Manchester’s Steam Radio offering free DJing and radio courses for working class people

24 January, 2024

DJ console desk at nightclub. Credit ASMR via GETTY

Manchester’s Steam Radio is offering free DJing and radio courses for working-class residents in Greater Manchester.

The station will host weekly courses on Wednesday evenings at their studios in Hulme, Manchester. Food and travel will also be covered for participants. You must be 18 years or older, from a working-class background and living in Greater Manchester in order to join in. Soho Radio and Ballantine’s True Music have paired up to fund the courses.

“[This is] the perfect chance for a bedroom music lover to get stuck in the local music scene,” Steam Radio wrote on social media. “We recognise that class can be defined in a number of ways and to reflect this, the eligibility section of the application form uses a blend of widely used metrics and self definition.”

Applications are open and will close on February 7 at 11pm, with the course beginning on February 21. Sign up here to apply.

Over 12 weeks, radio and DJing industry professionals will teach participants key skills such as beat matching, planning a set, presenting, live broadcasting, promotion and more.

Electronic/Afro-Caribbean selector and Steam Radio resident mamba.exe will focus on DJing, whilst Jasmine Rowland will oversee the radio skills. She is a Manchester/London-based presenter who has worked with BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1XTRA, BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio 6 Music.

Furthermore, a mentorship scheme will be provided to all those who are successful, along with independent studio time for practise.

Back in 2022, SHERELLE launched her own series of workshops in collaboration with PinkPantheress, Mura Masa and more. The workshops provided “hands on classes, lectures and talks about how to navigate the music industry, better their artistic craft and learn about electronic music and how ingrained Black and queer artists are in its history.”

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