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November 2, 2006

Play it Loud

UTA Radio is getting its voice heard with promotions and motivated DJs

Story by: Alyssa Fry

The Shorthorn staff

The Shorthorn: Mariza Morin

Broadcast journalism junior English Young selects a song for UTA Radio after receiving a request from a student Wednesday in the Fine Arts Building. This is her first semester at the radio station.

Before playing a love song from Tevin Campbell, “DJ Corey D,” urged listeners to approach that special lady.

Corey Conners later said the cold weather calls for softer music during his UTA Radio show.

“Now it’s too cool to be aggressive, like with rap,” the communications junior said from behind the microphone. “It’s weather that makes you want to walk slow, and you’d rather be walking with somebody.”

Having recently started a campus-wide promotion campaign, the staff at the 10-year-old station is reforming it to garner more listeners and supporters. They are also touting an eclectic mix of hosts and formats and are eager to give UTA a form of entertainment many may not know about.

As a requirement for the radio production class, Conners must put in an hour at the campus Internet radio station once a week, but he comes in about three times a week to become more familiar with how things are run.

After completing the prerequisite, Conners can then have an official show for which he’ll get paid. He has already begun thinking about how his fliers will look.

“We’re required to make fliers, but it makes sense. You want to get your name out there,” he said.

While he selected his next slow song on the touch screen Dell monitor, Conners said the computer system, which contains the music database, acts weird, so he must improvise to keep his show running smoothly.

A glitch in the database is just one way disc jockeys can learn what it takes to make a station run despite problems, station manager Exzavia Hicks said.

To work around the computer problems, including the inability to upload new music, Hicks asks the DJs to bring their own CDs and teaches them to play off the discs like a regular show.

Another problem is with the station’s Web site.

It was revamped in the summer, but Hicks said the person charged with maintaining it has been busy. To have a current site for listeners to get information from, she started the UTA Radio MySpace page.

“I listen to about 10 hours of radio a day,” she said. “It’s research because that’s what I’m going into. And one thing I’ve noticed is that every single DJ says they have their own MySpace, so I told all of them to get one.”

This is just one way Hicks simulates real radio stations to prepare students for careers in radio. She also encourages them to save the fliers they make to promote their shows so they can have more in their portfolios.

“That’s really the whole point of this, to get a job,” she said.

When Hicks became involved with the station last November, it was in shambles, she said. Her goal was to make it a presence on campus, and she said different music formats help make it appealing to a wide audience.

“I will never turn anyone away if they want to play a certain kind of music. That’s crazy,” she said. “This campus is so diverse that if someone comes in here and wants to play something, there’s got to be someone else out there who wants to hear it.”

The progress of the station has been slower than she initially expected, though.

“I keep telling myself that change takes time,” she said. “I think because the radio station isn’t well-established, it’s not on the top of anyone’s list except mine.”

Aside from offering a variety of music, promotion is key to getting more students to listen. The DJs who put more effort into their shows have more listeners, Hicks said.

“If you want your show to be good, you have to go and make it good because in the real world, no one’s going to promote you,” she said. “And I want ideas to come from them. I don’t want to keep feeding them ideas because that will hinder them when they get in the real world.”

One host, DJ Cindy, promotes her show by text messaging everyone in her cell phone before she begins. Another show, “Pirate Radio,” is doing well, Hicks said, because the two hosts pay for promotional events out of their own pockets.

Hosted by “Trauma and J Griff,” the “Pirate Radio” format consists of hip-hop and R&B.

The idea for the show was that of broadcast communication junior Anthony “Trauma” Gordon, who said he has tried hard to spread the word about his show and the entire station since he joined it this semester.

“A lot of people don’t even know we have a radio station,” he said. “We just want to have a form of entertainment for students. My main focus is to get people to listen because we have great programming, and good music is being played.”

Gordon said that after his most recent promotional event at a clothing store, he and his co-host have been recognized more on campus, and they’ve received more callers during their Sunday night show.

Broadcast communication senior Leanna Barrett hosts “The Rock Show” on Monday nights and said she has never received a caller.

During one of her recent shows she said not many students know about the station, and they don’t know to visit its Web site.

As System of a Down played, Barrett said she likes playing alternative and classic rock to change things around.

“We have the freedom to do what we want for now because we’re up and coming and not that well-known,” she said.