Radio Jockey
Though the popularity of radio had suffered badly with the arrival of Television and Internet, the opening of the FM radio to private channels has infused a new life to radio. Radio Jockeying is an exciting, promising and challenging career for those who have a passion for music. It is the only profession in which one may be recognized by their voice.
Radio Jockeys are those who anchor music programmes on radio. The task of a RJ is to entertain the listeners by playing music or conveying messages in a most attractive and sophisticated way. They play requests from listeners, interview guests, manage contests and also provide information on the music, weather and traffic. This is a profession which requires a lot of hard work and presence of mind. It is the performance of these Radio Jockeys that makes or mars the radio station. Mostly youngsters are preferred in this field as they have new ideas, concepts and are bubbling with enthusiasm.
Every successful Radio Jockey has their own style of communicating. To make an imprint in the listeners heart, apart from a good voice, the Radio Jockey should be warm, friendly, spontaneous, dynamic and must possess good communication skills. One who is interested in this field must keep on observing how the RJ's handle the calls, interact with the listeners, how they answer tricky and awkward questions and comments from the listeners etc. Prospective candidates must listen to a lot of radio, try and come up with innovative ideas and pack their voice with energy.
Eligibility
Radio Jockeying is a talent based field. Even though no formal educational qualification is required, a degree or at least plus two is generally a pre requisite.
The most essential factor for a Radio Jockey is a good voice with the ability to modulate as per the occasion. Apart from that, an RJ should have a clear diction, accurate pronunciation, flare and fluency in the language. They should be able to control the pitches of their voice and learn to use them to the best effect. Another distinguishing characteristic to become a successful radio jockey is the speed of response, good sense of humour, individuality, creativity of mind, spontaneity and an intensive knowledge of music. Successful RJs have the ability to twist and turn their speech according to the situation.
Staying updated is very important for a radio jockey. An RJ needs to keep track of the happenings in and around the city. People will enjoy listening to an RJ, if they can sound different on the show. So qualities like mimicry, local dialects and comedy or humor items will help the RJ to carry on their shows.
Personal Skills - Radio Jockeys should be diplomatic in character as they have to interact with people of different nature. They must maintain a down-to-earth and approachable attitude so that listeners can comfortably make calls and speak their hearts out.
Job Prospects & Career Options
The job of a Radio Jockey is of diversifying nature depending on the subject matter of the programme. They do not have a regular 9 to 5 job. They can be called to host or anchor a show anytime of the day or night. Their job profile includes selecting music, scripting and presenting radio shows. The success of the RJ depends the way they present a programme as it can increase or decrease the listeners of the show. The way of anchoring should be original and the presentation should be interesting to the listeners, one has to give variations and punch to ones voice wherever necessary.
A Radio Jockey should also be able to write scripts for a show and should be aware about the latest movies and songs. As Radio jockeys have to deal with sound equipment and computers, they should be familiar with them.
Radio Jockeys can find work in organisations like AIR (All India Radio), Times FM, Radio Mid-Day and other independent radio stations. The two options for entering into this field are by audition or by approaching a software producing company.
AIR (All India Radio) holds auditions for RJs every 3 months in their radio stations in various cities especially in metros. The selection is highly competitive and the selected RJs are given in-house training for 2 months in everything from CD players to mixers to Digital audio technology etc. The software companies generally prefer people with 2-3 years experience. A few radio software producers in Mumbai are Radiostar, Radio Mid-day and Radio Wani.
Because of their voice standard, RJ can do voice-overs for television and radio advertisements. They can also lend their voices to audio magazines and documentaries. RJs also can anchor or compeer TV shows or live shows or events.
Institutes
No formal training is required in Radio Jockeying since it is a talented based field. To develop confidence and flare in this field, one needs to have exposure. RJ hunts or talent search are often conducted by FM channels to bring out original unique talent.
There are a number of universities and institutes that offer courses in communication and broadcasting and a couple of institutes offering training on how to handle auditions and conduct short term workshops that focus on pronunciation, reading styles, music appreciation and creative thinking. But in the field of Radio Jockeying, only few institutes offer specialised courses and most of them have been started by well known anchors.
Click on the following link for the details of Institutes :
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