ArtSound Newsletter — February 2025

A lot is happening at ArtSound! Read on for news about:

  • Garden Concert
  • Introduction to Radio Broadcasting Course
  • Podcasting 101 postponed; ArtSound’s podcasting meetup
  • Writing competition & call for radio-drama scripts
  • Listener survey results
  • Programming aims updated
  • 2025 membership marathon
  • Radiothon donations
  • Technology update
  • ArtSound’s 2025 Membership and Fundraising Drive
  • How You Can Help

 

Garden Concert

ArtSound’s next fundraiser garden concert is scheduled for Sunday February 9 at 4pm on the shady lawns of the Manuka Arts Centre. Our performers are outstanding Canberra-based musicians, Stella Eve and The Dalmatians.

Admission is a very modest $12 general, $10 ArtSound members and concessions (seniors, students), $20 for families, and under 16 free of charge. Buy your tickets at the gate. We have seats for about 50 people, and lawn space for many more picknickers.

Introduction to Radio Broadcasting

ArtSound is offering its popular “introduction to radio broadcasting” course on four Tuesday evenings in April. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to sit behind the microphone and present a one- or two-hour radio program, this four-week course will provide you with the basics, and perhaps whet your appetite to discover more.

Participants can expect a mix of hands-on, in-studio practice as well as presentations by some of ArtSound’s experienced presenters. The course begins on Tuesday April 1 from 5.30pm to 9pm (with a refreshment break), and continues on the three following Tuesdays: April 8, 15, and 22.

Tuition is $300 per person and includes all materials. Enrolments are open until Friday March 21. For more information or for any questions, email training@artsound.fm or simply go online to book your spot.

Podcasting 101 postponed

Our short course on podcasting, originally scheduled for February 2025, has been postponed until May. More details soon.

ArtSound’s podcasting meetup

Members are invited to attend ArtSound’s fortnightly Podcasting Meetup. It’s an informal meeting of podcast enthusiasts who gather to discuss and plan podcast skills and content.

The group meets every second Monday from 5:30-6:30pm in ArtSound’s dedicated podcast studio.

To inquire about joining in, write to podcast@artsound.fm.

Writing competition: Canberra Days

Everyone has at least one story!

ArtSound is running a “Canberra Days” literary competition.

We’re looking for local writers’ stories set in Canberra in the past, present or future, written in the first person, and between 1,000 and 3.000 words in length.

A judging panel will shortlist up to six stories, which ArtSound will record using Canberra actors for broadcast on ArtSound Radio Theatre, which airs Sunday at 4pm (repeated Monday at 10pm).

The author of the best story, as judged by the panel, will receive a prize of $200.

Some requirements: submissions must be in either Word or PDF format; title and author’s name, and email address must be displayed at the top of the first page; text should be in 12 point font with 1.5 line spacing; pages should be numbered; authors are limited to two submissions; all submissions should be new works.

Submissions will be accepted until February 28, 2025.

Please send submissions to admin@artsound.fm, with the following in the email title line: “Submission Canberra Days – [author name].”

Note that in addition to recording and broadcasting the shortlisted stories, ArtSound may elect to publish them under its ArtSound Press imprint. Any profits from publications by ArtSound Press are used to fund ArtSound in its ongoing support of Canberra arts and artists. If a book is published, authors submitting work to this competition agree to allow the publication of their story without payment, but they will retain copyright and receive two copies of published work.

Radio plays wanted

Do you have a script that would be suitable for radio, or even an idea for a radio play but you’re not sure where to start? ArtSound Radio Theatre may be able to help. Drop us a line at admin@artsound.fm.

ArtSound listener survey results

ArtSound has completed its 2024 listener survey. Thanks to everyone who took part.

If you’d like to see the results, you can do that online (minus many much-appreciated qualitative comments about our service).

Some striking findings were:

How many people listen at home, and how relatively few listen in their cars

How highly our listeners rate us

How much our listeners listen to us, and how clearly they prefer ArtSound to almost any other outlet

‘

And why do our listeners tune in?

We’ll be delighted to hear from you, and you’ll be helping to take ArtSound into its fifth decade of operations. Each year, we broadcast hundreds of interviews and concerts with local artists in many fields, along with specialty programming that supports and fosters arts activities in the ACT region.

2025 is ArtSound’s Big Year of Fundraising — and Membership!

ArtSound’s Fundraising Committee is building on recent successes to revive ArtSound’s financial fortunes after some tough years.

Our campaign is proceeding on various fronts. We’re holding an ongoing membership drive, and in coming months an end-of-financial-year donations drive.

During the year, we’ll hold a variety of other fundraising events, too, including concerts like the one described above.

We’d particularly like to boost our membership, as that can provide a solid financial base for the year’s operations.

ArtSound aims to increase the benefits that members enjoy. Already members, and non-members, receive 24/7 radio every day of the year, but we’d also like to increase the number and range of businesses that will offer discounts to our members. We’ll list these on our website’s membership page.

Can you help us to identify or recruit such business supporters? If you know of any that might be interested, please write to Bart Meehan (bart.meehan@gmail.com) with details (including any contact details, if you have them).

Or, contact us and talk about how you might help: admin@artsound.fm

Help us to continue to upgrade our broadcasting gear. That will ensure we bring you the best specialist music and arts programming in the region (and streaming to the world).

Simply go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-console-artsound and follow the prompts. Or contact us and talk about how you might help: admin@artsound.fm

Thank you.

 

Other ways you can help

Do you have skills that you’d be willing to lend to the ArtSound cause? Please let us know. Below are some areas where you might be able to help – but perhaps you have skills that we don’t know how to profit from, until you tell us!

Needs include:

Welcoming Committee members

Writers of scripts for on-air announcements, press releases, and the like.

Management and financial wizards

Advertising reps

Presenters

Program producers and assistants

Concert recording engineers

Music library helpers

If you can help, please send your contact details and a description of how you think you can help to help@artsound.fm. Or phone 6295 7444 weekdays between 10am and 2pm.

If you associate with artists of any kind, you could promote the station to them.

Any way you can spread the word is useful to ArtSound.

 

ArtSound FM’s mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community in the ACT region. Your memberships and donations sustain our year-long programming including our artist-centred features and interviews and our many broadcasts of live recordings of concerts in and around Canberra.

Thank you for being part of ArtSound!

Please go online to artsound.fm to take out membership or donate. Or, send your contact details and a description of how you think you can help to help@artsound.fm.

Or phone (02) 6295 7444 — if you don’t reach someone right away, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

ArtSound is an all-volunteer community radio station.

 

Please forward this newsletter to any possibly interested friends and family members. And if you have any suggestions about items to include in this bulletin, please send them to newsletter@artsound.fm at least three days before the end of the month.