More Info
Social Networking
Follow me on Twitter @radiodjmike
“Like” and follow on Facebook @radiodjmike
In the beginning…
If you’ve ever wondered how I started in this hobby, or maybe you have heard rumors on social media, I thought I would take a moment to explain it. 1970’s – yes, that far back… I would have to go way back to my interest in radio. In the mid-70’s in central Texas, I would listen to WLAC in Nashville. I rarely missed one particular DJ on that station. His presentation and personality on-air was smooth and engaging. I was hooked to the radio and wanted to be in that role. We didn’t have digital anything; the internet didn’t exist
“Padding” the numbers/stats
When you volunteer to be an online DJ, show host or “presenter”, listener counts are a valid motivation. After all, if you’re sitting at home dedicating the time to put together a show, make announcements or follow some station criteria – ads, news, etc – you would like to know it isn’t just for your benefit, right? Listener counts also matter when attracting potential advertisers because, like you, they *may* not want to spend the money to have their ad played for the DJ only. The whole reason a business would pay for advertising is to get the word out
“Now Playing” for VirtualDJ
During my shows, I use VirtualDJ Pro and Jingle Palette. One of the (major) things lacking in VirtualDJ is the export of artist and song title of the song playing, aka “Now Playing”. Many 3rd party audio streaming packages can read a “Now Playing” file and send the contents to the server, thus, enabling you to see what artist and song is being played. It is also a legal requirement and the song info is used for license royalties, tracking what is played and whether it is within the legal guidelines (DCMA has rules). VirtualDJ can stream audio to a
When to try and when to stop – lessons learned
When you start with a new online station, the support can be overwhelming. This isn’t limited to how one station does it. I’ve ‘worked’ at a few over the past 15+ years and learned a few lessons. “Hooray! You’re here!”. “Welcome to the team!”. “Great show!” Management and others are there with encouragement. They may, or may not, post about your upcoming show on their own social media, “I’m listening to [insert your show name here] everybody tune in!” It is a great gesture that can last for awhile until it fizzes out like a stale carbonated beverage that is