The Digital Age

On the 2nd of October 2013 I had my professional studies day and I found the day very enlightening, I was able to learn quite a lot and the one thing that really resonated with me was Martyn Lee, who came to talk to us from Absolute Radio, discussing how media is changing.

When Martyn talked about how media is changing, the point he was making that was most interesting to me was how the digital age is changing radio, one of the main ways this is happening is the rise of the internet, 'In the Digital Age, traditional radio broadcasters have to reassess their presence in the media industry and their relationship with an evolving audience.' (Wright, Won, Trott, 2013) as this quote explains the internet is starting to evolve the media industry, including radio, whether it be by changing audience interactions, through social media websites, the rise of podcasts or how a radio show is made available to its audience, with more and more people listening to radio online, by mobile devices and by tablets. this has caused a big change in the business as seen by how cross-platform radio has become, by making content available online and on television and is also shown by how most radio stations have switched from FM broadcasts to DAB digital radio broadcasts.

The digital age is something that everyone in the industry must be aware of and try and evolve with the business, and for a radio student trying to get into the business, like myself, we must plan ahead for how to break into radio, for example it has made me realise that I should start my podcast that I have been meaning to do as it is a great tool to show what I can do production wise, be able to build a fan-base and help me practise to do work professionally.

I believe that the digital age is something that is good for me breaking into the business and something I can use to my advantage, it may be a trasition that some in the industry would be worried about but I can only see it as a good thing for the radio business as a whole.  

References
Wright, C, Won, J, Trott, V, Date Accessed 2013, Radio in the Digital Age, http://radiointhedigitalage.weebly.com/