Radio show on a budget

I am one of those people with a varied taste in music. I was searching long and hard to find a single regular show that could tick all of my boxes. I guess I wanted something with a mixture of well known tracks and rarities. I remember listening to “The Mike Read Record Collection” on BBC Radio One – which was great, but that finished in 1990!

21 years later and on a whim I took a short radio broadcasting course at one of my local colleges. Part of the training was to plan and then create a radio show using the college’s own studio. It was great fun and gave me good starter experience. I created my ideal show with a wide variety of tracks – including those that never made it into the UK singles charts. This has inspired me to put together my own podcast with a hope that others will enjoy it too!

Radio Show On A Budget

I have researched many music and broadcasting forums (including the Popscene music forum) and found out about Mixcloud – a legal platform where both aspiring and established DJs can upload content for others to listen to, without having to worry about copyright and licensing issues (the site owners take care of all this so you don’t have to).

I already had some reasonably priced audio editing software (Audacity is a free alternative and very straightforward to use for beginners). The next step was to get a good quality USB microphone – and I guess this was the only real expense. You can start with something very basic and upgrade as you go along.

I sat down one evening and BOOM – MAK-FM was born! I have uploaded my show to Mixcloud and I’m happy to say that almost one year on, I have a number of regular listeners who not only tune in but also provide me with valuable feedback which helps to make the show even better with each upload.

The best thing about it all is that you can create what you always wanted to listen to.

You do not need an expensive studio, equipment and software applications to put together a professional sounding show. You can do this simply with an idea, your own computer, microphone, audio editing software, broadband internet connection and of course, great jingles like those provided by Music Radio Creative which help to make my radio show sound even more professional.

Feel free to have a listen. Feedback as well as suggestions for new tracks are always welcome.