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Swipe Right for Radio: Eryn Cooper's 5 Essential Tips for Media's Future
Episode 196 • 4th May 2024 • Brandwidth On Demand • David Martin & Kipper McGee
00:00:00 00:17:26

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This time, we feature Nashville’s Multimedia Queen.

WSM-AM's Eryn Cooper, a multimedia journalist, morning show producer, emerging radio personality, and self-proclaimed "professional fan." Eryn discusses her career path, how she's advanced from radio newbie to assistant brand manager and on-air talent in just two years, and her current roles working for the Grand Ole Opry, Circle Country TV, and the Coffee, Country, and Cody Morning Show. She’s the kind of person who can “do it all”, from production and hosting to normalizing the “fangirl to professional fan” pipeline

Key Points You Won't Want to Miss:

[03:00] Eryn balances a variety of roles, from Nashville's Multimedia Queen to running her production company and engaging with stars at the Grand Ole Opry and WSM-AM.

[00:04:00] We learn how experiences in TV news, sports, CHR radio, and digital platforms storytelling have helped Eryn develop effective practices while learning to avoid common pitfalls.

[06:00] Eryn has observed several emerging trends shaping the future of multimedia journalism and marketing and advises us on how to prepare for navigating these changes.

[08:42] Eryn reveals how she enhances the Grand Ole Opry's outreach using digital strategies like social media to attract new audiences. Caution: this is NOT your parent's Social Media!

[00:09:55] We hear a lot about WORK/LIFE balance and Eryn explores how she practices it through her varied interests, such as fashion, baking, and charity work, which she shares on her website and social channels.

Check out One-Minute Martinizing -"Patience"

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Transcripts

Eryn:

Storytelling is out of almost countless channels and touchpoints

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now, whereas before we would turn on

the TV and we'd get the news, or we'd

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turn on the AM or FM radio and get

the news or the stories of the day.

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Obviously, social media is an

aspect of it where people are

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going to find their stories.

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In, in addition to, or instead of those

traditional channels, which I still

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love, and my training is rooted in those

foundations, welcome to BRANDwidth On

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Demand, your Guide to Rebooting Radio.

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What I would encourage anyone who

wants to continue storytelling or

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to start storytelling, no matter

your niche, no matter what stories

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you wanna tell, there is an outlet

and a place for you to tell them

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VO: BRANDwidth On Demand.

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Rebooting radio with a different

take on all radio can be.

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Now your guides through the media

morphosis, David Martin, and author

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of the book, BRANDwidth On Demand,

media branding coach, Kipper McGee.

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Dave: Well this time we peek

into the dynamic world of a

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versatile, multimedia journalist,

producer, and radio personality.

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In the span of two years, she's gone

from radio newbie, to assistant brand

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manager, And on air talent at Nashville's

newest country station, Y'all 106.

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7.

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Now as Nashville's multimedia queen,

she produces for the grand old Opry and

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circle country TV and one very special

radio station where she's part of the

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Coffee Country and Cody morning show.

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She's the kind of person who can

really do it all from production,

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hosting, to normalizing the fan girl

to professional fan pipeline BRANDwidth

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On Demand is proud to welcome digital

wizardess producer and host from the

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most famed country station in the world.

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The legendary BRANDwidth On Demand.

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BRANDwidth On Demand Cooper.

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Eryn: Yeah, that wassurreal

to hear you say, holy cow.

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You're going to follow me every day

and wake me up with that as my alarm.

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Motivate me.

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Kipper: Well, and also CMA nominee.

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Tell me, tell us about that.

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Eryn: Oh my gosh.

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Yes.

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So for CRS, I am one of five folks.

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The other four are just

absolute superstars.

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I am nominated for the new face

of country award, which is.

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Insane!

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I still haven't processed it.

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I'm just so beside myself and honored.

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Kipper: So, besides being honored

and pretty soon having a big

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award shelf to match all your, uh,

your records and stuff there that

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you got, you wear a lot of hats.

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I mean, how do you manage being

Nashville's multimedia queen plus running

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your own production company working for

the big grand old Opry Enterprise and

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also the stars that visit them all often.

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How do you do it?

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Eryn: Oh my gosh, it is

an acceptable answer.

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I don't know how, uh, I, I

think the only explanation.

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Uh, as Dave said, I am a professional fan

and that's all I've ever wanted to be.

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I have been obsessed with music and

artists and bands and the culture and

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phenomena around them my entire life.

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And I never saw a way where I would have

a job that wasn't something I loved.

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They're working in this industry

as the two of you know, you

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can't do it if you don't love it.

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And we certainly don't do it

for the glamor or the money.

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Most of the time we do

it because we love it.

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And so when I moved here two years

ago without a job, I told myself

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I have no choice but to succeed.

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So I fell in love with the process

and fell in love with working hard

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and trying to do what I've always

wanted and make my dream a reality.

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And by the grace of my incredible

support system and the powers

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that be, I am doing it right now.

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Dave: Right.

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Well, BRANDwidth On Demand, your

background ranges from TV news to

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sports, CHR radio, digital storytelling.

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You really have done a lot.

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How has your approach

to storytelling evolved?

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Eryn: Oh my gosh.

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The one thing that I think has stayed

the same is the base of it being myself.

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Whenever I would go into an

interview, whether it be with.

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A college or professional athlete or

coach, or when I worked in news, a local

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leader or a world leader, and now with

artists, you get folks to open up to

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you and to tell their story by you being

just as genuinely interested as you are.

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You're not putting on an act.

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You're not putting on a persona.

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You're you and you're

interested and engaged.

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So the first part of my answer is by that

being the core and that not changing.

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Buddy.

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Almost conversely, but also the

same, it's evolved by finding my

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dream and finding my path into music.

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I have felt more welcome to be

myself and leaning into that.

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Whereas when I worked in news, for

instance, although an incredibly

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pivotal and crucial experience in

my broadcast career, I'm too happy.

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And I'm too fun to cover the

oftentimes very intense and

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upsetting Base basis of new stories.

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And I wasn't able to cover the

kinds of stories that spoke to me or

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cover them in the way that I would

want to do it, because you have a

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responsibility to tell stories a

certain way when you work in news.

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And so leaning into being myself and just

embracing the excitement and the feelings

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that I have towards different stories.

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Kipper: So as a.

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Kind of a one stop shop storyteller.

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What trends do you see right

now kind of shaping the future

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of multimedia journalism?

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And how would you suggest those

following in your footsteps should

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be, and how do you suggest those

following in your footsteps should

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be preparing now for what's coming?

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Eryn: Oh, wow.

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Okay.

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The obvious answer to that is,

is storytelling is out of almost

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countless channels and touch points

now, whereas before we would turn on

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the TV and we'd get the news or we'd

turn on the AM or FM radio and get

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the news or the stories of the day.

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Obviously.

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Social media is an aspect of it

where people are going to find their

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stories in addition to or instead

of those traditional channels,

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which I still love and my training

is rooted in those foundations.

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What I would encourage anyone who

wants to continue storytelling or to

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start storytelling would be to lean

into and embrace these oftentimes

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free tools we have, whether it

be TikTok, whether it be Reels.

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I need to get more versed in

Twitch and those different ways

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of streaming and broadcasting.

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I was telling some radio colleagues the

other day, actually, Communication has

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been evolving since the beginning of time.

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The way that we talk to each other

and tell stories has been the main

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way that society has evolved forever.

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And it will continue to evolve us

as professional communicators, us

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as broadcasters, don't we have a

responsibility to be ahead of the

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curve and to adapt to communicating

and lead the way and encourage those

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adaptions, right, or adaptations.

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I think adaptions.

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One of those two words.

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I would just encourage anyone that is

weary of social media or thinks that

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it's beyond them or that they're beyond

it to stay in touch with your ever

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evolving audience and give it a try.

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I think social media, although it can

be very polarizing and controversial,

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I personally believe that social media

has a place for everybody and it's a

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very inclusive environment and that's

why I love it so much and no matter

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your niche, no matter what stories

you want to tell, there is an outlet

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and a place for you to tell them

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Dave: Well spoken, Eryn, you know,

let's talk for a moment about the

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institution that is the Grand Old

Opry and your experience there.

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How do you see digital strategies

like social media, which you

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just spoke of and interactive?

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Experiences, amplifying the

magic of that historic venue.

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Eryn: Oh my gosh.

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I see it as, as the way to continue

to pass down the history of it.

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I just helped launch the Tik

Tok for WSM a few weeks ago.

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And now, with the account only existing

for a short time, we have about 3, 000

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followers, which granted is small in the

grand scheme of social media accounts,

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but that's 3, 000 potentially newer people

that didn't know about the Grand Ole Opry.

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And even if it's not all 3, 000,

there's got to be at least one person

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that now knows about WSM and might've

become curious about the brand.

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Researching it more and

wanting to learn more.

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The Grand Ole Opry is the most historic

place for country music and social media

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is going to keep carrying that history

forward and tell that story in new ways.

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Kipper: Well, we can tell by

your website and social channels

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that you're into a lot of stuff.

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And by the way, we will link to those

in the show notes for the podcast.

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But the question is.

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Other hobbies help you maintain the

balance and creativity in your busy world.

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What do you do to relax?

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What else happens there?

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Eryn: Oh my goodness.

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Well, I know the both of you can

entirely relate as can many people

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that, that work in this industry

or in any industry that you're in.

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People bring home with them and

because they love it, uh, oftentimes

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the hobbies bleed into it.

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Uh, I would say going to concerts,

but I feel like that's related.

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I love live music.

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It is a huge reason why

I wanted to go into this.

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I think concerts and live music is one of

the most uniting experiences, but if we're

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gonna talk outside of music and outside of

listening to my records, which as you can

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see, just cover my wall here, it would be.

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running.

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I love to run when all of us

were cooped up inside during the

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pandemic and the gyms were closed.

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My apartment gym was closed back

when I was in news in Chattanooga.

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How was I supposed to exercise?

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So I started just running

outside and I went from running.

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What was previously maybe two miles

at a time on the treadmill to running

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about seven and a half miles outside

in the span of a couple of months.

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Yeah.

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My hips are going to thank me

for that here in a few years.

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They already kind of do, but

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Kipper: my ice cubes keep bouncing

out of the glass when I try that.

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So,

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Eryn: oh my gosh, but I love to run.

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I actually live.

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Right by a national

park here in Nashville.

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That's a big hill.

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And I torture myself by running

up and down hills any day that

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it's not monsooning or tundra

ing here in Nashville, which

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has been a trend as of late.

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So I love, yeah, I love to

run and I have a kitty cat.

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Her name is Sugar.

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She's white and fluffy.

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I'm surprised she hasn't

made an appearance yet.

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So I like to spend time with her

and she's a great, um, Calming

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presence in my life as someone who

is naturally extremely energetic.

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Having a cat that just sits

there really brings you down.

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Yeah, I'd say running my kitty cat.

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And then every once in a while I'll

bake some desserts for my friends.

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Dave: BRANDwidth On Demand

Cooper, professional fan girls.

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Somebody you'd love to hear from.

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We'd love to hear from you.

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Email us show at BRANDwidth On Demand.

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com or reach out to us on social

BRANDwidthplus on Insta, Facebook,

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Twitter, that's X BRANDwidthPlus

plus P L U S BRANDwidthPlus.

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Kipper: And if you're enjoying this or

even learning stuff from it, we invite

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you to spread the word so others can too.

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Just tell him to follow Brandwith On

Demand wherever you're getting this.

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Dave: Coming up, BRANDwidth On

Demand shares the one opportunity

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that she sees for station people

that's hiding in plain sight.

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Spot-1: I'm a music director

at any radio station USA.

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I do a five hour shift,

hours of production, live

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appearances out the Yazoo.

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And oh yeah, my PD just heard two

slow songs back to back followed

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by three of the same artists.

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My station sounds like a dumpster fire.

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If you have any other music scheduling

software, this could be you.

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Music master and your station will sound

like a well curated entertainment machine,

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and you could avoid mayhem like me.

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Details at music, master.

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com.

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VO-F: Imagine having your own

prep team working nonstop.

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A producer picking the best content,

a copywriter making every story

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hit home, and a marketer finding

new ways to grow your audience.

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All while a digital team keeps your feeds

fresh with posts, updates, and videos.

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What if these pros were available 24

seven market exclusive and affordable

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for your radio station, power up your

content before the competition does

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with radio content pro see the demo

in action, just scroll down the show

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notes or visit radio content, pro.

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com.

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Slash BRANDwidth On Demand

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VO: Listen today, lead

tomorrow BRANDwidth on Demand.

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Dave: Eryn Cooper, professional fan

girl is with us today and Eryn, from

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your multimedia vantage point and

living as you do in that multimedia

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world, what is the one opportunity

that you see for radio...for station

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people, that most miss, because

it's 'hiding in plain sight'?

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Eryn: I would say it's providing

additional storytelling resources that

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we're all encouraging each other to use,

but maybe aren't something that we all

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just naturally are subscribed to or have.

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For instance, I was, this is a great

question because I was talking To

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a bunch of my radio colleagues in a

group text about this the other day,

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things like Adobe suite 55 a month,

I think, and that gives you access

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to Adobe Audition, Premiere Pro,

After Effects, and numerous other.

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Adobe apps that allow you to edit

audio, video, and make graphics,

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motion graphics for different things.

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If radio stations really want to embrace

social media and bring people in through

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that way and establish a larger and

newer fan base, providing the resources

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for your talent, who are often the

people, not only being your talent.

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But creating and thinking of and posting

these social media things, giving them

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the resources to do that, to edit their

things, and maybe even having a workshop

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where if there is one talent in particular

who seems to really have the social media

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thing down, during that staff meeting

that you have once a quarter or once

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a month, Make that a workshop for that

talent to really shine with their skills

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and show other talent or producers who

may not be as well versed and encourage

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them to learn from each other and

take that time to grow your talent.

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And their abilities on the clock

and using that, those resources.

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Cause one of the number one things I

hear is, Oh, I've never used that tool.

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Or I don't know how to use that tool.

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Or how do you think of these things?

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I think if we're going to encourage people

to do these things, then the station

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should fill it, facilitate time to learn.

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And then.

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Those tools that can make the highest

quality products for those skills.

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Dave: Our thanks to Eryn Cooper.

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She is amazing.

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Kipper.

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We have links to all of her

stuff and more in the show notes.

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Just scroll down on your phone.

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Kipper: As always, thanks to exec

producer, Cindy Huber, and to our

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associate producer, Hannah B, who

suggested that we had to talk to

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BRANDwidth On Demand and boy, are we glad.

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Dave: You bet.

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Great stuff.

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Kipper: Now

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Dave: coming up next.

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2 Guys Named Chris: Hi, it's

Chris Kelly and Chris Dimm.

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We're members of the Two Guys

Named Chris show and great to

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be on BRANDwidth On Demand.

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Coming up, we're going to talk

about our history in radio.

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Chris #2: And this is

my first ever podcast.

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So if a cat jumps on my

lap, don't be surprised.

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Watch for it.

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Dave: That's a wrap, Kipper.

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In the new One Minute Martinizing,

we'll take a look at the

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professional art of Practice.

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While athletes do it, musical acts are

at the top of their game, practice, just

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two examples there, pros who practice.

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Uh, do you?

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I'm Dave Martin.

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Kipper: And I'm Kipper McGee.

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May all your BRANDwidth be wide.

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