14. You wait for ONE audio job, then 12 come along
Where I needed a n̶e̶i̶g̶h̶b̶o̶u̶r̶ job where you there, were you there?
Hi everyone!
I really admire this freelancer’s dedication to the audio industry. From moving countries to setting up a non-profit audio production company, it’s clear that she cares about audio, and cares about the industry too.
One thing she said that stuck with me was about getting your foot in the door. People often say the hardest part of a career is starting, and we have all been there. You apply for your first industry job, are told that despite the great interview, you don’t have enough professional experience, and then are told to get some more professional experience and come back. But if no-one will employ you because you don’t have enough experience how will you get the experience? It’s an infuriating catch-22.
One company that is quite good at taking chances on absolute rookies – and I know shots will be fired in my direction, is the BBC (come at me, I said what I said). Lots of editors have taken chances on absolute newbies and it’s almost always been the best decision they have ever made (exhibit A over here). It’s one of the benefits of big organisations: if someone’s not quite there yet professionally, there are lots of people with time who can help them, as this contributor said in a recent Sound Money post. Anyway hope you enjoy this week’s chat!
If you want to get better acquainted with this newsletter, read the first ever post here. And if you want to contribute to this newsletter please get in touch at oparaandwade@gmail.com.
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Could you introduce yourself?
I'm a freelancer across some big-name global media companies as well as with some production houses. On the side, I work on my own audio production company that I started last year. In my free time, I work on audio documentaries and experimental pieces that really fulfill me and light me up. Basically, I love my job so much that I'd do it in my sleep – sometimes I do.
How did you get into audio?
I got into audio when I was fifteen. I grew up in a very small and remote corner of the world. There was no real audio scene and a very small radio scene to be involved with, but I did what I could. I took an additional Audio/Visual credit just to scratch my audio itch, I joined the local TV station trainee scheme as an audio recordist, I interned at the local station at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings and thought it was the most glamorous thing... I did what I could.
I caught the audio bug after listening to Nick Grimshaw’s first breakfast show on Radio 1. Granted, it was more of a dinner show for me because of the time difference [our contributor grew up outside of the UK], but either way, I was hooked. I grew up on NPR and Radiotopia but British radio had a different life to it – it made me feel like I was in the room. I resolved that day that I would move to England and work for BBC radio. It didn't go exactly like that, but it went pretty close.
When I was eighteen, I moved to London and did a radio production degree at uni. I worked some odd unpaid jobs at uni but I mainly dedicated my free time to the student station. I went on to manage the station and win accolades that felt like the best thing I would ever do at the time. I was inundated with job offers and opportunities after that prestigious day, but because of my precarious visa situation, I had already enrolled in a master’s degree (to stay in the country) and so could not accept many of the offers.
A master’s in audio production is one of the most fulfilling things I have done so I don't regret that decision one bit, but it did put my career on a sidetrack slightly. Towards the end of my degree, the BLM protests started to sweep across the globe and radio stations started responding. They responded... badly, to say the least. From this, I founded a company that was built on calling out the lack of diversity and equal opportunity in the UK radio industry. This company, and its attached podcast, gained a lot of traction and recognition – I attribute this, and my robust skillset, to the freelance jobs I have been offered.
And the gross incestuous thing about the UK audio industry is that once you have one job – you have all the other ones you will ever get. I have had seven job offers in the last four months! I interviewed and applied for one of them. Granted, it was a big fish, but it is still very telling about how on-boarding and hiring practices weed out a lot of great, diverse talent.
How much money do you make on average per annum?
Since I haven't worked a full year in the industry yet (I graduated with an MA 2020) I'm not sure how to answer this. I make a day rate of £250.
How do you feel about the money you earn?
Morally, I don't think anyone makes enough money, including myself. However, I think for where I am in my career, I feel happy with the amount of money I earn and I feel proud of my ability to know my worth and charge accordingly.
Compared to friends in other industries do you feel like you make a good income?
This is a loaded question because compared to the friends I grew up with, I make a lot more money. But I also grew up white, able-bodied, straight-passing and in an upper-middle-class dual-parent household (say that five times fast).
That's all to say that my parents paid for my undergrad and my living expenses and my late father’s estate paid for my master’s. I would not be where I am without generational wealth and white privilege. So… yeah, I make more than them. But, if my friends and I had been dealt the same cards growing up, I can't say I would. I'm talented, I know that, but that's not really how the game works unfortunately.
What change would you like to see in the audio industry?
At this point, I think it's safe to say I have not tried very hard to conceal my identity. I am a big champion of transparency so I am not worried about that. That is all to say that I have a lot to say about what should change. But, I say it every day through Radio Silence.
Radio Silence is a non-profit company whose aims are rooted in elevating the voices of all underrepresented groups within the UK audio, radio, and broadcasting industry through research, community outreach, and our podcast platform. It's about sharing stories in an effort to answer the question, ‘How can we do better?’
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Thank you to our contributor, Pulama Kaufman from Radio Silence.