Nail Harmony UK launches radio station to support beauty professionals

Nail Harmony UK, which distributes cult nail brand Gelish and All That Jazz, has launched a radio station for beauty professionals.

Beauty Talk Radio (BTR) will stream 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and is aimed at mobile and salon-based therapists, nail techs, spray tanners, and make-up and lash artists, delivering content relevant to the beauty industry, including product news, trends and business tips.

“We wanted to create an extra resource for the industry – create a community on the radio like we have on our social media channels for salon owners and mobile techs who feel alone. They’ll know they’ve got friends listening to the show and can do phone ins about issues they’re facing,” said Jason Smedley, director of Nail Harmony UK.

As well as playing music, indents and adverts, the show will host discussions with industry experts. “I’ve spoken to other brands in the same boat as us who will do a series of show takeovers,” said Smedley.

“They will have an expert talking about wider industry issues, as well as creating playlists and announcing what’s coming out from the brand. From August, we plan to introduce three shows per week.”

The radio start-up is funded solely by Nail Harmony UK and won’t be used as a promotional tool for Gelish – it's a whole new station. “There will be some Nail Harmony stuff featured but it’s for every brand. We’re trying to keep it non-specific, featuring leaders from the likes of beauty, make-up, hair, tanning, lashes and nails, not just one sector,” added Smedley.

BTR is currently on a soft launch, but will officially launch on August 1, which is when the panel shows will start running – from 9am to 12pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The company is also planning to host a show called Mental Health Monday where beauty pros can openly talk about mental health problems and support each other.

The station is available online worldwide and has had 3,000 unique listeners since launch, with people tuning in from the UK, Netherlands, Canada, US, Jersey, Greece and a few Scandinavian countries.

The launch is the brain child of Jason and his brother Mark Smedley, who has worked in the music and radio industry for 30 years, including the likes of Kiss FM and start-up station MySoulRadio.

The Beauty Talk Radio app is due to launch soon.