Career in Jockeying and Hosting

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Updated on Dec 28, 2010 01:55 IST

A radio or video jockey hosts and anchors a music event on radio or television or in a live show. A Video Jockey chooses and introduces music videos and hosts related shows, chats with the public and conducts celebrity interviews. Today, VJs have become popular with the coming of MTV, Channel V and B4U music and figures like Nikhil Chinnappa, Cyrus Broacha, Malaika Arora, Nafisa Joseph have become household names in India.

A Radio Jockey chooses and plays music on radio stations while chatting with the audience and interviewing celebrities or general callers.

A radio or video jockey often designs his or her own shows, choosing the guest to be invited and the sequence of music.
A Disc Jockey (DJ) chooses the music and introduces and anchors a music show in restaurants, night clubs as well as conduct live music concerts, promotional road shows and dance shows in all metro cities.

The job

Planning and selecting music for the show. Setting a theme.
Choosing guests, news and topics of discussion for the show in keeping with the theme
Reading viewer mail and requests on e-mail, fax and phone. Choosing viewers to be responded to and called
Researching the music to be played
Researching current music and entertainment new and the guests being invited.
Preparing and rehearsing the script
Conducting the show, often dealing with last minute glitches on music and a variety of callers, some difficult, some fun
Keeping in touch with the latest music and music news and personalities is an on-going essential process for a music jockey

Personality Traits

Deeply interested in a variety of music, across styles and genres
Knowledge of music news, history and latest trends
Creative with original, unusual ideas in entertainment and music
Extroverted and at ease when talking to strangers.
Ability to make small talk and to hold up a conversation
Good presentation skills
Appealing in personal appearance, dress and style

Job Prospects

With the advent of various music and entertainment channels on radio and television with a variety of shows, Jockeying is becoming an exciting and a feasible career option with many opportunities. It is not easy to get a break in the field. You may be employed on a contract basis per show or on a full time basis. There will be paper or internet ads calling RJ’s, anchors and VJ's or VJ hunts advertised on TV. The selection will be tough, which may include a test on paper, on voice modulation and an audition facing the camera. Your screen presence, physique and voice, and ability to stand out in the crowd will determine selection.

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Once you are selected, there is no such thing as hierarchy in this profession. Beginners withtalent may get to handle their own shows within the first 6 months. It mainly depends on your ability. Besides the excellent pay, you get to host shows in the country or abroad, meet celebrities, and be on the glam walk of life. Keeping up the popularity for long is not easy, there is a lot of competition and as such this profession is a short lived one. But as competition increases, music channels are on the trend of incorporating many diverse shows to attract the public, especially the youth. Often VJ's move on to hosting game and travel shows, youth forums, chatting with the public, doing interviews with artists and music celebrities etc. The profession also gives you ample scope to diversify to various fields such as Modeling, Theatre (direction/acting), Film (acting), Music videos (directing/acting/choreography), Anchoring, News casting, PR etc. that generally VJ's do. On-screen popularity opens a lot of doors.

Leading places to work for VJs are TV channels and production houses like Star TV, Zee Telefilms, Sony TV, Television Eighteen, MCM Asia and B4Music. Television programs are also made by production houses (which then sell their programs to TV channels) like Balaji Telefilms, Cinevistaas, Creative Eye, UTV, Metalight, and Nimbus. Smaller production houses include Optymystix, Contiloe Films and Miditech.

RJs would work with radio stations like Radio City, the Times Group’s Radio Mirchi, Living Media’s Red FM, Mid-Day’s Radio Go, and, of course, All India Radio.

Work areas for freelancers include Live shows and events, Discos and clubs.

Salary

Salaries are varied depending on the reputation of the person and the show involved. The success of the music show depends entirely on the VJ's ability to connect with the audience and make them come back for more. Although this is a short lived career, within that short time span, a successful VJ can earn between 10,000 to 25,000 per month, running up to lacs depending upon the popularity of the show. Apart from the earnings, the glamour and popularity associated with the profession attracts youngsters to the field.

Study Routes

Class XII in any discipline

After class XII No specific educational background or formal training is required to be a VJ, except some personal attributes. However a background in mass communication, visual communication or the performing arts comes in handy. Command over language is important as video jockey needs to talk a lot. A course on presentation skills therefore is useful.
DJs need qualifications in acoustics and sound recording.

One possible route is through mass communication which opens doors in television channels and production houses in general.
Short-term courses in television hosting and presenting:

Indian Television Training Institute, C-41, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi 110049, 3-month Course In Television Reporting, Presentation & Production
Asian Academy Of Film & Television, Marwah Studios Complex, FC 14/15 Film Centre, Sector 16A, Noida, 3-month Course In Acting & Camera
The British council, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001, short term course in Public Speaking
The National School of Drama, Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi, courses in voice and theatre
The Young Men's Christian Association, 40-hour course in public speaking

Presentation, acoustics and sound recording course are run in training schools started by some famous DJs:

'The Studio Bakers', for training aspiring DJs at Pusa Road and Kailash colony in Delhi is
Run by Rummy Sharma, a DJ with Djinns at the Hyatt
'Sound of Music', Vasant Kunj is run by DJ Sunny Sarid
Sumit Budhiraja runs another institute called the 'Modus Operandi'.
DJ Surr’s Splinter’s DJ School, Mumbai
DJ Nasha’s Workstation, Mumbai
Live Wire’s Career, Mumbai
DJ Suketu’s Audio Elite, Mumbai
DJ Kedar’s Academy, Mumbai

The training fee can range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000.

Undergraduate Courses in Mass Communication

University of Calcutta, Senate House, 87 College Street, Calcutta 700073
Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005
Punjab University, Chandigarh 160014
Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007
University of Mumbai M.G. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400032
Annamalai University, P O Annamalai Nagar, Chennai 608002
Alagappa University, Alagappa, Ngr., Karaikudi 623004 (only sports journalism specialsiation)
Bangalore University, Jnana Bharati, Bangalore 560056

Post Graduate Courses in Mass Communication: Graduates in any discipline are eligible

Indian Institute of Mass Communication Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, JNU Campus, New Delhi 110 007
Mudra Institute of Communications, Shela, Ahmedabad 380058
PDN College of Communications Mgmt., Somani College, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007
YMCA Jai Singh Road, New Delhi
Garware Institute of & Development, Vidyanagri, Kalina Campus, Santa Cruz (East) Mumbai 400098 •
KC College of Management Studies, KC College Building, 1st Floor, Room No. 7, Churchgate, Mumbai 400020
St. Xaviers Institute of Communication, St. Xaviers College Campus, Building No.3, 1st Floor, Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai
Sophia College Polytechnic, Sophia College Campus, Babubhai Desai Road, Mumbai 400026
KT Somaiya Instt. of Management Studies, Vidyanagri, Vidya Vihar, Mumbai
Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune
University of Calcutta, Senate House, 87 College Street, Calcutta 700073
Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005
Rabindra Bharati Univ. 6/4 Dwarkanath Tagore Lane, Calcutta 700007
Chennai University, Centenary Building, Chepauk, Chennai 600005