Radio Production, Writing, Podcasting Approach: Get Your Contracts Right

Radio Production, Writing, Podcasting, the Basic Concept: Approach

©2024 Kerilie McDowall All Rights Reserved

I’m Kerilie McDowall, owner of #Nanaimo's Canadian Online Guitar Lessons, How to Play Guitar for Beginners & Guitarists #Facebook group and the In the Zen blog. I am a recent 13X global award-winning jazz short filmmaker.

As a former US award-winning Canadian jazz radio producer/engineer and host of the past #1 google-ranked jazz radio program Rhythm'a'ning (2013-15) my thoughts on podcast production are the following:

If you want to be interesting with your podcasts use a different intro and different music spot every episode or go repetitive if you think that is key with the same thing every show and year. Theme or concept shows can be very tacky and corny in my opinion, though some also prefer to organize their productions based upon trivia, people's deaths or birthdays...not my thing. I am more interested in storytelling. For inquisitive interview production answer the following somewhere along the way: What, where, how, who, when, why. End it off by wrapping it up with a great track and let the entire track play. Ask local recording artists if they will give you permission for their music long-term.

OK, the main issue is this. There are varied levels of radio and or TV production. I am also a jazz short filmmaker so I want to give you a few ideas about how to approach editing...super important ...OK? First of all, you can move things around to get writing or video or audio to make more sense with all production or writing. That is whether it is writing, film, or radio...do not be afraid to move audio or video or your story around for the sake of logic and form. I mean if the ending sounds better at the beginning you better put it there, organize your materials according to the story line.

RADIO: Cut out the "ums, aws, you knows, rights, likes," lip smacking sounds, tongue noise, any foul language. Take it all out and make sure you cannot hear the cuts. A quick trick is to use “fade in then fade out,” in Audacity for the beginning and end of the cut, but there are other approaches, too. Make sure there is no bad background noise. If so, take it out with a noise removal sample, sampling it for a good 3-5 seconds then do the main removal. You do not have to compress your show if you do not want to. The less you remove the more college campus-sounding the show will sound, and very non-pro. The more you remove what I suggest as above using proper pro and patient editing approaches to sound and audio, the more CBCish or NPR you will be. (For a BBC-style show even more formal? Do the removal of all slang, keeping none in whatsoever.) Have fun!

K.I.S.S. PRODUCTION (KEEP - IT - SIMPLE - SILLY)

Hey, I say vary it every week. Vary your intro and outro. Get creative. I did my radio show for 17 years and really did not want to hear the same music at the intro and outro for each show. To me that is torture. That is like an annoying audio tattoo. I always thought I would get bored of a tattoo after 1 day. It is why I say get creative, repetition will bore you and the listener. Challenge yourself. Many traditionalists would disagree. I am never blocked I have no trouble writing so new ideas are never a problem for me.

TESTING IDEAS

I say, stay creative...stop analysis. Do what works and use your intuition. Creative is priority. This is how I became the #1 ranked jazz radio show in the world for several years on Player FM: Intuition. Going by “gut feelings” throwing shows together with snazzy and catchy music, no matter the genre. Thinking of form and what the listener may want at different seasons of the year while considering holidays and seasonal relevance. I would not want to hear Christmas music at Halloween or on the Victoria Day weekend, for example. I do not want to hear Halloween music at Easter either.

Please please please…be respectful. Organizing shows based upon deaths every week just seems gruesome to me and not in memoriam at all. Life is about the whole cycle, it includes the best part: living. That is not meant to say we should not go back, for example, I love early jazzwomen and early ragtime and blues and swing.

GENDER ISSUES AND ETHICS, HARASSMENT

As a former female jazz radio producer, I have some really bad news if you are female. Some men will actually get angry at you and tell you not to play music written or played or composed by your female peers. I once kicked out of my house onto the street, during a get-together with three people, a jazz drummer, and a Facebook jazz group leader, who complained I played too many women on my radio show and demanded that I stop. He said that while dissing and insulting the great American genius and composer and icon, the one and only Mary Lou Williams, and demanding I stop and take her off of my CD player. (He had never heard of her.) This was a violent act of aggression to me, it was also racist, too. It was annoying since the majority of recorded artists in the many thousands of my past radio station incoming submissions were male-dominated, yes at least 83%, yes which is quite accurate. No matter what your gender or sexual or other preferences, do not let anyone tell you what to produce on your show if they are being non-inclusive or misogynistic or not respecting the diversity of race, gender, ability, and lifestyle.

If you are a woman, transgendered, whatever identity you identify with, you must assert yourself in the music industry and you must cover your own peers if you are a producer or a writer, because often generally speaking, when writing history books, men are not interested in documenting women as often or other gender identities either compared to their male gender. We have seen that trend for centuries in Canada.

Despite winning 13 film awards, the “old school” press did not appear to think a woman’s film accomplishments including three Hollywood awards for Best Web and New Media, would be interesting to the younger generations of women. I got almost zero press coverage. They were not even interested in why my film was “New Media,” or anything unusually unique, or even innovative about its form or design.

What male and female editors need to understand, as I was reminded today by one of my very savvy female editors, is that women are the buyers of most households and do much if not almost all of the shopping. Assuming that people only want to read about men is a huge error.

In general, do your part to be inclusive, compassionate, and accepting when the opportunity arises. Be warm, kind, and caring towards others. The music industry is nasty. Often people may seem to just continue to take as much as they can from you the musician. When you are a musician it seems everyone takes a little bit of or a lot of money away from your earnings. And entertainers, do note that when the industry or others get abusive or they get presumptive, or they label you, stereotype you, or jump to final unresearched conclusions about you, or even lie about you, you must take protective action and assert your power.

I warn you to exercise caution with all those you deal with and advise you to know someone for several years before entering into a business partnership with them where possible. If that is not possible, use entertainment lawyers and contracts and recognize that some people will find every angle they can use to take as much as possible away from you or to use you. It is a harsh industry. Trust is earned within the music industry, it is not necessarily a given.

WRITERS AND EXPLOITATION: GET YOUR CONTRACT RIGHT

Ok, I want you to immediately go to LegalShield and hire a lawyer for that contract read-over. It only costs $50 CAD per month. It will take less than a month, and you can get your last will and testament done, too.

I recently experienced a serious problem, then resigned in protest due to an unusual situation, with a very well-respected publication hiring me for what they reported would be 5-6 hour articles. The editor began extending the time for all of my articles, adding on my hours and then more hours each assignment. Eventually due to their dishonest representation I was getting paid $250 for their expected 26 hours of work, at $9.61 per hour, totally illegal wages, not even minimum wage, it was never 5 or 6 hours. When I asked for fair wages, the editor of the employer said, as a writer I should expect low wages. The employer then slandered me and put me in an unfair situation after local Indigenous familial survivors asked for me to have their family relatives' stories told about the past Indigenous hospital located near the grounds of Vancouver Island University. The publication was saying it was racist for me as a white person, with white privilege to even ask for the story to be covered, even though four Indigenous people in the community had separately at four different times asked me to relay the message to an Indigenous writer that they were willing to interview and tell their stories.

Due to not being able to sue the publication for the $3500-4000 they owe me at this point, I feel it is fair to put this story out in a more anonymous way to educate you about contracts and how dishonest the MSM or employers can really be. I have now vowed NEVER to work for MSM again.

So, the other main problem? The contract did not state the number of hours for the work, so the employer was completely unethical and took advantage of my trust in them to be ethical. Never trust blindly. I had been misled to "trust," due to the many numerous boasted-about awards the publication had won. Final advice? Get a lawyer to deal with ALL read-overs of your contracts. I highly recommend LegalShield.

HARASSMENT

Women and others also face extreme harassment within the music, radio (and film industries) as we have heard with past complaints about several radio shows at the CBC and management staff at JAZZ FM, and unfortunately, those instances are quite common within the industry. It seems more prevalent in radio, but these are common issues of the workplace, too, and Canada needs laws to also protect its volunteer workforce. Sometimes TV or radio producers or hosts both male and female) face extreme harassment and are forced into situations with their work that end up being very damaging and traumatic and destructive. If you are aware of the issues in advance you can take measures to go forward with caution and be proactive with self-protective measures. The radio and film industry has a bad reputation for harassment problems/issues. It does not matter what your gender is.

THE PRESS, TIMELINES, AND PUBLICITY

Attention entrepreneurs, non-profits, business, musicians!

Canadian Online Guitar Lessons (& Creative Services’) Kerilie McDowall is giving away a free Ready for TV, Radio and the Press 3 hour session away in a draw to those who get in touch with Kerilie and you get a free bucket list-manifestation checklist gift with guitar tips! https://poplme.co/sx3r8jLP/dash

Need some help and want to book some time with me for an industry chat and some assistance? Have you had recent problems with record producers, dishonest publicists or want to know how best how to avoid typical issues, or impossibly difficult/ known arrogant publication editors affecting your business? Is the MSM press lying about you or slandering you or “cancelling” you? Or do you need to know how to navigate your employment issues with a contract lawyer? Are you unable to practice your profession due to Canada’s enforced vaxx-segregation laws?

Have you had your freedoms violated by the press and by the segregation of your whole identity due to being unvaccinated or through legislated forced starvation or homelessness by government (re: Indigenous, immigrants, the disabled, and seniors) and need to chat? Are you a Canadian thinking of suicide with MAID because you are financially desperate or hungry? Are you or your thoughtful work projects being censored? These are all of them, very serious concerns.

Are you just having trouble remembering the string names of the guitar or getting back to playing guitar again after a long hiatus?

I offer writing, publicity-social media work, supportive instruction, and coaching to indie, pop, and jazz recording artists, film directors/writers, creatives, non-profits, entrepreneurs and arts groups in the music and film industry. Yes, I teach guitar lessons and music lessons too, I love that work also. I also will offer a sympathetic ear to your non-creative concerns for an hourly rate on sliding scale. For those in Nanaimo, BC, I will make efforts to connect you with ideas, resources, or groups or legal or counselling help that could assist you.

Drop me a line with your questions. Let me help you achieve your creative ideas, life goals and dreams! https://poplme.co/sx3r8jLP/dash

Image by Dirk Heydemann of HA Photography. @everyone

#radio #production #filmmaking #writing