Local Music and The Radio Show

I’ll be expanding The Public Record Radio Show in the coming few months, initially, I’ll be expanding to a full hour on Wednesday, and then hope to expand to Monday and Friday as well.

With the hour long format, I’ll need to add “filler content” between segments, interviews, and panel discussions.

The best means of doing this is to add local music, and I hope it will expose listeners to local talent.

Last week, while I was editing one of my shows into a podcast, I actually listened to the music I randomly selected to fill when a guest didn’t pick up their telephone.

I really enjoyed one of the songs, and this made me thing, by not exposing myself to local music, I’m missing out on an opportunity for personal enjoyment.

In studio, I don’t actually listen to the music playing on air, it’s just noise in the background as I work to set up for the next segment. All I’m listening for is silence, silence being a problem.

This partially explains why I didn’t realize the Arkells song I was playing during the first show, at 8:20am, was laced with profanity. (Way to break CRTC rules on the first day Joey).

The two other parts of how that happened – I don’t listen to the Arkells (not my genre of music) and CFMU didn’t realize it wasn’t the clean version in the system.

Once I get the business side of my work sustainable, and get back to a steady workout routine, I’ll start listening to local music while working out – with the goal of selecting music in advance for the radio show.

I hope this enables me to sincerely promote some local music, and makes for a better radio show.

On a more personal note, I’m concerned that my (necessary) extreme focus on my work covering City Hall and municipal affairs is making me a less rounded person. Exposing myself to local music, part of our local culture, will help me address some of this.

So, any suggestions on music? Let me know!