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Dan's
Career Capsule
My
radio career started 5 years ago. Before that, I co-owned a
production company and was on the road doing lighting for Skillet,
Bleach, Earthsuit and a ton of others. After 5 years of heavy
touring I was ready to settle down. I had a burden on my heart that
God wanted a radio station in Fort Wayne, IN that was positive and
geared toward teens. I went to all the Christian radio stations in
town looking for an internship to learn the ropes. Oddly enough,
they all said that they didn't need me. But God of course had his
perfect plan. I ended up at Federated Media on "98.9 The Bear" which
is one of the most vulgar stations in Fort Wayne, playing active
rock for 18-30 year old males. They called me "Dan the Christian
intern". They poked fun at me at times but I knew I was reflecting
Jesus Christ in the lives of people who didn't know Him. I hope and
pray that I represented Him well.
After interning for a while, I was promoted to building maintenance
and then to assistant chief engineer before I left in September of
this year (2007) to go the Remedy.FM.
1.
Personally how do you keep the ministry in the “business”?
It's easy to get
rapped up in numbers and ratings. But in our short existence, we've
seen teens come to give their lives to God. That's truly amazing
and that's why Remedy.FM is here, bottom line. We aren’t here for
those who are healed, but for the sick.
2. Overall, how is
Christian radio different today, from 5 years ago?
5 years ago
radio was excited about RDS and streaming on the net. Now it's "how
can we go HD" and "is there a support group those who hate Sound
Exchange".
3. What do you think
are the main characteristics of today’s Christian radio PD?
As a PD for
Remedy.FM, I find that I'm a Dad who guides, reprimands, mentors,
and is a cheerleader. It's quite challenging.
4. What criteria do you require for a song to be played on your
station?
I require that every song that we play
be "positive" and come from a "positive" band. We don't ONLY play
"Christian" music. A lot of it is, but we also play U2, Coldplay,
The Fray and others that are not necessarily labeled "Christian" but
are truly "seeking" to be the best person they can be. I think we
as Christ followers need to honor that and lead them toward God if
they don't already serve him.
5. What kind of promotions work best for Christian radio?
For Remedy, we give away tons of iTunes
and Starbucks gift cards. Teens love technology and coffee:) You
just need to know your audience. Also, since RemFM is the first of
its kind in Fort Wayne. We are educating our audience on music and
bands. But we still get the occasional request for old DCTalk.
sheeesh.
6. How do you think Christian Record labels can better serve
Christian radio?
It's amazing how bad the communication
is in the communication business. I always have to call and call,
email, call, email and email labels regarding whatever. Remedy is
an internet only station (for now), which doesn't help us get
respect in the record label world.
7. In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles facing Christian
radio today?
Stations need to
grow with the times. The biggest obstacle Christian stations face is
that most fear the internet. The net can be a terrible place. What
more reason do we need as Christ followers than to grab hold of it
and take it back from the evil one and claim it for Gods glory? We
need to think offensively and not defensively. Real ministry is
messy.
If you want to
make a difference and do God’s “will”, you have to get your hands
dirty.
8. What do you believe is the primary role of the Christian radio
air personality?
The #1 role of
the RemFM DJ is a counselor. We get a lot of teens that need help,
whether it's spiritual help, physical abuse, alcohol, sex, cutting,
or whatever. The teens of this generation are crying out and we
need to be there to answer in a Christ like way. LOVE!
9.
What (if any) Christian radio stations do you consider as innovators
today?
RadioU ROCKS. I
admire them greatly. When I was first seeking an internship in
radio, I called Michael at RadioU and told him to send me some promo
packs. I gave them to every station in Fort Wayne and they all
laughed at me. God was telling me to wait. Waiting always sucks.
10.
Where do you see Christian radio in 5 years?
I pray that
positive radio will be a new normality in every market. I see the
birth of SoundExchange will open a door for non-profits to explode
on the net. I hope the auto manufactures will incorporate WiFi and
internet radio technology in their cars as a standard.
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