Radio stations are slowly but surely moving away from the conventional radio interviews from entertainers. Back in the day it was a hell of a lot more interesting to have an entertainer come on radio and blab back and forth about their new single and the album.
That was the time when only few had access to information. That was when your audience was still heavily reliant on radio for music information. However, that has drastically changed in the digital age of information.
The radio does not want to interview entertainers anymore, simply about music. If entertainers are to come on radio, they ought to have a story to tell. They need to have a real life story that will evoke emotions. Your usual “Hey, so tell us about your next project” line of questioning is about out of the window. Frankly, no one cares! Be it Namibian entertainers or international entertainers. However, how seldom do Namibian radio stations get international entertainers to interview?
The world of information has made the audience hungry for more. More in the sense that once they have made the effort to tune into that interview, they would want to walk away with something incredibly concrete. Entertainers now need to adapt. Because very few radio stations…especially commercial radio stations, will invite you to come speak about a single. The reality with commercial stations is that if you want to come promote your music, you’d need to pay. Rightfully so, because airtime is the service that commercial stations offer.
I know entertainers to this day do not understand this. Look at it this way. The radio has an audience. Millions of dollars have been invested in building that audience. Radio bosses know that you need access to this audience. Hence why you will get charged. That’s the radio business. If you’d like to have access to that audience where you stand to benefit through CD sales and gigs, pay holmes! This is why commercial radio is moving away from these “new single” interviews.
A commercial radio will invite you if you have a story to tell. If your content is only “new single” stories, you would be a classic case of failing to adapt.
National broadcasters and community stations might still want to do the whole new single story, because of an obligation to the community and the nation. The sooner entertainers start understanding that music is business in today’s era, the better for everyone. What is your story? What is it, that is of value, that you want to share with the audience? What can you share that would change a life of a listener for the good? What is behind the music?
Ask yourself these questions. If you happen to have managed to answer that, you might get that call to join a radio presenter in studio to share your story to hundreds of thousands. Music interviews? Shallow, boring and one-dimensional. Those days are gone. Make peace with it and adapt.
Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!
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Call my name
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NSK is a professional MC. For bookings,
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