MA Radio, Audio and Podcasting

Radio is a resilient medium, constantly reinventing itself, and the industry is evolving fast, creating new opportunities for audio producers in broadcast, online, and podcasting sectors. You'll be introduced to the contextual history of radio, radio studies, radio management and podcast studies and engage in current debates about radio, audio and podcasting. You'll develop critical reading and essay writing skills, knowledge and understanding of the different sectors of the UK radio and audio industries. You'll also develop skills and awareness of key roles in radio, producing and managing content and people, in community radio and other broadcast/online projects in the mediaHUB and our multi-award-winning university community radio station, Spark.

The expansion of podcasting means that creative audio skills are more relevant than ever. Learn the core skills you need to plan and produce creative work for established radio networks and these new digital spaces. Gain the research and production skills to enable you to develop and produce your own portfolio of audio content, including skills in visualisation. We will also give you experiences to help you navigate the process used to pitch skills to the BBC, where you will get feedback from experienced producers. The BBC have commissioned programmes pitched to this module including ‘The Egg Dealer’ and ‘A Journey Through English’. Will your idea be next?

Whether you intend to work in the BBC, in commercial radio, in podcasting or as a freelance creative producer, this module will enable you to develop and realise audio, radio and podcasting projects. These projects will be supported by visiting industry speakers and workshops that will develop your knowledge and skills of managing programming, broadcast and online content, people, partnerships and resources. You will also explore business opportunities within the creative audio sector and develop skills to evaluate and critique your work and develop critical management skills for different sectors of the radio, audio and podcasting industries. Media Law and compliance workshops with direct relevance to broadcast and online will prepare you for identifying potential issues and pitfalls in live and prerecorded work.

This module will teach you the skills to make your podcast stand out amongst the boundless competition; the radio industry may feel like a gated community but we’ll give you the keys to unlock your potential in creative audio production. You will take your podcast and radio production skills to the next level – producing creative content for Spark and other distribution platforms. You will create a portfolio of work that challenges the current and established formats in the audio industry and beyond. 

In this final module, you will consolidate your experiences into a final project that showcases your skills as a content creator. It might be that you want to produce creative drama, or explore stories or ideas through documentary. You might want to show your skills as a live radio producer by creating work on Spark, or even manage projects at the station. Equally, you could use that great podcast idea you have and produce it as part of your first step into the world of freelancing. But don’t be limited by our ideas; this is your chance to make your mark and develop your niche!