The Work: The Other Radio
Every now and then you meet people that blow your mind open with their passion and energy; people that make you wonder how they do it all; people you know you just want to spend more time with. Introducing The Other. Music has always been a huge part of my life. From the early days when the first song I could sing word for word was Buffalo Soldier, to the angsty teenage grunge years, the enthralment of the 90’s Joburg rave scene (what a time), the London club world, days and nights at festivals in far away places, and hour upon hour of streaming and discovering, it’s been a constant feature, and mirror to my various life stages.
The music industry itself also always held an allure for me. Fortunately my career gave me a glimpse in, helping some of the world’s best brands connect better with their audiences and create value in culture through music started to scratch my itch. It also enabled me to meet some incredible people along the way. One such person was Aaron Peters, whom I met sometime in 2015 while he was working at Black Major. Smart, accountable and always smiling, Aaron was our go to for any talent curation, artist management or music intel, under the guidance of industry power house Sevi Spanoudi.
So, when Aaron got in touch requesting a coffee to discuss how Sunny* could help him and business partner Philippus Johan build their online radio platform, I was more than excited. I simply knew this would be good.
Aaron and Johan are prolific on the local music scene. Together they own The Other, a creative studio and music culture company that create spaces to connect people and ideas through music. The enterprise comprises The Other Records, a world class music destination in Cape Town, an annual festival called Search, The Other DJ’s (together with Matt Hichens), consulting on other music related projects and events, and at the time of our meeting a new focus on the world of online radio, under (you guessed it), The Other Radio.
The energy of that session was some of the purest magic I’ve experienced. My task was clear - I needed to build on the duo’s passion and unrivalled music knowledge and credibility by using my expertise to create a strategic growth plan that could elevate this idea into a business, and start building the leading online radio platform on the continent.
“We knew we had something special with The Other Radio the moment we started it, but it took a rare someone like Duncan to help us unlock the value of our business and see its growth potential as a truly meaningful community music platform and the influence it carries.
He gets us, and he listens — a friend, partner and mentor.”
Aaron Peters & Philippus Johan
The Other exists to celebrate our identities, individualities and “otherness” through providing access to spaces, ideas and experiences that diverge from the norm and deserve to stand out. We wanted to take this further than just building a connected community in Cape Town, but rather one that celebrated the unique diversity and vibrancy of the music landscape of Africa - and take it to the world.
By placing The Others mantra of “We’re All Connected” at the centre of our community strategy, we set off to build an ecosystem that could not only scale its listenership, but also the diversity of its programming.
The foundation of The Other Radio is the online platform. A custom designed and built web platform offers a dynamic live listening experience, an extensive library of archived shows, news features and connection to The Other’s Discord channel, where community members are able to chat, share and discuss topics freely and safely. .
We needed a space to call home, and that space became Ghost, situated on a unique, picturesque rooftop in the inner-city of Cape Town. With the help of Ghost proprietor Greg Maybery we built a fully equipped studio space (designed by Limb, Tamzyn Botha) creating a comfortable home for our residents, as much as an aspirational venue for newcomers.
Our programming strategy focused on representation across all races, genders and ages, with music as the unifying language. Striving for programming that is African-led and connecting subcultures across the diaspora, the platform now boasts more than 120 hosts, covering more than 40 genres and broadcasting live 7 days per week, to a listenership of over 10,000 listeners at an average of 21 minutes per session.
This “always on” function requires capable hands to manage seamlessly - and we couldn’t have found a more competent manager in Ridah Parker, supported by Ahmed Mohamed and Piá Beguinot, who have become the lifeblood of the station.
Beyond radio broadcasts, we have also developed residencies, workshops and online exchange programs with institutions and online stations around the world, including The British Council, Mixcloud, Currents.fm, Noods, Radio Alhara, Bubblegumclub as well as hosting guests from over 35 markets.
Brand partnerships are key to our growth - but being clear on the types of brands that share our vision and values was core to our approach. We have been fortunate enough to partner with streetwear icon Shelflife to support their Nike Air Max Day campaign, as well as securing a long term partnership with Vans as one of their local community project initiatives.
Other highlights in the first 6 months of launch include a live broadcast event for Search over New Years Eve (due to Covid restrictions), hosting an event with influential UK label Bone Soda and securing press in influential local and international music media.
The future looks bright for The Other. Having recently completed a 2 week Joburg residency, the listenership has more than doubled, and we now have more hosts, playing more diverse genres and representing more scenes than we could have imagined.
We’ll also have a new home. Following a forced eviction of the Ghost space due to land developers sweeping in has meant a studio move, to the sanctity of One Park, alongside their retail store, The Other Records.
These are good people, doing an incredible thing. They don’t simply say “community”, they live it - they’re using their passion and giving it a higher purpose, which is something we can all learn from. Being on this journey has been a privilege, and we’re just getting started.
We’re all connected.
The Other is a proud venture partner of Sunny*, as part of Sunny* Ventures. Tune in now at www.theother.radio.
