We Are Grape Celebrate 10 Years at the forefront of broadcast and music entertainment

We Are Grape are gearing up for their 10 year milestone and have plenty to celebrate this Autumn, including the launch of Sarah Story’s brand new Friday night Radio 1 show and a new series of Spotify’s flagship music podcast ‘Who We Be_Talks’.

With a diverse team of creatives, producers, sound designers, editors and innovators, Grape is at the forefront of radio, podcast, broadcast and music entertainment with clients including world-leading platforms and brands such as BBC Radio 1, Spotify, BBC 6 Music, Red Bull Music, BBC Sounds, Amazon Music and Bauer.

Launching the independent production company in 2011, founder Rachel Barton carved a niche for her business with an ethos of creating meaningful work of the highest-quality. Grape is now unique within the audio production sector, being very focused on its two areas of expertise; music and young audiences.

“Reaching the milestone of 10 years in business makes me feel very proud. The audio landscape has vastly changed over the last decade, and we have adapted and evolved every time. The sheer quality and diversity of Grape’s output continues to excite me and our renewed focus on music and young audiences gives us clarity and purpose.” says Rachel.

Grape continues to grow, winning multiple new and exciting commissions. In April 2021, having worked with her for some years, Grape brought The Blessed Madonna to Saturday nights on BBC 6 Music. Her weekly show is a celebration of all dance floor sounds, including a deep dive into an era or topic relating to dance music. At the end of August, Grape produced an Audio Content Funded documentary for Absolute Radio ‘Songs From Amy’s Jukebox’, celebrating the legacy of Amy Winehouse centered around the Jukebox where she kept her favourite tracks of all time. September will mark a new era for BBC Radio 1’s Friday night lineup after Annie Mac’s departure, and Grape is launching and producing new signing Sarah Story’s ‘Future Dance’ show, broadcast at 8pm.

“From the company’s inception, Grape has always had a deep knowledge of dance music radio, having produced BBC Radio 1 dance shows and live events, including Annie Mac’s Friday show, for many years. To launch The Blessed Madonna and Sarah Story’s new shows on the BBC, and continuing to produce Pete Tong, Dance Anthems with Charlie Hedges and Annie Nightingale, feels incredibly exciting and we remain so proud to be working with such talented and passionate presenters.’ adds Rachel.

Starting from the ground up, Rachel also knows the importance of building a strong team and now has 11 talented staff members.

“Grape has the best team we’ve ever had. Each person takes great pride in their individual projects and that can really be heard across our output. We have deep and varied expertise across the company, so we can ensure our podcasts, radio shows, audio documentaries and event radio projects connect with the audiences they are made for, leaving a legacy and ensuring listeners return time and again.”

“In the last 6-12 months, we have reshuffled the existing team, making a number of promotions, as well as recruiting new team members to facilitate the projects we are working on. I am incredibly proud of how little employee turnover we have within Grape; it’s very important to me that the team feel happy and motivated in their roles, so we are all invested in the growth of the business.

Rachel has achieved so much in the past 10 years, having won a competition on BBC Radio 1 in 2003, securing a year’s traineeship working at the station on Pete Tong’s show. Eight months into her trainee year, she was asked to be part of the team to launch Annie Mac’s first show. Having gone on to produce many of Radio 1’s dance shows, Rachel then left the BBC in 2011, launching Grape soon after.

“Growing up in the countryside, Pete Tong’s Friday night Radio 1 show was my religion. I was one of many avid listeners frantically scribbling down the names of the tracks he played, and then going to my local record shop to try to find them. To secure a traineeship working at the station was life-changing and to then spend the next eight years working across the dance shows was the best training ground I could have wished for and really set me up with the knowledge to make Grape a success.” says Rachel.

“Now with our clients including world-leading platforms and brands such as Spotify, Red Bull Music, BBC Sounds, Amazon Music and Bauer, I continue to feel incredibly excited about our sector and Grape’s place within it.”

“The joy of audio creation is that as producers, we can always strive for more. There are always new shows to create, new artists to develop and celebrate, new audiences to reach - it’s a joy to do my job, working alongside the best team, presenters and clients in the world.”