FREELANCE RADIO PRACTICES: PRODUCING MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES FOR COMMERCIAL RADIO SAM COLEY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Birmingham City University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2017 Birmingham School of Media The Faculty of Performance, Media and English ii For Emily and Tom iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the support of several important people, without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Firstly, thanks to my supervisor Prof. Tim Wall for opening the door to my academic career and for his guidance throughout this study. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of practitioner / lecturer David Corser, who passed away in 2015. I hope he would have approved of this final submission. I would especially like to thank my director of studies, band-mate and ‘214’ veteran, Dr. Oliver Carter, for his role as ‘executive producer’. I am indebted to your astute direction and for being so generous with your time. I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues at the Birmingham School of Media, in particularly Sue Heseltine, for managing to balance my production research alongside my teaching commitments. I am grateful to radio programmers Mike Regal, Andy Ashton and Paul Sylvester who commissioned the documentaries featured in this study and kindly agreed to share their insights into commercial radio. Thanks also to the producers and DJ’s who inspired my practice - and to any listeners who tuned-in to my production work. To my family, John, Fay, Simon and Jason, thank you for your ongoing encouragement and for keeping the radio on. Finally, merci beaucoup and much love to Emilie and Thomas for all their patience and support. iv ABSTRACT Freelance Radio Practices: Producing Music Documentaries for Commercial Radio Samuel John Coley A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD Birmingham City University 2017 Supervisor: Tim Wall Director of Studies: Oliver Carter This study considers the practice of freelance radio producers creating music documentaries for commercial radio audiences. Commercial radio is an underexplored field of study, while investigations into music documentary content for commercial broadcasters are even more uncommon. Previous inquiries into radio documentary production have focused on public service models of broadcasting. These studies often view the subject from a journalistic agenda, overlooking technical approaches and ignoring the commercial imperatives that inform freelance practices. I explore how advances in digital production tools and online technologies shape the work of radio producers. I address wider issues of debate surrounding freelance activities and question whether autonomous producers are capable of creating music documentary content of a calibre consistent with traditional team approaches to documentary production. As an experienced practitioner in the field of commercial radio, I use a practice-based approach to reveal the practices a freelance radio producer adopts to make music documentaries for commercial radio. I argue that this method is essential in order to capture an accurate, first- hand perspective of contemporary industry practice. It draws on a combination of data collection methods including iterative production research, industry interviews, and auto-ethnographic observations as a freelance radio producer across a five-year period of production. This data is interrogated using a theoretical framework that incorporates ideas of political economy, commercial broadcasting and documentary production. I find that the advances in digital production tools and online technologies have streamlined workflow processes and enabled the merging of a various duties into a single production role. I argue that political, economic and commercial considerations impact on the work of radio freelancers in the field by shaping their production output. I acknowledge this is a highly specialised field, as music documentaries are not commonly heard on commercial radio. Yet I assert the industry is favourable towards this form of programming, and recognises its ability to attract new audiences, strengthen listener loyalty and reinforce a station’s brand. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements. ................................................................................... ......................... iv Abstract ................................................................................................................................ v Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures. ................................................................................................................... viii Introduction. ......................................................................................................................... 1 PART I: STATE-OF-THE-FIELD REVIEW Chapter 1, Commercial radio practices ............................................................................ 8 1. Academic investigations in commercial radio ...................................................... 9 1.1. Commercial radio practices ............................................................................... 14 1.2. The political economy of commercial radio ....................................................... 19 1.3. Performance and risk aversion within commercial radio .................................... 28 1.4. The ratings war ................................................................................................. 36 1.5. Conclusion - commercial radio practices ........................................................... 45 Chapter 2, The radio documentary .................................................................................. 48 2.1. Defining the documentary ................................................................................. 49 2.2. Innovation in documentary production .............................................................. 55 2.3. Authenticity within radio documentary production ........................................... 61 2.4. Music documentary for commercial radio environments ................................... 65 2.5. Audience and industry perceptions of the music documentary genre ................. 71 2.6. Conclusion - the radio documentary .................................................................. 75 Chapter 3, Freelance radio documentary production........................................................78 3.1. The role of the documentary producer............................................................... 79 3.2. Freelance radio production in the cultural industries ......................................... 82 3.3. Technological influences on radio documentary production .............................. 87 3.4. Comparisons between audio and visual forms of documentary production ........ 94 3.5. Approaches to editing and structuring ............................................................. 100 3.6. Presentation and voice work ........................................................................... 108 3.7. Conclusion - radio documentary production .................................................... 114 PART II: FINDINGS: PRACTICE-BASED RESEARCH Chapter 4, Methodology……………………………………………………………..........117 4.1. Representations of radio documentary practice ............................................... 120 4.2. Practice-based research ................................................................................... 126 4.3. Iterative production research ........................................................................... 130 4.4 Auto-ethnographic fieldwork ........................................................................... 135 4.5. Interviewing ................................................................................................... 138 4.6. Limitations and ethical considerations ............................................................ 142 4.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 147 Chapter 5, Instinctive production phase: Down Under the Moonlight .......................... 150 5.1. Project overview ............................................................................................. 152 5.2. Commissioning processes ............................................................................... 154 5.3. Production practices ....................................................................................... 162 5.3.1. Interviewing ................................................................................................ 163 vi 5.3.2. Editing ......................................................................................................... 165 5.3.3. Music .......................................................................................................... 171 5.3.4. Presentation ................................................................................................. 175 5.4. Online technologies ........................................................................................ 179 5.5. Weaknesses and limitations ............................................................................ 190 5.6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 194 Chapter 6, Intermediary production phase: XFM 25 ...................................................