Play Radio: A Day of Play and Broadcast from Somethin’ Else
Everyone Loves Radio
You can listen at home, in the car, in the bath… pretty much anywhere. You can hear any type of music you want, check the news, laugh at some comedy… but the types of interactions people make with the radio haven’t changed much in 100 years. We want to change that, to play with it and bring radio out of its comfort zone.
.
Who Are Somethin’ Else & What Is Play Radio?
Somethin’ Else are the biggest radio indie in Europe and a well respected digital agency. With over 60 people in the building working across digital and radio we are perfectly placed to try out some new ideas. Have a look at our website to find out more of what we get up to day to day.
.
Play Radio is a day of radio broadcast from Somethin’ Else HQ on 7th July. On that date we will provide a studio, a small phalanx of highly skilled radio producers, some presenters (some you might have heard of), a website to broadcast from and a small amount of budget to make things happen.
.
On that day we will be play testing a series of interactive radio ideas. Some of these will come from Somethin’ Else people, but as we clearly don’t know everything we are opening our doors, facilities, talent and expertise to people with good brains to try out their ideas too.
.
The brief for the day is simple: to help us (and our clients) think differently about radio. We want to revel in collaboration and mix-up gaming, crowd-sourced content and traditional skills to make something really different… and a little scary. In this spirit some ideas will undoubtedly fail, but as we are providing crates of imported European lager on the day, these glorious follies will be saluted!
.
How Will It Work?
At the moment we are asking people for ideas, a short paragraph detailing what they would like to do. (See time-line below). This idea doesn’t have to be practical, we just want to hear what you would like to do with a radio studio / presenter / Twitter / 20 people with mobile phones / monkeys and typewriters etc.
.
At that point we will allocate a Somethin’ Else producer to you, someone who can bring a bit of experience to your idea. You will meet to discuss the idea, meet again to pilot if appropriate and then they will help in any way neccessary to help make the idea on the day.
.
This is a (fairly) open door – if you know someone that might want to be involved please do introduce us immediately! There will however be limited slots, as we will only be on air for half a day1.
.
Following Up
This is about having fun and trying some new ideas, but if you do want to follow up on the idea and maybe think about taking it to a broadcaster there is a obviously a lot of potential. Somethin’ Else works with every major broadcaster in the UK (and many abroad too) on a very regular basis and we will be inviting them to get involved and follow the action (via the Play Radio blog & Play Radio Twitter account) as it rolls out. If an idea works and you want to develop it further after the event we are most definitely up for it.
.
What Is Out There
Much of the current landscape plays with traditional radio norms. Whilst the below is interesting, we would encourage you to come with your own perspective on what you can do with a radio studio.
- Mars Planets Radio swopped out DJs from the Myspace community
- One Golden Square have played with playlisting in Dabbl
- Comparemyradio.com and other companies have made user-controlled radio ideas real, e.g. see jelli.net
- Interior Traces is a 6-part radio drama, video, performance & debate
Time Line
- Send us your ideas by 7th June
- Meet to develop the idea by 18th June
- 1st pilot of best ideas by 25th June
- Online Broadcast on 7th July
Contact Me!
If you want to know more or you have any questions:
Tom Koenig – Producer
020 7250 5575 / tom.koenig@somethinelse.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SEPlayRadio
Website: http://www.somethinelse.com
SE Play Radio's Blog 