’d like to think that I’ve still learned a little something about broadcast in that time. I don’t write this list because I think I’m doing things perfectly but because I’ve heard a lot of self-congratulatory and boring podcasts. So I’ve laid out the differences and similarities in podcasting and radio with some helpful tips that the old guard can share with the new.

Why disc jokeys have it easier than podcasters:


Captive Audience. The morning shock jock can piss people off and they will keep listening because of a lack of alternative choices. Podcast listeners do not need to be so forgiving. Unless you have carved out a niche incredibly well and have a huge market for what you are doing, your listeners are pretty mobile. Think of them like the friends that came to see your crappy college band (the theramin was a mistake) play at the student union when you were 19 – you can’t go all rock star on them. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to censor yourself from expressing controversial opinions. It means you need to censor yourself from sounding like a jackass.

Decent audio equipment. Only the most serious podcasters bother to invest in a fraction of the equipment that is available to radio DJs. That said, the best thing you can invest in is a halfway decent microphone perhaps tied with decent audio editing software. I’ve been doing my podcast without either (which explains why it isn’t good).

Legitimacy. It isn’t easy to get an FCC license. There is a certain assumption from listeners that if you are on the radio, you have some honest claim at being there (listeners assume wrong, of course, but this is about perception). Not so with podcasting. It is pretty painfully obvious that anyone with a microphone and some bandwidth can start a podcast. When the burden of proof is on you, you’ll have to do something special to keep your listeners. You’ll have to do something even more special to get high profile interviews.





Why podcasters have it easier than disc jokeys:


Fuck the FCC. FCC guidelines on obscene and indecent material go beyond the “7 Dirty Words” and cover all sorts of fun things that a radio DJ might want to talk about, notably sex. Podcasters don’t have to pay a damn bit of attention to this. And they aren’t!

Niche markets. Podcasts will come and go with the fads that inspire them. Some of the more popular ones deal with very narrow interests. The eBay lesson is being repeated time and time again on the internet and podcasting is the lastest instance of it. You got some shit, someone else wants that shit. Attract a wider audience by making sure that your shit isn’t shitty. Although, there still isn’t a coprophagia podcast that I’m aware of. . .

Personality. Being an internet star is all about a cult of personality (Hi, Mom!). Podcasters can gather devoted minions through their personality in a way that even the most devoted jocks can’t. There is an intimacy that is available in podcasting that can’t (and maybe needn’t be) reached in radio. That said, meglomania isn’t sexy and the best podcasters come off as gracious, confident, and calm. Steer clear of self-important diatribes and remember that no matter how many hits you get, you’re not going to be a household name anytime soon.

Editing. Podcasting isn’t live and that is a blessing. Podcasters get to write scripts, record and re-record, and edit their shows into slick packages. Beware of making it too slick or fretting over tiny mistakes. Treasure the natural cadences of human speech. But still become familiar with a decent audio editor. You don’t have to be going for professionalism to be concerned with quality.

Things I tell brand-new DJs that many podcasters could stand to learn:


Monitor your broadcast. Get some headphones and wear them while you record. This ensures that levels are constant and gives you a chance to hear what the mic is picking up instead of what your voice sounds like in your bedroom. The number one way that DJs I supervise make on-air bloopers is by failing to wear headphones, you’ve been warned.

Beware the co-host. The banter between two clever, intelligent people can be very charming and rivetting, especially for those two people. But, make sure you take a constant inventory of your conversations with a co-host. Is this a conversation that others want to overhear? Are you really that funny? Are your inside jokes going to fly for a listener that doesn’t know you? When I was Station Manager I actively discouraged co-hosting among new DJs because doing it well is so challenging.

Make a pop filter. I’m not an audio engineer nor am I a perfectionist. However, if you have trouble with your plosive consonants, grab an old pair of pantyhose and after you finish sniffing them, you can craft them into a neat home-made filter.

Don’t beg for attention. Until I started listening to podcasts, I thought 18-year-old DJs were the worst attention whores in the world. However, hearing people from all walks of life beg for emails, phone calls, votes, and frapprs has changed my opinion. Podcasters are more attention-starved than drag queens. And it is understandable. There is nothing wrong with wanting feedback on something you work hard on but please limit it to a few simple words, not the extended spastic whine-fest that many podcasters engage in.

If you are starting a podcast because you always wanted to be a DJ, I welcome you to the fold. Rest assured that podcasting is 10 times nicer than DJing but also much harder work. Enjoy your global audience and freedom. However, avoid slipping between the cracks and becoming more background noise. There a many more bad podcasts out there than good and the independently produced ones that are excellent are even more rare. Rise to the top by asking questions before you guess wrong and going in with a real plan. Or record yourself having orgasms, then you can break all of the rules.