“Finding new talent is essential to stay relevant with young people” . He looks further afield, trying to lower the barriers to entry, to create a truly diverse and talented group of presenters.
Between Christmas and New Year Radio 1 Aled populated the entire station with new talent through an uploader anyone could send a demo too. Aled genuinely believes had they not done this they would have missed out on so much talent. It meant anyone from student radio, hospital radio and local radio could apply to be on Radio 1.
Aled announced that the uploader he used is going to be public in the UK with The Radio Academy to allow Youth Radio stations to attract new talent. Talking about sifting through demos he says he finds it helpful to categorise presenters – do they have a music specialism? Are they radio experts? Then you have presenters he considers ‘personality presenters’ and brand new talent. Plus a final category – famous people. Though note the people you think are famous might not be the same people young people think are famous.
It’s also important to develop presenters. He helps coach presenters constantly, suggesting areas presenters can work on and having a good relationship with his team who also comment on positives and negatives. Development is important for all presenters, after all “none of us are the finished article”.
