Playing The Game In 2009

It's The Same Game But With Fewer True Players

This year, 2009, is being described as the most tumultuous year our industries have ever experienced. Whether or not you have been directly involved in the changes that have taken place recently, all of us have pondered the situations brought about by these abrupt moves.

The fact is if you are in the radio or music business and haven't been fired or directly affected by the termination of someone in your working environment, you're extremely lucky. In fact, it may just be a matter of time.

Develop The Callousness To Cope

So what should you do when it happens to you? First of all, you need to be prepared before it happens. We all live in a twisted, psychological world where we are often forced to pretend that things are all right.

All of us are here because of our passion for the business. But in 2009, we need to understand that just because we love it doesn't mean the business will automatically love us back. It just doesn't work that way. You should not confuse your passion and love with honesty and integrity. Business decisions are made or business purposes. Our industries are huge businesses -- and decisions are often made by passionless people who are simply pouring over numbers, not people. Don't fool yourself. No matter what you are told, you are part of a complicated business ... not a member of a family.

When you lose your job, the most important thing to remember is: Don't take it personally. It is unbelievably tough to do this, but that's part of what you must do to survive. You must develop the callousness to cope. The fact is that unless you're really screwing up or in over your head, usually your termination is part of a numbers game.

Playing The Numbers Game

The numbers game is part of corporate policy. It's part of the corporate policy that dictates change. For the bean counters who control our lives, they see this as survival. But what about our survival? Don't spend too much time trying to figure out why, other than to make sure you are doing your job to the very best of your ability. Don't try to place blame. Move on.

Let's say you were multi-tasking and doing a great job. You were going the extra mile, working on the weekends and being the best you can be and you still get chopped. Be content in the knowledge that you worked hard for yourself. Take some pride in the job that you did. If the company failed to recognize your hard work and talent, the company is the loser, not you. You should take pride in the job you do -- not in the job you have, or had.

It's important in this numbers game that you let others know about the job you're doing. Don't just assume they know because they see you sweat or they note the long hours you are putting in. Every company still is looking to keep as many qualified professionals as they can. They may try to save you by asking you to forgo that raise you know you earned or even ask you to take a pay cut. Understand that this is part of the company's numbers game and cultivate the opportunities before they arise. It's a lot easier to find a job when you have one.

Plan For the Worst & Hope For the Best

You still need to plan for the worst and hope for the best. We all want to remain in the status quo. We want to remain comfortable. If you're well-paid and successful, why leave? Maybe you won't have the choice. But, to thine own self be true. Do your job for self-satisfaction. Take pride because you do a good job, not because someone else is impressed.

The radio industry in general -- and the Urban formats in particular -- will always need visionaries to step up and plan for the future success of the stations they're responsible for. It needs people who can look down the long and winding road and lead their stations down the path toward continued success.

To become a true player in 2009, you may have to change your strategies and to do so with passion and without getting "played."

To continue to be a true, employed player, you've got be aware of trends in music, syndication, research and business. A lot of players in various positions and levels we've spoken with recently say that media in general, and terrestrial radio in particular, seems to be in decline. They attribute a least some of reason for the decline to radio's dwindling market share and ad revenues.

However it is exhibited, most of us in radio are almost always passionate. If we weren't passionate, we wouldn't choose a life and career that rarely offers rewards beyond those gained in the practice of our crafts. Some people think passion itself guarantees quality and employment, but one has less to do with the other than we assume. It's easy enough to point out a successful person as an example and say he or she has such passion that it naturally led to a lengthy employment run. But you can be sure that there are dozens of others just as passionate and just as talented who never made it or who lost their jobs. They are no less true players.

In the final analysis, it's passion and its application that can give you an edge in a normal economy. If you're wondering how this relates to you and being unemployed, the point is that the same problems exist in our industry and in our niche culture that we worked so hard to develop. We have a lot of passionate radio enthusiasts who spend a significant amount of time and effort on their systems, their formats and the development of their careers.

There are many air personalities, programmers, consultants and managers who are very serious about what they do for a living. Additionally, of course, we have plenty of companies that seemingly care deeply about the products and services they create. But none of them taken together is a guarantee of quality or employment. You can have all the enthusiasm and passion in the world, but if you work for a company with a "bleeding bottom line" or one that only cares about profit, you will continue to be forced to operate on a shoestring. And all you can really do on a shoestring is trip -- and not the way you want to. Face that reality and do the best you can.

The reality is that the contemporary structures of today's broadcast media ownership and regulation, as well as recent patterns of consolidation of newspaper and other media ownership, have switched from pressure to turn ever-increasing levels of profit to just stopping the bleeding. Unfortunately, these conspire far more to undermine the passion in our industry and, ultimately, to constrain the flow of talent, ideas and passion that is our lifeblood.

So keep all these things in mind and remember if you do get fired, don't take it personally and don't panic. Think back. You were looking for a job when you found the one you have now.

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