Music
Two stations, two identities
As Head of Music, I decide together with our music directors what plays on two Dutch national radio stations. The most important part of the job is giving each station its own identity, and making sure it keeps it.
100% NL is the home of Dutch music. We deliberately choose relevant and popular tracks made in the Netherlands, for around 1.7 million listeners a week.
SLAM! wants to lead the way in dance music, for around 700,000 listeners a week. Over the years we have given countless dance tracks a stage. Other stations followed, and they became broad hits.
Before that, I was music director at Qmusic from 2011 to 2017. In that period we became number one during office hours in the 20–49 age group, the commercial target group at the time.
Vision
Radio has to keep daring
Without daring, radio stops being excited by new music movements and new artists. You end up with stations that only play proven hits. Because we know what our listeners want and what they are open to, we can select new music before anyone else and introduce our listeners to it. That keeps the musical landscape broad, instead of filling it with safe, well-tested radio hits.
A good playlist is a mix of understanding your listener, following and spotting trends, and putting your own feel into it. Streaming services rely heavily on data. Radio adds the human factor, and that is what makes it unique.
It starts with your audience and your vision. The setup follows from that. In my career I have worked with Powergold, GSelector, Music1 and MusicMaster, and MusicMaster is where I feel most at home. In November 2024 and 2025 I was invited to the International Music Master Summit in Berlin to give knowledge sessions and take part in panel discussions on music programming.
Network
Forty DJs, one radio stage
Since 2023 I have helped put together the line-up of SLAM! ADE every year. Around 40 Dutch and international DJs come by to play a live set on Dutch radio. The event can also be watched on YouTube and SLAM! TV.
This is where my wide national and international network in the dance scene pays off. It helps bring names like Oliver Heldens, James Hype, Sam Feldt and Meduza to the Dutch radio audience. I work well with energetic people, and I enjoy connecting them.
Work with me
Audio is king
Music strategy. I am available to help international radio stations find their musical identity or sharpen their music policy, from audience and vision to the setup in your scheduling software.
Speaking. I enjoy sharing knowledge about music programming. I am available as a speaker at international radio and music events, to explain the relationship between radio and the music business.
Podcast advice. Podcasts and radio have a lot in common, and the way audio is distributed doesn’t matter to me. I can help with the content of a format, coach hosts, or edit a complete series of episodes. My own podcast Bye Bye Baas ran for two seasons and can still be streamed.
I am at my best where things can be improved or rolled out.
Who is Anton?
A true Brabander, born in Eindhoven and raised in Sint-Oedenrode. Back in Eindhoven in the mid-nineties, I became fascinated by radio. There’s no blood running through my veins, only audio.
I started young at the local broadcasters of Eindhoven and Oss, from 1999 to 2006. In 2006 I joined the then brand-new Qmusic, my first national job, and became its music director in 2011. From 2017 to 2020 I was station manager of SLAM!, leading a team of around twenty people.
After a detour into podcasting, I returned to SLAM! in mid-2020 as music director. Since 2024 I have been Head of Music for both SLAM! and 100% NL.
