Author: jamesstodd

Get Into The Groove

| jamesstodd

Steve Martin posted this video on his blog recently – from a recording session for a station at Groove Addicts in Los Angeles (from Jingle News)

I was really glad to see this – since I had the pleasure of working with these guys back in December 2002 and  February 2003 on a massive jingle package for the old Capital FM Network. They are a fantastic team of people who have been doing what they do for decades. From memory, I think they tend to do far more work for commercials now than radio stuff, but this is a really interesting example of how they work.

The Groove Addicts Plane

Making radio  jingles is done in so many different ways. You don’t necessarily need massive studios and huge bands in a studio to create a big sound. But they are in L.A.- and in L.A. – you do things BIG. And it’s all about the client as well – a huge sun terrace with catered lunch – food and drink on tap and a fantastic vibe to fire off too.

The studios at Groove Addicts are massive. In fact, when they were built, the building had a small plane hanging from the inside of the roof. So they built the studios, breakout area and all the facilities around it. It’s pretty cool to be playing a game of pool in between sessions with this plane overhead. And the staff are pretty freindly too (though not quite sure why I’m smiling so much..).

Seeing the video got me a little nostalgic for that package we worked on back in 2002 – it was a huge effort really. The demos came about pretty quickly in the November of 2002 and we had it all on air in the spring of 2003. At the time, I was working with our production consultant Jean-Michel Meschin of Soniic Design in France. He now mainly cuts radio ads for French movies – but still works on radio imaging too. In fact – there are still some elements of his influence on air in the production of Fun Radio in France where he was one time production director.

(L-R Phil-X, Gerhard Joost and Jean-Michel Meschin

And the highlight was probably working with these guys – the composer/musician etc Phil-X who composed the rockier stuff (including the Top of Hour)- and the engineer Gerhard Joost. In fact – Phil had a band who we saw live at the House of Blues when we were over there – and this was one of their songs. OTT or what?

The Jingle Bell Ball Rocks

| jamesstodd

I remember writing, back in June, about 95.8 Capital FM’s Summertime Ball. My conclusion was that the event was great, but the online coverage were pretty average.

This weekend, they ramped it up 1000 per cent – and gave a pretty much perfect example of how this sort of event can live and breathe online and on air.

If I’d been a listener getting ready to go to the ball, there was pretty much everything  I’d have wanted. From online travel guides, to background on all the artists. And as the weekend arrived, the content ramped up too.

From their YouTube channel, there was this clever  preview of the stage going up:

And as the event progressed, all the backstage interviews arrived here too. From Ne-Yo to JLS, to the most viewed at present – Miley Cyrus.

But my favourite part was the online blog, and more impressive – the Twitter update feed. This gave a really interesting insight into the whole event, from the buildup to what was going on backstage. Even the iPhone app had photos and content updated on it throughout the evening – great for listeners on their way home listening to the station.

And from the look of it – the listeners enjoyed it too.

As the promos said last night – “only Capital could do an event like this” It was big. It was in your face . And it was 2 sell-out nights at the O2.

Nice one Capital.

PureTonicMedia on TV

| jamesstodd

The COI recently filmed a TV Commercial where I work.

It features our  imaging producer, George Taylor.

If you’re a tech geek you can see the studio. If you’re a radio anorak there’s a bit of Z100 imaging in there.

And if you want to find out more about Pure Tonic Media, follow us on Facebook , Twitter or visit the website.

Otherwise  – just move along – there’ll be something else of interest for you soon :-)…

Student Radio Comes of Age

| jamesstodd

Picture from http://www.studentradio.org.uk

I once won a Student Radio Award. It was way back in 1992 – in whichever incarnation the Student Radio Association was then in. I won Best Male DJ – and was presented the award by Liz Kershaw at a very informal awards ceremony in the Students Union of Hull University. It didn’t lead to a glittering presenting career (unless you include random shifts on mercury FM and a year doing drivetime on Mercury Extra 1521am). However, it did cement my passion for radio and for the benefits of student radio.

My station was C4 Radio in Canterbury – now long gone – replaced by CSR. It was a tiny station with absolutely no budget – well maybe £1000 for a year if we were lucky. In the first year, everyone could hear it in the Halls of residence. In fact, my first experience was in Freshers week when we encountered Jon Holmes (before the record Ofcom fine) knocking on our doors with a free delivery service of baked potatoes. We had loads of fun though – raising money by organising student nights in the ropey Studio 3 nightclub. And using the production facilities of the college’s Radio Film and television department. And it must have taught us all something. Apart from Jon Holmes, people such as Kevin Hughes, Will Roffey, Michael Chequer, Andy Garland and more were kicked out into the real world of radio.

So last night, the great and good of student radio gathered at the IndigO2 for the Student Radio Awards 2009. And you can see all the award winners here. I was proud for the 4th year to have been asked to judge one of the categories, and yet again, was blown away by what these stations are doing and what they can achieve.

Now, there are many differences. Back when I was doing it, we had no internet, no streaming, and frankly very few ways to promote the station apart from a photocopier and pinning posters to noticeboards. Nowadays, these stations are as advanced, if not more advanced than their commercial and BBC rivals. They all, on the most part, have great websites; they use social networking in clever ways, and people can listen however and whenever they like. One year at C4, we found our whole AM loop system destroyed by construction of a new building. It took ages to fix, and we were somewhat limited to broadcasting on speakers to the student union. One station this year faced a similar problem – they simply moved online and streamed the whole station.

I judged the Best Live Event or Outside Broadcast category. And this featured some really interesting entries, from CUR’s coverage of the May Bumps, to various varsity matches. But I was really proud to see CSR – the reincarnation of C4 radio, win the silver for this category. I’m guessing they have smaller resources than many student stations, but managed to surpass many technical challenges to create a range of output live from Lounge on the Farm. Congratulations also to Smoke Radio for winning the Gold for Smoke’s Summer sendoff – a challenging week of outside broadcasts that took the station out to various campus sites across London – and some really engaging content too.

Last night’s awards was heavily supported again by BBC Radio 1, who genuinely support the work of the SRA, in both the awards and also at various events such as The Big Weekend. It goes without saying, they should be doing it and they genuinely engage with it. What was good to see was the involvement to a far greater level from Global Radio this year. Last year, Ashley Tabor, the CEO, was there. This year, Director of Broadcasting Richard Park was there along with a load of the groups DJs too. And they clearly see the value of student radio in developing new talent.

But most importantly, as Matt Deegan noted in his blog, it was the enthusiasm of the students which was the most importnat to see. They are the next generation of broadcasters, engineers and producers. If UK radio doesn’t give them a chance, then it is dead in the water. And if you are in radio,  or even if you’re not but feel you have insight to offer, then get involved. You can find out more about the I Love Student radio campaign here

So – to the award winners – congratulations – may you go on to good things. And to those who entered and didn’t win, or who didn’t do as well as they wanted, keep pushing the boundaries, be different and enjoy. It may be the best radio years of your life. But it should b fun.

Capital – (Hot Rockin’) at Last?

| jamesstodd

It’s been over 12 months since I left Capital FM.

When I left, I had mixed feelings. Here was a station which I’d put loads of time and effort into as part of a dedicated production team who had been passionate about making it succeed, despite many changes in direction, format and leadership. We’d had to face being judged day in day out by media obeservers, the press and at many points, by the City.  Yet, throughout it all, there was a core team of people who really did want it to get better.

So you can maybe understand that I was a little cynical about the sound being created by the new owners in the months after I left.

Well, for the record, I think they were probably right. To make a wholesale change, you really do need to be brutal – strip stuff down and get back to basics. As an imaging producer, for me the sound was too simple, too basic. But it has probably done the job it was intended to do. Strip it back, let  the music talk, and then start building on a few core things; big events, the biggest hits and the big stars. And that’s what they’ve done.

And I think it’s an important point to be aware of. You can’t just produce the type of radio you want to hear as a producer. It has to be attuned to how the listener hears it, and relate to them in the right ways. What I find now in my current job, working for Pure Tonic Media, is that there’s a real need to be able to switch your ways of thinking depending on the particular project you’re working on. In one week, I can be making material for CHR format stations, a rock format and then, like last week, BBC Radio 3 and 4

But there has to be room in station imaging for touches of humour or topicality.  And there are odd moments of that in Capital’s current production used for the Jingle Bell Ball. In fact this morning I heard a brilliantly simple piece featuring Sir Michael Caine uttering the line “even I can’t get tickets; the only way I’ll be able to get in is to blow the bloomin’ doors off”. Simple, creative and fun. I hope they’ll start doing this more on occasion – otherwise it can all begin to sound a little one dimensional.

In fact, events like the Summertime Ball and currently the Jingle Bell Ball now show how much Capital is heading back on track.

Nik Goodman mentioned recently how he thought the current TV ad for the event had pretty poor production values for such a big brand. I do agree it doesn’t look a million dollars and doesn’t sound that creative. However, it is in your face and has a pretty simple message: we’ve got the biggest stars, you want to come ,and the only way you can is to listen to us. Yes it’s big, bragging and boastful – but good or bad, that’s what Capital does well. You don’t go to them for insightful analysis. You go there for Johnny Vaughan having a laugh with the punters, the latest Black Eyed Peas song and concert tickets. And if they can win with that in a crowded market, they should keep doing it.

UK Radio heads off on Tour…

| jamesstodd

OK – not quite a world tour, but Scandinavia.

riddarholmen_stockholm_swedish_travel_and_tourism_council©r_ryan

Picture: http://www.swedenvisitor.com

I’m off next week to speak at a couple of radio conferences. Firstly, on Wednesday 23rd September at Radiodagen in Stockholm, and then on Saturday 26th September at Radiodays in Copenhagen. It’s my first couple of conference presentations, and I’m looking forward to them. I’ll be presenting a two-part session. Firstly, I’ll be talking about some of the creative treatments we used when I was at Capital FM to promote CapitalLive – as series of live concerts and artist days that ran in the Summer of 2007. Then, I’ll be examining some of the ways that I, and my colleagues at Pure Tonic Media have used to blend artist and music imaging perceptions into our station production. There will be lots of audio (so I don’t have to talk too much) – and hopefully I’ll have managed to edit it down by the time I get there (since it currently overruns by 20 minutes or so). If you are coming to the conference – come and say hello. And don’t forget, you can find me on Twitter – @jamesstodd

 

I’m also looking forward to meeting up with former colleagues such as Nik Goodman, Justin Kings, and Nick Piggott, along with people such as Clive Dickens from Absolute Radio and “media futurist”, James Cridland.

James and Nick have promised to bring one of these along with them…
Pure-Sensia

Pure-Sensia-UIPicture from http://radiodns.org/latest/

It’s the new DAB radio from PURE – the Sensia. It gives you radio, and pictures and applications that allow you to see all sorts of fun and games such as Twitter status updates and more.

I think it looks great – though not sure how many people will easily find the £250 that it will launch at. Then again. DAB prices have fallen and fallen now – so I’m guessing it will be in the Stodd house within the next 12 months. And it looks like it has an iPod dock too – and I still need to buy something to play that through – so now it looks more tempting. Hell – maybe I’ll have one by Easter.

To find out how it works, the aforementioned James Cridland has already examined it along with @matt. And Nick Piggott can probably tell you more about it and RadioDNS too. They know far more about it than I.

It does look like a great big rugby ball though.

You’re gettin’ hit with the (blah blah) radio

| jamesstodd

A1DFD4

I’ve been driving a lot around the UK recently to various family events and a couple of weddings. And one thing has become clear. I need to get a DAB radio in the car this Christmas. Partly for the need to be able to get FunKids. Partly to be able to hear BBC 6Music. But mostly to be able to hear Absolute Radio  in listenable quality.

A couple of things have struck me during these journeys. Firstly – the rollout of Heart hasn’t ruined local music radio. It’s eminently more listenable than many of the previous offerings found on the drive across country. Wall to wall classic hits, hardly any talk – “does what it says on the tin”. It’s not my choice – in fact hearing the same songs every day in a slightly different order would drive me insane- but you can tell it will probably work well for them in the short to medium term.

Secondly, it’s become really obvious that the BBC doesn’t really cater for my listening needs fully. In fact, if I had the previously mentioned in car DAB, then  I’d probably have a hefty dose of Absolute Radio on the menu.

Out of habit, my first choice station is BBC Radio 1. I like Chris Moyles (in small doses) and think Scott Mills does a really good job. And the odd times I catch people like Zane Lowe, I’m hooked – mainly by his energy and by his enthusiasm. I caught most of the chart show and the first part of Switch last Sunday night – and it made me wish I was 15 again – just the sort of show Radio 1 should be doing.

Radio 2 is rarely a listening choice. I occasionally catch a bit of Jonathan Ross at the weekend, but rarely get the chance to hear Chris Evans. And once the children are in bed – it’s usually stuff on the house, work or TV that grabs my attention.

And whilst I feel BBC 6music should be up there for me – I probably hear more of it’s output via the Adam and Joe podcast.

And that’s why this week’s Radio 2 news has excited me (though not my friend Steve – younger than me but far more musically diverse in taste – who is a staunch TOG). There will now be a real reason for me to listen at breakfast and possibly later in the day. Many people, such as Matt Deegan, Adam Bowie, Nik Goodman and James Cridland have written in detail about what these changes may mean and the opportunities and/or threats they will make for Commercial Radio. For a show and station like Radio 2 that is so dominating the audience figures – a change such as this could be catastrophic – particularly if they lose their core listeners. But it also presents an opportunity for everyone else

For me, I hope Evans brings something new to the mornings. Terry Wogan is genuinely one if the best speech broadcasters. It’s just his style doesn’t suit our frenetic routine in the morning. Now, I’m not expecting Chris Evans to replicate his old Radio 1 show again. But he’s shown in the afternoons that he can be entertaining, play great music and (more importantly) interact with every listener whatever their age. If he can do that – with maybe a little more pace in the morning- then so much the better. The rest of the daytime lineup isn’t so much my thing – though Jeremy Vine works well. What interests me is the talk of Simon Mayo coming over to do drivetime. My friend Steve thinks that if this happens, the BBC will have to issue everyoneone with free Valium. I however would welcome him – particularly if it created a show which were part music, part current affairs and had some if the classics 5live elements such as Mark Kermode as well.

I briefly mentioned Absolute Radio earlier. I wouldn’t discount them, though from all of this. Commercial radio keeps bemoaning the fact that it’s hard to compete and there’s no room for creativity. The fact they now have signed Dave Gorman to add to Frank Skinner in their weekend lineup shows that there are some operators who are slowly gathering their weapons to start taking on the BBC in the battle for my listening hours.

Being Big

| jamesstodd

The other day I shared a link to this on Twitter and my friend @matt shared it on his blog

It’s a fantastic way to promote a massive event such as the MTV Video Music Awards. In fact, it’s a really good example of what you can do with some creative thinking and, I guess, a really big budget. And I wonder how many awards Britney, Katy Perry, Ne-Yo and Cobra Starship win on the night? I guess that doing this film for MTV won’t do their chances any harm.

So if MTV can do it – why can’t anyone.

NRJ did it in a similar way for their awards in January. OK – not with a song and dance spectacular. But still, featuring a load of big artists including Coldplay and Rihanna

But what stops you getting a big Hollywood Star in your video? Just a simple idea, good planning, and the balls to do it without asking I guess. Welshy – the former panel-op and audio producer on Johnny Vaughan’s Capital Breakfast show came up with this when the Bourne Ultimatum opened in London.

It may be long – but it’s a really nice idea – and the fact that they got the payoff with Matt Damon made this a really fun video – and got it some nice viral mileage as well.