Barbed Wire is my radio show on Kerrang! that plays from 5pm to 7pm every Friday. It is based around a different musical topic, show or sub genre each week in order to promote active audience theory/interact with the audience with phone-ins, polls etc. There is a particular focus on local events, bands and artists in order to appeal the target audience demographic. The age demographic of my show is 18-35+ which is the same as the Kerrang! magazine, this is because my radio show matches the drive time or when students would be getting ready to go out and they would be 18+.
The genre of music played on Barbed wire varies among all rock and metal genres so will include music from light rock such as Kings of Leon to heavy rock such as Queens of the Stone Age to light metal such as Sleep Token to Heavy Metal such as Godsmack. It is based off of the tastes of the changing hosts but also of the tastes of the listener call in and the polls they fill in. The show being on Kerrang! will be local/regional radio show (having a wider range of South Yorkshire than just Sheffield) meaning that there's a larger audience targeted than being on a show that is completely local such as Sheffield Live. There will be a range of older and newer music to adhere to the range of target ages so will feature tracks from the 70s up to modern day old music such as Master of Puppets by Metallica new by Kool-Aid by Bring Me the Horizon.
My show has two female presenters and one male presenter to break the gender stereotype of the metal and rock genres where it is thought to be predominantly a male dominated space. The third host Casey Clint is a phone in and therefore other hosts will take her place over later shows, therefore the diversity will shift with every show (in a positive way.) This means that I can go against the negative stereotypes and by having cyclic hosts every show the audience won't get tired of tastes of music and there will be something for everyone, to listen to. The female hosts will target the female audience whilst the music and male hosts targets the majority male audience. The hosts also work as ideal self/partners for both genders. The flow of conversation is meant to appear informal and colloquial to appeal to the younger demographic and also make the older (working) end forget about their formal work environment. Having three hosts was a purposeful decision as it allows more lines to be given out to people and the flow of conversation feels more natural.
To fit the brief, I ensured that my radio show had a Sheffield-centric focus regardless of it being targeted at a wide local area. To reflect this all the bands mentioned were from in and around Sheffield and therefore appeals to the mainly Sheffield based audience. An example is Malevolence, the popular Sheffield band is coming to Walton on Trent and London on their most recent tour. The band was one of the hosts picks but there new music was also mentioned in the news segment showing that the show is set in Sheffield. It also shows that my show is colloquial and Sheffield-centric due to the language used by the news reader of 'Our Sheffield lads.' This statement creates a sense of unity and Sheffield pride between the listeners and the show and makes it seem like they know the band members personally. Targeting a Sheffield orientated audience but focusing on a wider area will allow more people to find out about the tour and about the band. The show is both entertaining and informative as it features information about the bands and about the hosts background in music alongside entertaining music that the audience may or may not be familiar with.
However, after reviewing my show, Barbed Wire, I feel that the script doesn't relate to Sheffield particularly and it is instead focusing on the hosts backgrounds and stories, the only relation to Sheffield is the Sheffield music scene and bands from Sheffield they talk about. There is also there namedropping of the most popular Sheffield band of all time Arctic Monkeys but to show there is other Sheffield music out there there isn't a particularly focus on this band.
I met the brief set by Kerrang! as my radio show spanned between 5-10 minutes, included presenters, included an advert, included a news segment, a jingle, music/background music, a competition or poll. I included all these features in my product by recording dialogue from all three of my presenters, and editing the audio alongside the music and jingles, allowing it to fit the codes and conventions. I then recorded and edited the second part of my jingle, my news segment and my advert later and incorporated this into my second and finished draft of my radio show. My main inspiration for my radio show was the Kerrang! show Kerrang: Radio Unleashed which is a sister station to Kerrang! Radio and Kerrang! Klassic and a subsidiary of Bauer Media. I chose this show due to the target audience and the music they play both being similar to mine. There are differences such as amount of hosts, the show being national and the different scheduling times, however this allows my show to target a greater niche around the Sheffield area. For my jingle I used a amp and guitar sound and edited in distortion to make the jingle sound realistic compared to other radio shows in my genre and. It also appeals to musically inclined listeners as it reflects their interest right from the start of the show. I used a stereotypical Yorkshire accent for my advert segment to reiterate the fact that my show is based around Sheffield and the Yorkshire area. It also creates verisimilitude for the audience as they will be on the drive time/working commute and the Yorkshire accent is associated with the working class.
The one thing I feel sticks out in my radio show is the voice of my news segment. I wanted the voice to sound professional and easily understandable because the news is important, however it juxtaposes the codes and conventions of my genre and the voices of the rest of my show and therefore feels out of place. If I were to redo it I would have used a less professional voice and instead something more casual or informal to better fit the rest of my show.
Overall, I feel that Barbed Wire was well suited to attract the rock and metal niche in Sheffield due to the features I added into the show. It met the set brief by focusing on music and artists from Sheffield, having dialogue relating to Sheffield, and having an advert and news segment also relate to Sheffield. The Sheffield artists mentioned include: Malevolence, Bal Sagoth, The Reytons, The Arctic Monkeys, Dead Sons, Def Leppard, Saxon and Bring Me The Horizon. If I were to do the radio show again I would add a second advert relating to an existing place or event opposed to the fictional Barbed Wire Live festival. Though this matches the brief by being a Sheffield event and having Sheffield artists it would be more appropriate to use and promote an existing location or event in the show to create a better sense of immersion and escapism for the listeners. I would also rerecord some lines as there are small errors or parts of bland dialogue that makes the show sound scripted. I left in some stuttering or corrections of lines by the hosts as this creates verisimilitude and makes it sound more realistic.
