Coaches Corner by Sam Weaver
Spinning His Own Tunes Spun Him Right Out The Door …
There’s a difference between pushing creative boundaries and ignoring programming directions. Some air personalities find ways to be creative within format rules, others just ignore them completely. I’ve always understood creative miscues, but outright ignoring instructions is insubordination. Unless there’s a mechanical failure, there’s no excuse. You can have an opinion and disagree off the air, but once the mic is on, not following directions is not alright.
Some Things You Just Don’t Mess With…
From time to time, there’s always that one air personality that tests your patience. It’s usually someone with talent. You let them get away with minor indiscretions because the good they do outweigh the irritating stuff. But for a music station, when it comes to messing around with the music, that’s a “No-go.” All the time, effort, and research that goes into getting the music just right for the airwaves is sacred—and shouldn’t be, pardon the pun, “played with.”
Not Funny To Me…
Only once did I ever have an air personality who went way past what was acceptable. I was driving home, and I thought I was listening to another station when I heard an album comedy cut on the Quiet Storm. My immediate reaction was to call the studio, but I managed to restrain myself. Over the next two hours, he played two more comedy cuts before the shift was over.
All I Could Do Was Shake My Head…
I called the GM as soon as I got home. I told him what I heard and that I would check on everything first thing in the morning. When I got to work, I had the engineer pull the recorded logger tape. We both listened while I also checked the Mediabase Monitor and compared it with the scheduled music log. This personality had played several comedy cuts within two hours and five songs that had been on hold for months but still existed in the automation system backend.
The Meeting…
I gathered up all the data and scheduled a meeting with the air personality and the GM. This talent already had a file full of minor infractions long before I was hired, but this? Way beyond minor. He even brought his agent to the meeting. I handed out copies of the scheduled music log, the Mediabase Music Monitor info, and we all listened to one of the hours of his show in question.
And His Response…
Afterward, the GM gave him a chance to explain. He justified his decisions by saying the comedy cuts “brought a flavor” and the non-scheduled songs were requests. He insisted these were “great” songs that his listeners still loved.
He Just Left…
The meeting took a bizarre turn. He jumped up while his agent was mid-sentence and stormed out of the room. The GM and I felt sorry for his agent, it was embarrassing. Immediately after the meeting, the GM asked me who I had in mind to take over the shift. That was it, the air talent had just fired himself.
Rules Exist For A Reason…
There’s a reason why we stop at stoplights. It’s a rule of law. We all know that if we don’t follow the rules, there are consequences if we’re caught. The same thing applies at work. If you don’t follow directions, eventually, you won’t be working there anymore. And in radio, the last thing you want is a reputation for being unmanageable. Your job at a music station is to be the best accessory to the music you can be.
It’s Not That Hard…
You can’t just do what you want because you think you know better. You don’t own the company and you’re not part of the management team driving the bus. Stay in your lane, follow directions, and stick to procedures. Doing those two things have nothing to do with the creative process. At the end of the day, working within the rules won’t kill your creativity, but breaking them repeatedly might kill your career.
And if you need some friendly advice, drop me an email; samweaver@samweavermedia.com or text me, (972) 672-4812.