Shane Brown on “Street Cred” 89.1FM, Birmingham U.K.

Tim Wall’s earlier NRS entry “Thinking through the new economics of sound broadcasting over the internet” discussed the current need for new programming ideas and fresh radio services for listeners. His posting concluded that radio’s future held “considerable possibilities for public service and community broadcasters.” Following on from this theme and in keeping with Robin Valk’s NRS comments on inspiring stations like New York’s WFUV and Digbeth’s “Rhubarb”, I thought I’d report on an innovative station, just two miles from Birmingham City University’s Radio Dept.

Aston FM 89.1 is an example of community radio at its best ( astonfm.com ). They pay their way with regular commercial breaks promoting local businesses and have managed to wrangle a reasonably powerful transmission signal. Unlike many of their tightly rotated competitors, Aston’s playlist exceeds five thousand tracks – so you get an incredibly varied sound to the station. They also provide a legal home for underground radio by sharing their frequency late at night with local “pirates”.

“Aston FM is Birmingham ’s newest local radio station, broadcasting to the whole of Birmingham from Villa Park, 24 hours a day seven days a week, on 89.1 FM and on the internet. Aston FM is the only radio station to broadcast live, all Aston Villa football matches, both home and away. Aston FM is committed to working with all the different communities in Birmingham and giving the City a radio station it can be proud of. We invite guests in for interviews to talk about what is going on in the City and actively encourage listeners to tell us what is happening in their part of Birmingham. We are also involved in training children from local schools in all aspects of radio and helping them put together their own radio shows to be played on the internet.”

As other stations move towards nationally networked content, Aston FM’s been quick to exploit their local presence. But it’s their attitude to specialist programming that really stands them apart. More specifically, the way they’ve embraced local pirate radio culture.

Just to set the scene a little… Pirate radio is common on the U.K.’s FM dial. Heavy regulations, limited access to frequencies and the increasing affordability of equipment means many young broadcasters are simply setting up their own illegal stations. It should be mentioned that unlicensed broadcasting is a criminal offence in the U.K. with a maximum sentence of two years. Convicted pirates can also expect to have their equipment confiscated and be barred from working on a legal station for five years (a long walk off the metaphorical media plank). However, as Miranda Sawyer wrote in the Observer, 2.11.08, “Ofcom research from 2007 showed that 25 percent of the entire London radio audience tunes into pirates (40 per cent of the black audience).” So they must be doing something right…

“Smart, hi-tech and inclusive, pirate stations are paving the way for the future of radio. The future of radio is the internet: the pirates have moved online in a big way. All the biggest stations have live web feeds. Combine this with mobile phone internet access and you can use your phone to tune into a London Pirate when you’re in, say, Glasgow. Then simply plug your mobile into your car radio and away you go. Pirate stations instantly move from being local to national and even worldwide.”

Sawyer’s article used this shift to online radio as an example of “DAB’s increasingly shrinking relevance” – but that’s another story for another day. Pirate radio’s current popularity and community radio’s continued growth meant the two were inevitably destined to meet.

“Street Cred” was a typical underground station until they found a safe home on Aston’s 89.1 frequency. Regular presenter DJ Hevs started out by playing sets on pirate station KRISS FM 95.3 in Birmingham, broadcasting to Walsall and the surrounding areas. However, he was raided by the authorities and prosecuted, prompting him to write on his myspace page; “I lost my music, lost my hope, and was starting to think, is this really worth it?” Thankfully, Aston FM came to the rescue and he’s now legally “smashing up the airwaves, playing the chunkiest 4 x 4 basslines” every Saturday night, 11pm until 2am.

I talked with Gary James from Aston FM about how pirate and community radio has managed to join forces and co-exist in (relative) harmony…

Can you tell us something about pirate radio in the Midlands?

Pirate radio has been going for a number of years in Birmingham. Usually young people have equipment based in tower blocks in the city, broadcasting illegally and often using someone else’s frequency.

Generally pirate radio broadcasts late at night and into the early hours of the morning. It’s a specific – very heavy black, afro-Caribbean music. Something you wouldn’t usually hear on normal radio… but it’s got a massive, massive audience. In Birmingham it’s something like 16% of the listening audience tuning into pirate radio. Sometime between, say, 10 at night and 6 in the morning.

How did your relationship with pirate radio actually begin?

When Aston FM was put together, the company that owns Aston FM approached Ofcom (Office of Communications) and said “look, there’s this massive audience out there that are crying out for this sort of music. Surely it makes sense to make it in someway legal”. So Ofcom went away and thought about it and came back and said “Ok – try it for 12 months – you get a pirate station in to broadcast legally on Aston FM’s frequency from the hours of 9 o’clock at night ‘til 2 in the morning and we’ll see how it goes…”

Obviously, because it’s a legal radio station, there had to be some form of professionalism. The naughty words had to go… no swearing. There was a limitation on some of the music, because that type of music does have some strong content which can be a bit iffy. But it has an audience and it’s after the watershed and if those people want to listen to it then that’s fine. There’s always the “on/off” button.

So it was agreed… And now Aston FM has a pirate group onboard called “Street Cred” who are well known in the Midlands. They broadcast from 9 at night ‘til 2 in the morning, 7 days a week, on our frequency 89.1 FM. But because they can be heard now online, streaming on the Aston FM website, they get emails and text messages from literally all over the world. It’s a massive audience.

How have things gone so far?

The whole thing works well. They’re (Street Cred) happy because they’re not being raided every five minutes and having their equipment confiscated by the authorities. It gives them a professional environment to work in, they’ve got a good frequency to broadcast on – and on the other side of things – the Police in Birmingham have said they like it because while the kids are listening to “Street Cred” they’re not out fighting, involved in knife crime, gun crime, graffiti – and generally making a nuisance of themselves. They’re off the streets and listening to the music they love. Some of the guys that work at “Street Cred” are in some ways heroes to these local kids. If they want to follow in their footsteps it can only be good. Certainly for Birmingham and as far as Aston FM and Street Cred’s concerned.

So those are the positives… There must be some negatives. Do some regular listeners take offence at their station being “taken over”?

Nobody’s really come across and said “we don’t like that” to be honest. We’ve probably got three separate audiences at Aston FM and this is the beauty of the station. And if you like – what makes it unique.

You’ve got day time listening, which is your normal sort of average soft rock, pop-music, chart etc. and local content – what’s going on in the city and around. Then you’ve got another audience for specialist shows Monday through to Friday for two hours, 7 ‘til 9 pm. From country music to hip-hop, to grunge, to dance – you name it – it’s there. And finally you’ve got this other audience that kicks in after 9, which is the “Street Cred” pirate radio audience.

It very much is three different audiences – and we know that from the emails and texts we get. We hope that somewhere there is a cross over between all audiences. We hope that some of the “Street Cred” pirate audience will listen at some time during the day. In fact, we’ve taken 2 of their guys, Lee and Paul, who were working for Street Cred and they now do our weekend breakfast show. So they’ve moved from being “pirates” if you like, to working on the station, doing legitimate weekend shows on Aston FM. Which is certainly not playing “pirate” music – but more normal, middle of the road, 60’s / 70’s / 80’s tracks.

You’ve talked about some of the issues with swearing. Any other problems to overcome?

Initially, they weren’t used to working in a radio studio. They were used to a portable mini-mixing desk, probably with three or four faders on it, a couple of decks and may be a CD player… like something you might find at home. And they love their music loud. Their speakers are usually taller than the presenters. They’d really bang it out – especially the bass. So, in the beginning we’d have a few problems as they’d come into the studios and turn everything up to the max! And it was blowing the speakers. That had to be controlled. They weren’t used to that, they were more used to have their music blaring out. They’d think they were nightclub DJ’s, whacking faders up and down. So there was a bit of that going on and a couple of things were being broken. But, to be fair, I think it was assumed from the Aston FM management that once they were shown around the studio and how things work – they’d be like normal presenters. But of course, no, they came from a completely different mentality. It was a small problem to start with that’s now been put right. They understand it now…

So what does the future hold?

Originally, Ofcom said to try it for 12 months and see how it goes. If it’s successful then they will do what they need to do re. the license to continue it. So everyone’s happy at the moment. Like anything new – the teething problems had to be sorted out. But it’s now working well and it’s giving the audience that’s out there for pirate radio somewhere they know they can tune in – at the same time every night, 7 nights a week, all year round and hear the music and the presenters they’re used to. Without worrying that their station’s about to raided and taken off the air. So it’s working well… Everybody’s gelling now. Their presenters are actually learning the trade of being a presenter and how things work in a professional radio studio.

Audio slideshow producer Ben Chesterton on location in Africa

There was a television show back in the eighties called “Radio with Pictures” which played music videos from around the world. The name was nothing more than a snappy oxymoron at the time – but it’s turned out to be rather prescient. The future of radio would seem destined to include pictures of some description…

It stands to reason really. Many of the platforms on which we consume radio now feature a screen: DAB, mobile phone, ipod, computer monitor etc. Which is why the BBC has employed a team of young boffins to investigate the visualisation radio – and ask themselves the pertinent question “What exactly does radio look like?”

Even radio advertising is in on the act… The search for fresh revenue streams has inspired the creative arm of Global Radio to produce audio/visual commercials for clients which are displayed on their stations websites. Simon Forster, the Creative Services Manager for Global’s UK branch in the West Midlands, says the service is proving increasingly popular. They’ve produced over 30 of these “hybrid commercials” this year alone, at very lucrative rates.

“Enhanced podcasts”, such as the ones produced for the Chris Moyles breakfast show, have been around for a while now and have proven their success on the BBC website. (Although these types of files are not universally supported and can cause play-back issues.)

Although mainstream radio may have picked up on the trend towards “visual radio” – more could certainly be made of the opportunity. Switch on any radio station available via freeview, satellite or cable in the UK – and pretty much all you’ll see is a large blank screen staring back at you…

Another form of audio/visual narrative that’s gathering on-line momentum is the “audio-slideshow”. These differ from traditional vodcasts as they utilise still images instead of video and are therefore far easier to produce – and quicker to download.

As the name suggests, viewers/listeners see a series of still images while hearing a complimentary audio documentary. These pictures can be manipulated by cropping, dissolving the image, fading in or out, or directing the viewer’s eye with the “Ken Burns” technique – the name given to the act of moving a still image across the screen. But why try to explain it – when you can, quite literally, see for yourself…

This example comes from photographer David White and producer Ben Chesterton. I first got to know Ben and his family while working on a project in Ethiopia. He was in charge of a BBC World Service Trust project, training journalists to create innovative, often provocative programmes for Radio Ethiopia.

Before his involvement in development radio, Ben had enjoyed an award winning career as a documentary producer for the BBC. I was therefore surprised when he turned his back on traditional radio to start “duckrabbit.info” – a company specialising in bespoke audio-slideshows. I was curious to find out why and invited him answer a series of questions for New Radio Strategies…

As a former producer of traditional documentaries for Radio Four, what was it that attracted you to audio slideshows?

I used them as a training tool for journalists in Kenya. To shake and wake them up and force them out of the studio by confronting them with what was going on in the refugee camps. Apart from that, I love photos and I was becoming creatively frustrated with my work – so I thought I’d have a crack at something different.

Are audio slideshows more closely aligned to visual or audio documentaries?

I think it all depends on the use of the audio slideshow. I mean, at times it might have more in common with the language of art or poetry then documentary. I don’t think it’s got too much to do with radio in the sense that a good slideshow is completely dependent on the visuals to make sense, whereas it might not be so dependant on the audio.

So can they truly be considered a new form of “radio”?

They can be a great way of promoting radio but to call audio slideshows a new form of radio isn’t something I’d agree with. In fact there’s nothing really new about them. What’s new is the publishing platform, the web, which makes them worthwhile because there’s a potentially massive audience.

What are the differences between producing an audio slideshow – compared to producing a purely audio based project?

The major difference is that peoples attention span on the web is very limited so you are looking to contain an audio slideshow to usually around three minutes. For someone who is used to producing half hour docos this is really challenging! The other thing is learning to let the photos lead. At the end of the day it’s the photos that will keep people hooked, or otherwise.

What is the future of audio-slideshows as you see it?

It’s hard to say. I think they will have a limited use on news websites like the BBC. I think that radio people will start to use them to promote radio documentaries, if they can pull some budget together for this. Certainly Radio 4 could do really well promoting some of their stand out documentaries on the BBC website by using audio slideshows. I think commercially they offer a lot of possibilities for organisations to get stories out about themselves. I also think they offer plenty of possibilities for citizen journalism, for the way that everyday life is chronicled. They are also a great way of making art available to many more people on the web, in a way that is engaging and memorable.

Do you have any recommendations for people wanting to make their own slideshows – and where can people go to discover more about audio-slideshows?

Just come to our blog www.duckrabbit.info/blog where we showcase loads of great examples and also links to other great websites doing a similar thing. I recommend the software Soundslides, which is simple and produces great looking slideshows.

You can have all the kit in the world but at the end of the day it’s all about how you tell the story.

I remember the good old days of the radio survey. The airwaves were suddenly flooded with juicy prizes, jocks did prep for a change and promotional street teams were stunned by the arrival of half decent giveaways. At the heart of this unnatural flurry of activity was the mythical “diary”. You know the one. An ancient system requiring householders to conscientiously tick boxes on a paper spreadsheet – thereby capturing an accurate record their listening habits.

Hmmm… Nice idea. But it was more often a frenzy of last minute ticking as the diary-keeper saw the research collector walking up the garden path. Of course, the main problem with this kind of research is that instead of providing actual listening patterns – favorite stations are often recalled from memory alone. So although joe-public might be tuned into one particular radio station – they actually record a more recognisable brand (with a bigger advertising budget). Which reminds me of a radio network I once worked for that offered cash incentives for tip-off’s about the streets where research companies had distributed the precious diaries. This top secret information would result in station vehicles cruising ominously up and down the lucky neighbourhoods, “building awareness”.

Traditional diary surveys require a lengthy process and are inaccurate at best. Quarter hour listening figures are usually over-reported and new research has shown that people who fill out diaries often listen to twice as many stations as they actually write down. However, for most radio markets around the world it’s still the best and only system we’ve got.

This uncertainty is embarrassing in an age when every on-line click can be recorded – and precise viewing figures dictate billions in advertising revenue. It’s therefore important for radio to keep up with our high-tech media cousins by providing accurate listening figures – rather than making do with perceived behaviour. Radio advertisers have always been rightly suspicious of surveys and deserve more certainty before committing their cash. This, of course, is where “PPM” steps into the spotlight. (Portable People Meters).

Many “New Radio Strategies” readers will already be familiar with this technology – but it represents such an important step in radio’s evolution that I think it’s worth a few more paragraphs. Especially for those outside the States where PPM has yet to really emerge.
Put simply, PPM uses technology to take the guesswork out of ratings. Survey participants carry around a small electronic device that automatically keeps track of the radio station playing in the background. This ingenious system uses inaudible codes hidden within a broadcast and the PPM unit decodes these signals to identify which station is listened to and for how long. The technique not only works with analogue broadcasting – but is apparently just as accurate with digital signals and internet radio too. Another smart feature is a built in motion detector that can tell whether the surveyed listener is carrying their personal meter around with them. Clever stuff.

Although several contenders are promoting various forms of this new technology – Arbitron, one of America’s biggest media research companies, are leading the pack by already running PPM surveys in key US markets. Arbitron started developing the concept back in 1992, so they’re obviously keen to promote its many wonders, claiming it heralds a “New Age For Radio”. They may be right. It’s not just the obvious benefits of being able to collect and deliver more audience data in less time. PPM promises new insights into how listeners consume radio too. Results are far more reliable – and initial research has shown that, compared to traditional surveys, a typical radio station reaches twice as many listeners than was previously thought.

It goes without saying; “Electronic Audience Measurement” has great potential for radio advertising. There’s a research product called “Media Monitor” which can synch up to PPM data making it possible to track a listener’s reaction to content in real time. Imagine, for example, being able to tell exactly which commercial causes a listener to switch stations… This kind of information can only help to improve the overall sound of a station, providing a valuable insight into the effectiveness of various creative approaches. These “real time ratings” will also help to track listener peaks relating to certain on-air events – giving programmers the opportunity work closer with sales departments to maximise advertising revenue.

So what’s not to like? Well, it seems there have been a few teething problems and niggles… In August ‘07, a PPM survey in Texas was pretty much ruined when vital data was inexplicably lost. PPM research has shown that quarter hour listening figures for radio are down. Many broadcasters are getting impatient with the time it’s taking to roll out the new technology. Arbitron has also been criticised for charging premium prices for the service (which seems strangely hypocritical given radio does the same thing with breakfast advertising etc.) Others speculate that PPM could eventually impact negatively on future revenue.

FMQB, an American in-house radio publication, featured an item about an assistant programme director from WZOR Wisconsin who called PPM, “The biggest sales farce ever…” Adding succinctly that… “Arbitron is horrible.” But my favourite slam comes from the March 2008 edition of GQ magazine which ran a story about the crisis facing US “shock radio”. The feature, titled “Who Will Shock The Children”, reported on a convention of 200 “Morning-Zoo-Crew-Dudes” in downtown Chicago. Arbitron Vice-President John Snyder had bravely given a presentation to a largely hostile audience and the article picked up on the crowd’s displeasure, recounting the jocks’ opinion that… “PPM was irredeemably flawed and possibly a tool of the devil, and that the guys from Arbitron should seriously consider taking their little people meters and shoving them up their asses”.

But grumpy old shock-jocks aside, it seems the industry is generally in favour of PPM. It has to be said… the old diary system is a leftover relic from the days of carts and splicing and anything that presents a more realistic picture of audience behaviour has to be a good thing. With any luck the technology will get more affordable and eventually become industry standard for all radio research companies. As Doug Abernethy, Market Manager for Radio One in Houston, put it…”Radio needs to look at this as a way to rejuvenate our business for the better. Change is inevitable.”

I recently attended the annual IBS Conference in New York. (You’ll be pleased to know my digestion’s fine – it actually stands for Intercollegiate Broadcasting System). I was surprised to hear representatives from University Radio across America sharing the common concern that many students no longer own a radio. What!? No radio? At first I couldn’t believe it… but of course why should they? They’re all ipod’ed and wifi’ed with more than enough music and can find out what’s happening on campus from Facebook etc.

I guess this is one of the main reasons why development radio appeals to me. There are still huge regions across the world where traditional AM/FM/SW broadcasting is still very much king. While many western kids are turning their old radios into landfill – traditional broadcasting is still highly valued in the so called “third world”. Everyday, development radio imparts messages of real substance to millions of receptive, appreciative listeners.

There’s been quite a bit of debate for and against the fabled “$100.00 computer” that’s being designed by MIT for educational use in developing countries. The intention is to create a super-cheap Linux-based, full-screen, full-colour laptop with WiFi capabilities, USB ports, a 500MHz processor, and one gigabyte storage.

A noble enough concept – but how about a “$5.00 wind-up radio” to accompany it?

In terms of education, radio represents a far more practical method of distributing information – especially to highly illiterate populations. It affordably reaches across huge distances and follows the tradition of oral learning that’s fundamental to many African nations. Besides, a radio set doesn’t represent the same risk of theft that a snazzy new computer does.

Sure, wifi-computers and cellular phones open up many exciting new possibilities, but in my opinion the most interesting technological advancements in terms of development are not in new methods of transmitting information, but new ways of receiving old formats. Sir Trevor Baylis should be canonised as well as Knighted for his wind-up radio. What a fantastically simple – yet powerful invention. In regions where electricity is scarce and batteries are often prohibitively expensive, wind-up / solar powered radio sets provide an almost infinite means of communication where it’s needed most. (Green techno-geeks should check out the new “Trevor Baylis Eco Media Player” www.ecomediaplayer.com )

Although it’s easy to get carried away with all the latest radio gizmos and bolted-on extras we shouldn’t forget that all we’re ever really going to do is deliver sound to a pair of ears. (That is, until Apple plugs directly into your temporal lobes – and I’ll be first in line for that upgrade). Good old fashion radio is already a superb conveyer of informative messages and not necessarily in a didactic, “teacher to student” style. There are many examples of NGO’s delivering entertaining and educational radio dramas and programmes in developing nations across the world. However, the radios needed to hear these excellent productions are often in short supply. So, although the “$100.00 computer” is certainly a worthwhile endeavour – wouldn’t it be great to also have wind-up radio’s produced at a low enough cost to enable mass distribution to where they’re needed most?

For more information about wind-up radio in developing regions, check out the The Freeplay Foundation at; http://www.freeplayfoundation.org