Being a Music Director is a once in a lifetime experience. For the duration of your tenure, you’re the king/queen of the mountain. You’ll know about the newest releases and what they sound like. Your knowledge of music will grow exponentially. It is one of the few times in your life when you’re feeling invincible. You’re the behind-the-scenes person responsible for the sound of a radio station. And when you’re walking down the street, people will look at you and not even know of your accomplishments. You’re the silent assassin walking among the masses, the hacker that never tells.

But beware, being Music Director is also a very demanding position, often in conflict with your scholastic commitments. It can safely be said that the job of music director takes a minimum of 20 hours per week. That is, on top of classes, homework, work, friends and sleep. Very demanding. Below you will find some tips on how to organize your job and time to more effectively direct the music you receive.

THE BASICS:

Listen to every release that comes in every week.
Of course, you won’t be able to listen to all the releases in their entirety, but you should try to acquire a working knowledge of all that you have received. Spending about 3-5 minutes with each new release should provide you with this knowledge. This assures that you are aware of everything and how it sounds.

Remember, all the music you receive might potentially be added (adds are explained below), so it is important for you to know what you received, even if you won’t be able to make it available right away. Also, by doing this, you’ll know what came in to the station, which makes it much easier to remember each release. The key to success here is not to let anybody else open your mail. If people at your station have a problem with that just remember that the law is on your side.

If you have reviewers helping you, assign them records according to their personal tastes—after you give them an initial listen. Too frequently releases get lost because a reviewer grabbed something before the Music Director was able to make note of it. Also, you won’t be getting an ill-informed review by, for example, assigning a Slap-A-Ham record to a 4AD-only fan. Using your reviewers this way hopefully ensures somewhat more accuracy in their reviews.

Establish office hours and hold them.
Sometimes this is the most tedious part of the job but there are good reasons for having office hours. People send you records because they would like the records to get airplay on your radio station. To these people it is important to know that you received the releases you were sent. It is unlikely that labels will continue servicing you if they can never establish that you even got the records. Also, sometimes you might need something from the record label; this includes receiving a replacement copy for a stolen record, receiving biographical information on an artist, or scheduling an interview with a band that is coming to town.

Be aware that people with dubious motives and manners will also call you. For greater insight please look to Psy Ops in this issue, but the basic tenets for holding office hours still hold true.

If you’re truly organized and on top of your game (which includes regular reporting of your chart), you can ask the people who call, to call you on a bi-weekly basis. You will still have continued contact with everybody, but more of your valuable time will be available to you.

When deciding what to add, don’t just rely on your personal taste.
Too many MD’s want the station’s sound to reflect their personal record collection. A Music Director is very much a librarian. His/Her credo should be to get as much music for the station as possible, including genres other than ‘indie’ or ‘alternative.’ The people who are responsible for the “sound” of the station are the DJs and the listeners—the DJs by programming their shows in an interesting fashion (hopefully), and the listeners by requesting things they’ve heard and liked. This liberal system should foster a creative environment, as it allows people to learn and experiment.

Sometimes a release will chart that you personally are not into, but consider why that release has charted. Probably for two reasons: the DJs liked it and played it; and listeners liked it and requested it. These are two very valid reasons as to why this release should be on your chart.

The above points are guidelines to how to be an effective Music Director. Below you will find suggestions on how to execute these guidelines.

THE SPECIFICS:

What is an add?
Most simply, an add is when you put out a new record for airplay. Generally, this is termed “adding a record to rotation.” However, there are variations on this definition. Some labels rely on ‘add-dates’—that is, they would like you to put out the record on a specific date. The label would also like you to make this record a ‘reported add,’ which means you supply to a trade magazine (the same publication to which you report your chart) a list of new releases you put out for airplay.

Usually, you will be adding more records than this list can hold, making some records “reported adds,” and most records “unreported adds.” Labels like reported adds. If a label gets enough reported adds in a week, the label’s release will appear on a ‘most added’ list, published in the trade journals. Many people find this desirable. One system of compiling the add list is to rank the records by how you think they fit into the overall mission of the station as well as how you think they might perform. Basing the add list solely on your personal taste does a disservice to all the other people who work at your radio station, as several trade magazines have a section for your personal picks aside from your top adds.

What is a rotation system?
The most basic definition of rotation is that all new releases available to DJ’s go through a life-cycle of being new. The metaphor of rotation probably comes from the cycle a record goes through. At the end of the cycle of being a ‘new’ record the release will have ‘rotated.’ Thus, while a release is new, it is referred to as “being in rotation.”

Some stations have a ‘rotation system.’ This means that not all records share the same accessibility, chance of getting airplay, or chance of being charted. A rotation system ensures that a release, or a group of releases, get played a predetermined amount of time during a set time period. Usually, the rotations are called heavy, medium, and light, but some stations have expanded upon these themes to also include ‘new rotation,’ ‘power rotation’ and so on. Releases in heavy rotation get played more frequently then releases in medium rotation, which get played more frequently than releases in light rotation. Sometimes rotations are strict, where the DJ is supplied with a list of releases, when to play them, and the order in which to play them.

Other times, releases are programmed on a ‘clock rotation’ where the DJ has to play so many releases from each rotation, per show or hour. The difference here is that usually the DJ gets to pick which release to play from each rotation, but heavies still get played more frequently then mediums, etc.

Another form of rotation is called ‘freeform,’ which sometimes implies that there is actually no rotation, but that the DJ gets to choose what to play regardless of the age of the release. A more common form of freeform rotation is a requirement of playing at least a minimum amount of new releases per show and filling in the rest with older releases or new releases, entirely at the DJ’s discretion. A typical requirement might be playing 50% new releases, without stipulating genre.

How to make the chart.
Adding records to rotation leads to your making a chart. The chart you make is supposed to reflect the most played releases at your station for a specific period of time (usually a week). Preferably, you will arrange the artists in a descending order from most-played to least-played. When there are ties (records receiving the same amount of airplay), you might want to consider the age of the releases. A recent release getting the same amount of airplay as a release that is two months old might merit the more recent of the two to chart in front of the older release. The format of a release should not play a role in where it appears on the chart. A 7-inch record getting six plays per week is just as viable as a full-length release getting the same amount of airplay.

There are several methods for compiling a chart. Some Music Directors will go through all the DJ’s playlists to tally up the airplay. Others will have a space (a sticker) on the release which gets marked each time the release is played. The Music Director will then count up the check marks at the end of the charting period and determine the amount of airplay. Others have a computerized system, utilizing a database program, to keep track of airplay. Each method brings its own set of rules and responsibilities. It is advised that you talk with past Music Directors, current staff, DJ’s, and people from other radio stations to learn which system best suits you.

Having found the right system, keep in mind that your chart is supposed to accurately reflect the amount of airplay for all new releases available on air. This means you should consider all genres for your chart. Many trade publications have specialty charts for specific genres. Make use of these charts, should you have the time or staff willing to help you compile accurate airplay. However, if a release from a specialty genre gets enough airplay to make it onto your overall chart, you should chart the release. Many Music Directors fall into the habit of just reporting the most played releases from one genre on their overall chart.

Recurrent? Huh?
At the end of its life-cycle a record gets taken out of rotation. This process is referred to as “the record going recurrent,” and can mean two things. First, it might mean that the record gets filed in its appropriate space among all the old releases. Recurrent then is actually a euphemism—the record simply is old.

However, recurrent can also mean that the record will go to a new place where it will “re-occur,” with less frequency than a new release, but still more than a truly old release. Some stations have a predetermined recurrent rotation. Other stations have a special place for recurrent records, where they will remain for a specific amount of time before getting filed with the old releases. The reason for this is that many DJ’s will supplement their show with recurrent records before searching through the old records. Sometimes this is considered a time-saver when in a bind to quickly find a release to play.

How to get music for your radio station to play.
This is one of the most time consuming as well as rewarding aspects of being a Music Director. Sometimes it is not enough to simply sit around and wait for labels to send you their new releases. If your station is to fulfill its educational license, it is important not just to make available music that is normally sent to you, but to independently procure music so that you can further educate your listeners.

The effort of procurement should be based upon all genres, not just your personal taste. You have to find out what releases are available that you aren’t being serviced. Your DJ’s are a natural resource for this information are—specialty-show DJs in particular. Ask these people what labels they’d like to see service the station. Frequently, a call to one of these labels is all that is needed to establish servicing. More likely, a letter requesting servicing will result in greater success. Another great resource for finding out about releases is fanzines.

With one or two exceptions, you can pretty much disregard national press for information on releases which you haven’t received. Instead, look to fanzines, whose writers usually review the releases they’ve bought themselves. This ensures they actually listened to the release, leading to an in-depth review. Often their taste is well outside the mainstream of accepted mediocrity.

A third resource is the community to which you broadcast. Inviting community submissions, or establishing a local music show will further broaden the station’s diversity in programming.

Reporting.
O.K., you run the most organized music department on the planet, and play the coolest music in the world. Difficult to top, but it is do-able. Report your chart. You might think that reporting only benefits the labels and independent promoters, but if your chart is accurately based on actual airplay, the penultimate benefactor will be the artists you play, and report.

First, because you share your carefully compiled information on a national basis (through your report). Second, because the band’s label will most likely appropriate more support money for the band, tours etc. And third, because neither the artist nor the label is drawing faulty conclusions based on inaccurate information.

CONCLUSION

Imagine the following scenario: A band is coming to your town to play a show based upon their charting at your station. If you charted this band without its airplay meriting such, the band will end up coming to your town and playing to only a few people because no one will actually be aware of the band. This leads to the club/promoter hating the band because they couldn’t sell, and the band and the label hating you because your lying resulted in the band not getting paid, after having spent the money on sending the band to your town.

Remember, chart a record when the airplay merits it. A record does not benefit from your personal help (i.e. charting it without enough airplay). The only help a record needs is your DJs playing it and your listeners hearing it. Don’t assume you are helping a band simply by charting their release or by trying to please their record label.

This guide to music directing touched only upon the obvious areas, and specifics will vary from station to station. But I hope that it has been insightful if you’re new to the job, or that it gave you new ideas if you’re stuck in a rut.

Good luck.