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any radio disc jockey here?

anyone give me any idea on how to be a radio disc jockey

Public Comments

1. yea i am
2. Don't be one. Its a crappy job with little pay and less job security. You'd be better off working at a fast food joint. I did it for 10 years before I got enough sense to do something else.
3. Study it in school. There are also specialty broadcasting schools. You have to be willing to start at very low pay, or no pay at all. Lots of people want to get in to it, but there is not much opportunity these days. More and more stations are bringing in syndicated programming via satellite, so they won't have to pay salary and benefits to a real human.
4. My mom was a dj for a popular jazz station for a number of years. Although she had to start from the bottom and work her way up, she ended up being the morning person for this station, and earning a pretty hefty salary. She started in broadcasting school, and began doing traffic for local stations in the area. She built up experience, recorded a tape of her broadcasting, and fished it around until someone bit. The others are right, however. There isn't much job security.. they often drop their employees at the drop of a hat. That happened to my mom. One day she was in her program director's office being hailed for her great show, the next day she was fired without a moment's notice and no explanation, other than "we're taking the show in another direction." But if you're willing to grin and bear it, and to grow a tough skin, go for it.
5. I went to The Connecticut School of Broadcasting in October 1973 during the day and cleaned offices at night. I would eat my dinner, a cream cheese and jelly sandwich in my car in the parking lot. Upon graduating in February they found a job for me in Beaufort, SC. I loaded up my car with a trailer and had a hard time in the driveway due to ice. I stopped halfway in Fayetteville NC to rest in a local motel. Proceeded to Beaufort SC the next day to arrive at a temperature of 90 degrees. I was their new overnight FM DJ. The station was AM Top 40 Daytime and then went off the air. FM was programed "Beautiful Music" during the day and was wide open after 6PM. We had a library of 200 rock albums. I established an advertising deal with the local stereo shop/record store. This was the only store in town. "Ron's Super Music City". This was a trailer on the edge of town with a dirt parking lot. I traded airtime for all the new releases. We expanded to 2000 albums. I was paid $93 a week and lived in a roach infested trailer. Here comes the best part, my audience was Parris Island Marine Training Base, The Naval Hospital and The Marine Airbase. These guys work 24/7. I had an audience of 50,000. I grew up on the best from WNEW-FM from NYC. I played the best tunes for these guys all night. They certainly appreciated my radio show and I heard incredible stories. This was the 70's. We had a cheif engineer who had done 2 tours of Vietnam and was an audiofile. We had the best equipment, Macintosh amps and Marantz speakers. He could not figure why his alligator clips always seem to look burnt and had a tar resin on them. There was a incident at the radio station involving the State Police and a search. I left that night and drove all night until I reached my folks home in NJ. I interviewed with my "airchecks" at a number of stations in NYC and Boston. Met some great people and got a job in Boston at a station that was changing format. Did it. Tried to talk an owner of another station to change format. The rest is history. I was before my time. I became bored and got involved in the local recording industry. I still keep in touch with the folks I knew and some went to XM or Sirius. I would encourage you to go for your dream. I cherish the time I spent in the broadcasting business. What happened to me? I got involved in foodservice. I am the manager of a 4 star restaurant. Every night is showtime. Instead of introducing the new Hot Tuna album, I am presenting our Ahi Tuna.
6. I would research all of the radio stations in your area. I would email the current jocks and try to make a connection with them. I would research on the web everything I could about being a radio disc jockey including the terminology such as "jock", "stop-set", "segue", "promo", etc. This way, you will sound like you know what you are talking about. After getting a feel for the other jocks at the local station/s, I would call and speak with the operations manager or the program director and ask if you can bring them a demo tape. Since you've never been a disc jockey before, I would just record yourself doing a dialog regarding pop-culture or whatever relates to the station you are wanting a job at. For example, I would go to cmt.com and look up big news if you are wanting to work on a country station. Also, our state (Missouri) has a broadcaster's association where most of the radio stations will list job openings. You might have to start out doing board-ops. That is not an on-air position. Ask your friends and family if they know any current disc jockeys in the area they can introduce you to. Then ask that jock if you can job shadow them for a shift. You can study it in school if you want, but it's more talent than skill. So I would avoid investing time and money before you find out if you've got what it takes. I got my first job as a dj by CALLING the local radio station and using my best "radio voice" to inquire about any open positions. They liked my voice enough to call me in for an interview. I told them I had never done it before but was open to constructive criticism. That hooked them. I was hired on the spot. I trained for a week and then took the overnight position for minimum wage. Now, I'm the midday dj for the most-listened-to adult contemporary station in the area. Good luck to you. I hope to be able to hear you on the radio soon!