Matt Cornwell
Blog post #6
Interview
Ken Freedman, Station Manager and Program Director, WFMU
I emailed Ken Freedman as I did with Jason Sigal and was able to have a phone interview with him as well. I used the information Ken gave me in my station profile paper mainly for the dayparting part. It was interesting as to what he had to say about it because WFMU is a freeform station but have certain dayparts. Mon-Fri 6-9am is a Jewish show, except that they replaced the Jewish show with freeform programming on their online stream. Then they have a Mon-Fri 6-7pm slot for spoken programming and a 7-8pm slot for musical specialty shows. Since Ken is the PD he gets to choose who goes where.
Ken is the station manger and program director. He is in charge of who goes on air and when. He also co-hosts the conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay as well as hosts his own freeform radio program on Wednesday mornings (9:00-noon Eastern Time).Ken got started at WFMU as a DJ in December 1983 and became General Manager in August 1985. Freedman began his radio career as DJ and later station manager of WCBN, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s freeform radio station.
Ken (like Jason) loves his job. He said that freeform radio has always (and will always) be his favorite kind of radio. The only thing he said that he does not like about his job was the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the day to allow him to be at the station more. Ken likes the fact that WFMU is a freeform station and he enjoys what he does because he knows that the listeners have the same love for non-mainstream music like he does.
Ken couldn’t emphasize enough the importance of the internet which is a main reason why WFMU can be successful. Because the internet allows anyone in the world to be able to listen to WFMU whenever they want they are able to bring in more fans and listeners then they would normally be able to reach. Since the “boom” of the internet donations to the station (which is funded exclusively by listener support) grew from $50,000 to over $1,000,000 in a 20 year spand.
Ken recommends students to not go into a career narrow minded. He says if you want to be in the radio industry you should be able to adapt with the times and to be flexible as to where you can work. He says you may not get the job you want right away but getting the experience in the field is important and eventually you will get the job you want.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Blog post #5
Matt Cornwell
Blog post #5
Interview
Jason Sigal Free Music Archive Managing Director, WFMU
I contacted Jason by emailing him at the station. He then wrote back to me which lead to a phone conversation where I was able to interview him about the questions below. I used a lot of what Jason had to say in my station profile paper because he was very knowledgeable about the station and had a lot of insight regarding the station.
Jason is in charge of managing WFMU’s music archive. He is responsible for sorting the music the station receives by genre as well as organizing the music so any band can be pulled up at any time. He also, is in charge of allowing some CDs to be available on WFMU’s website for free downloading.
Jason got started by being a listener of the station. He liked the station so much that he started to do volunteer work for the station until he landed his position at the station as Free Music Archive Managing Director.
Jason said that being a music lover lead him to this position. He said that WFMU was so unique that he became a fan instantly. After awhile he started doing volunteer work for the station which then gave him the job that he has now.
What Jason likes most about his job is the fact that he is part of a unique radio station. He likes how loyal his listeners are and how most of the listeners are true music lovers. He likes the fact that he knows that whoever is listening is listening because they are looking from something different than what the mainstream radio as to offer. He knows the listeners respect that and feels a personally connection to those that feel the same about music that Jason does. Jason likes everything about his job and that is the reason why he is still there. He believes and loves the station so much that when he wakes up and goes to work in the morning it is like he is not going to work at all but instead going to a place where he loves to be.
Jason feels that WFMU will survive because they have such a strong international listening fan base. WFMU makes it possible to have their station be broadcasted in a live stream over the internet. Since, WFMU is geared to people who want to listen to music other than mainstream radio; they are able to get their unique station out there to anyone in the world at any time. This really helps out the station because the more people that find out about the station and who start to tune in will then continue to be a loyal listener and possible donate to help keep the station alive.
Jason recommends for any student interested into getting into radio to intern somewhere. He says it doesn’t matter where but to just take whatever you can get to gain experience. He says that if any student wanted to have their own show that WFMU they could do it as a DJ for free. Even though WFMU would not pay them, Jason says that it is good experience and is important to learn before you go out there and do it for your career. He says to be on air you need to have a good conversational voice and have good people skills for those who call in. He also said that knowing your audience is key when being on air so you know how to relate to them effectively.
Blog post #5
Interview
Jason Sigal Free Music Archive Managing Director, WFMU
I contacted Jason by emailing him at the station. He then wrote back to me which lead to a phone conversation where I was able to interview him about the questions below. I used a lot of what Jason had to say in my station profile paper because he was very knowledgeable about the station and had a lot of insight regarding the station.
Jason is in charge of managing WFMU’s music archive. He is responsible for sorting the music the station receives by genre as well as organizing the music so any band can be pulled up at any time. He also, is in charge of allowing some CDs to be available on WFMU’s website for free downloading.
Jason got started by being a listener of the station. He liked the station so much that he started to do volunteer work for the station until he landed his position at the station as Free Music Archive Managing Director.
Jason said that being a music lover lead him to this position. He said that WFMU was so unique that he became a fan instantly. After awhile he started doing volunteer work for the station which then gave him the job that he has now.
What Jason likes most about his job is the fact that he is part of a unique radio station. He likes how loyal his listeners are and how most of the listeners are true music lovers. He likes the fact that he knows that whoever is listening is listening because they are looking from something different than what the mainstream radio as to offer. He knows the listeners respect that and feels a personally connection to those that feel the same about music that Jason does. Jason likes everything about his job and that is the reason why he is still there. He believes and loves the station so much that when he wakes up and goes to work in the morning it is like he is not going to work at all but instead going to a place where he loves to be.
Jason feels that WFMU will survive because they have such a strong international listening fan base. WFMU makes it possible to have their station be broadcasted in a live stream over the internet. Since, WFMU is geared to people who want to listen to music other than mainstream radio; they are able to get their unique station out there to anyone in the world at any time. This really helps out the station because the more people that find out about the station and who start to tune in will then continue to be a loyal listener and possible donate to help keep the station alive.
Jason recommends for any student interested into getting into radio to intern somewhere. He says it doesn’t matter where but to just take whatever you can get to gain experience. He says that if any student wanted to have their own show that WFMU they could do it as a DJ for free. Even though WFMU would not pay them, Jason says that it is good experience and is important to learn before you go out there and do it for your career. He says to be on air you need to have a good conversational voice and have good people skills for those who call in. He also said that knowing your audience is key when being on air so you know how to relate to them effectively.
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