No Signal radio launches academy programme for young Black creatives entering music industry

News

No Signal radio has launched an academy programme.

Black British online radio station No Signal — which attracted 129,000 listeners from across 166 countries during the first global coronavirus lockdown — have launched a 12-week academy for young Black creatives entering the music industry: #NSAcademy. 

The programme will take 12 participants through the “how-to’s” of the industry from experts across radio, graphic design, social media and campaigns. The #NSAcademy Collective will then curate and produce their very own NS Academy Takeover on No Signal Radio.

Each participant will receive a fee of £1,000 to take part in the programme, and the collective will have a budget of £3,000 towards their takeover. No previous experience is necessary, and participants will be mentored through the programme by the Programme Manager, Tobi Kyeremateng, and Programme Assistant, Ibrahim Hashim.

Applicants for the NS Academy must be aged between 18 – 25 at the start of the programme, Black — “defined as people of Black African, Caribbean and Afro-Latinx heritage, including people of mixed-Black heritage”, and living in London or the surrounding counties. Applications are now open and will close on Sunday 2nd May, with interviews taking place the following week. All Academy sessions will take place weekly from 11AM to 3PM at the No Signal Studio in Tottenham from May until August.

You can apply for the NS Academy and find out more information here.

Last year, UK music and young people’s charity Youth Music has revealed the recipients of the first round of an incubator fund. The fund provides grants of between £5,000 and £30,000 to businesses and not-for-profit collectives working within the music industry. Among the first round of recipients were No Signal Radio, alongside Bristol digital broadcaster Noods Radio, London jazz group Ezra Collective, labels Black Acre and Saffron Records, and the UK-based, rap-focused video channel Link Up TV.