jamesstodd

Join our team at the BBC

So – how do you fancy coming to join our team at the BBC?

A rare opening has come up in the BBC Radio Cross Trails team – part of BBC Creative Marketing – and working on radio promotions across the BBC’s TV Channels and genres.

Please feel free to share with anyone you know who may be interested and suitably qualified.

Here are the details (from the BBC Job Ad).

Part time (3 days per week) – Part of a job share

We’re looking to appoint a Senior Producer to manage highly creative and effective radio cross promotional campaigns across the BBC’s national, regional and local stations. BBC Radio Cross Trails is the team that leads and produces radio campaigns for the BBC’s high profile marketing messages. The team is part of Creative Marketing and aims to have the highest standards in creativity and production.
Role

You’ll lead the creative process for promotional campaigns that will be heard on the BBC’s national analogue and digital radio networks and on local radio. You’ll lead the creative development of key genres and channels (primarily Drama and Entertainment and BBC1 campaigns) in respect of radio cross trails, working with the marketing client and advertising agencies to make sure the genre delivers its potential across the radio portfolio.

You’ll use digital editing systems to construct highly produced promotions in a self-operated environment, using studios to direct & produce talent and act as a consultant on sound production and how campaigns should sound on BBC’s networks. You’ll lead the cross trails relationship with key marketing teams along with BBC advertising agency teams, dealing with the BBC’s high profile talent and key stakeholders. You’ll also manage the budget allocated for the work portfolio at both a project and overall level.
Requirements

With significant experience in the field of presentation/radio promotions, you should be able to demonstrate a good working knowledge of the individual promotional styles of the different BBC national radio networks. You’ll have an excellent grasp of radio production techniques and be able to demonstrate a passion for radio. You’ll also have proven experience of sensitive stakeholder management and ‘creative resilience’ (i.e. not compromising creative ideas).

To apply, please complete the ‘Main Details’ and ‘Equal Opportunities’ sections and upload a CV to the ‘Additional Information Upload’ section. In addition, in the ‘Application Questions’ section please outline your interest in the role and feel free to elaborate further on how your experience fits the role requirments.

Please Note

A 3 minute mp3 demo should be e-mailed to Gordon Fudge (gordon.fudge@bbc.co.uk) on or before the closing date for the job. An accompanying text document should clearly show credits for each track and the extent of your involvement in each campaign.

Your demo should cover your experience in the field of presentation/radio promotions; a good working knowledge of the individual promotional styles of the different BBC national radio networks; and your grasp of radio production techniques and demonstrable passion for radio.

You can find out more and apply here

The New Sound of BBC Radio 1

For radio imaging readers, it’s worth checking out the new sound of BBC Radio 1. On air since the beginning of April, there’s a new punchiness to the sound – and the station has a real feel of energy and progression  to it – particularly in the new shows in the afternoon.

Dan Mumford, Radio 1′s Station Sound head worked with the team at Pure Jingles in the Netherlands to create a new sonic identity to the station. And what’s interesting is the way the team at Pure Jingles work.

Dan tells me they initially worked on a ton of music beds in loads of different styles. These then get passed to another producer in another studio who decimates the tracks, creating short burst of musical energy – often unlike the original track. These music elements then get thrown to the next studio where the audio mangling happens to the Voiceovers – giving them a final set of idents.

I love this idea of collaborative production – it seems very different from the production process I came across when working with companies such as Wise Buddah and Groove Addicts years back. They have a completely different (and equally valid) way of working. But for Radio 1′s sound, this new way is certainly a fresh approach.

The new imaging sound also includes 2 new station voices. Both have been discovered by the station rather than through traditional ways of going through agencies etc. The Female voice was discovered whilst auditioning for a TV show, and the new male voice was found through the annual search for the voice of the awards session at the the Student Radio Association annual conference.

Even if Radio 1 isn’t your bag – you can check out a montage that Dan created of the station sound here.

And there’s another montage of some more of the imaging on the Pure Jingles website.

Related articles

• Jay-Z confirmed as BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend headliner (digitalspy.co.uk)

The Students are in town..

Image from Bradford City of Film

The Student Radio Association is hosting it’s 2012 conference in Bradford. I think I came to a student radio here when I was at Uni – indeed it may have been the one when I won my student radio award – back in 1992. Then again, it could have be en Hull – we went there too. Wherever it was, it wasn’t as big as this conference.

In fact, there’s very little I remember from that conference, apart from a talk from a record plugging company, a panel with Liz Kershaw (who presented the awards) and a load of drinking. And I think we borrowed a few traffic cones. But that could have been the conference at Hatfield Uni. Again – its blurry. And I’m sure they borrowed them back when the conference came to Canterbury..

The conference in Bradford is a whole world away from that one:
There’s a search for the voice of the awards (previous entrants have ended up being used as Radio 1 station voices). There’s Demo Factor – where students face a judging panel to give them real honest feedback. Plus panels from loads of industry professionals ranging from news to show production to engineering and of course marketing and promotions (10am on the Tuesday btw..)

What’s exciting from events like these is that people are still excited by a career in radio. Sure, some want to be on air but many want to get involved in producing radio too. And it’s great to see a whole host of former student radio people who now work in radio giving up time to contribute to panels and discussions. There’s a full list here

The most important thing you’ll learn at events like this is the power of networking. Talk to people. Listen to people. And remember that those people will sometimes know the people that you really want to get to know. Build relationships online with these people – you never know when they could be a doorway to the one introduction that gets you into the job that you really want.

And don’t steal the traffic cones.