What It Takes

I'm tired of hearing people complain about how hard it is to find a job in radio, and that these jobs don't pay. Flame me all you want, but think about it first: With no college degree and no ambition - what the heck did you expect?

Have you considered that maybe you don't have what it takes?

#1: Get An Education

In the business world today, even a bachelor's degree isn't enough. Many entry level jobs require a master's! What kind of education do most entry level radio applicants posess? Jack Squat. Jocks say that insurance jobs start at a higher salary today than do radio jobs. Gee, I wonder how much their acccounting degrees cost? If your radio career doesn't happen and you have nothing to fall back on, it's your own fault. Not Mel Karmazin's. Wake up and smell the missed opportunities.

#2: Get Some Ambition:

My first full time radio job paid $15,000. I worked for FREE for a year before that. Yes, jobs are much harder to find these days thanks to deregulation and voicetracking - but ambition seems to be even harder to find. I know many guys who used to drive two hours out of town just to do weekend overnights on small market stations for minimum wage. In fact, I know a guy who is doing that now because he wants to get back on the air. Why should they put that much effort into working for peanuts? Because they tape every shift. They make demos. They shop them. They work their way up the ladder. Why can't you?

#3: Get A Clue!

There comes a point where you have to ask yourself some difficult questions. Do you REALLY have the talent to make it? Do you have enough ambition? Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Or are you just willing to do whatever it takes so long as the job is easy to get and high paying...? Are you willing to move anywhere you have to to land a job, or are you limiting yourself to one little area and then blaming the world when you find that you can't get a job there? Who's fault is that? "Well there used to be jobs here!" Yeah, and you used to be energetic and willing to do anything just to be on the air. What changed, and who's fault is that?

I'm sorry, but I have little pity for someone who is growing old with no gig and no demo to shop. What were you thinking?!? If you want to get back into radio, go to markets that are far too small for the level of talent you think you have. Do weekend overnights. Part time. Swing shifts. Work for free if you have to. Others are doing it, why can't you? Find some crappy day job to support your radio habit, and then work your way back in. NO EXCUSES. "What if I can't get studio time to make a demo?" You're lazy - or dumb. Buy a soundcard for your computer and hook up a friggging tape deck. There's so much free software out there for editing audio. You can make your own demo at home these days that will sound better than the studios most of us had to make our first demos on. No tape deck? No computer? Go to a pawn shop. Pick up the sunday paper. Find one. "What if the station has no aircheck deck? What if the airchecks sound like crap". Lazy lazy lazy. Bring in a portable stereo and tape your own shows. NO EXCUSES.

The moment you catch yourself making an excuse for your lack of success, you need to consider that maybe you just don't have what it takes. I know of a guy who is a small market APD/MD/Afternoon driver AND he has a second job because radio doesn't pay the bills. I guess he just wants it more than
you. Think it's not worth it? Well, let's ask him two years from now when he's working in a major market. I honestly believe he will be because he's got the talent AND the ambition. Do you?

Log on to radio-locator.com and find some tiny town within two hours of where you are. Drive out there and meet the PD's. ALL OF THEM. Working for peanuts today will mean more money tomorrow unless you don't have what it takes.... and who's fault is that?

THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO is surround yourself with people that are all too willing to tell you how great you are and how impossible it is to make it in the business today, because you set yourself up for continued failure. It's easy to find sympathy from others who also may not have what it takes. That won't get you anywhere.

Seek out winners and learn from their success.

If you really want to make it today, then do something to make that happen.