Many radio personalities fear the industry’s instability will leave them without a backup plan. Are you feeling insecure about your future? Now’s the time to take action. While you’re still on the air, you have unique access to resources, branding, and an audience. If you can negotiate for digital rights to your content, you can create new future (and perhaps current) opportunities. Here’s how:
Negotiate For Your Digital Rights
One of the biggest assets a radio personality has is their voice and the content they create daily. But if you don’t own the rights to it, you may be left with nothing when your contract ends. Without digital rights to your audio archives, you don’t have an opportunity to convert what you’ve built into a parachute. Owning your digital rights ensures you have an asset that can continue to generate value long after your time on the air.
You may not be able to get the rights to all of your content (see below), but If you have a strong feature or segment, you can repurpose it into a podcast, YouTube series, or Patreon subscription. Many stations (especially in smaller and medium markets) do not effectively archive or distribute past content. They may be willing to let you take ownership if they aren’t monetizing it.
A digital archive means your show can continue in a different form even if you leave the station.
