What’s your battle plan?
Yesterday, the sad news that another music legend had passed away. This was, unfortunately, nothing new. There have been a raft of these events over the past few months. On radio, it’s time like these where the ability to react fast and deviate a bit from a format is a real luxury. Not many formats…
Using content to create a TV spot
A clever example of using existing content re-purposed to create a TV ad. http://youtu.be/MX-_iCin-kI The ad, commissioned by ARN, the Australian Radio Network, features audio from previous interviews by Kyle and Jackie-O. Lip synced to the audio and shot in a stylish “studio” set, but keeping the content at the heart of the message. This…
20 years in 2 minutes
What would you include if that next job asked you for a current showreel? Your latest ID? The latest weekend promo? Or something to show the range of what you’ve done and what you can do? The longer you’ve been doing this job, the harder it is to choose what to include. Do you include…
Why do we keep using these sounds?
Today, Tim Johns, a reporter at BBC Radio 2, raised a question in his (excellent) audio summary of the Next Radio conference. Why does radio (and TV) continue to use this sound? You know it. If you are a radio producer, I pretty much guarantee you’ve used it at least once in your career. But…
Never Stop Learning
Today, I’m suffering a bit from FOMO It was the Next Radio conference in London – a gathering of radio people, eager to learn new things, share new ideas and generally talk about the medium they love. I’m not too worried – I’ve been following the highlights online at Radio Today Live – and if this year…
Sell with Emotion
Paul Smith is my ultimate boss, owner of Celador. He once sold an idea for a TV show – that was initially rejected by all the major UK TV networks – and eventually went on to be a worldwide TV success. This article from CAMPAIGN shows how he sold it – by using emotion and…
Leave a Lasting Impression
These are the notes and presentation that Daniel Mumford, Nathan Freeman and I gave at The Imaging Days 2014. You can find notes and details of other sessions from the Earshot Creative blog. (All audio is for education purposes and copyright remains with the original holders). PRESENTATION ABOVE MAY NOT WORK. IF NOT, HERE IS…
All songs sound the same, right?
I just came across this on Buzzfeed. It’s by the Australian comedy band, Axis of Awesome. And maybe it might lead to a music promo idea for someone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBVnMf2t7w Now, whilst it’s true that all these songs follow the same chord pattern in some way, it’s probably just that chord pattern has a nice progression…
A conference for people like me
There’s a lot of radio. And there are lots of radio conferences. But it’s rare for 2 to come along on the same week. If you work in radio as a producer, programmer, presenter, marketeer, or in fact anywhere in a radio station – then you should definitely check out NEXTradio. It’s a one day…
If the answer is 30 seconds, what was the question?
A great post about radio copy lengths. Get clients to buy solutions – not durations.
Why I’d Rather JACK
I’m pretty lucky. The job I have now probably allows me to be more creative in the stuff I create than any job I’ve previously done. This is slightly disappointing. Surely every person who works in the creative industries should be able to be creative all the time. But often rules prevent this happening. When…
Possibly the best (but most expensive) Digital Radio I’ve ever bought
Yesterday, I bought a new radio. It has a touch screen. It is really portable. Yet it won’t work inside the house. Luckily, it’s in the new car, so hopefully it won’t ever work in the house. But its features were certainly an influencer in my purchasing decision. I’m not a car snob – just…
Student Radio Association – South East Region training day notes
Today, I joined a load of students in Portsmouth for the South East regional training conference. The talk I did was called “Production – The Sound of Radio” Here’s a link to the presentation if you weren’t there, or if you fancy hearing some interesting examples of creative radio. There are also some examples of…
“That sounds a bit complicated…”
A listener called today. She was mid 60s, with a name like Maureen or similar. She listens to JACK fm..as do many of her friends. “Hi there. I’m trying to listening to your station and I can’t hear it today..” “Where are you listening?” “I live in Midhurst..” “Well, that’s on the very edge of…
When the Aliens Take Over
You’ve all heard about the time when an Orson Welles radio broadcast sent America into panic, right? Well, it’s happened again. This time, at The New Star 94.9 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. It started when the station started broadcasting a test signal featuring “Aliens” talking about how they’d taken over the station and would make an…
New notes at BBC Radio 2
There’s been a refresh to the sound on air at BBC Radio 2 again. It’s an expansion to the package introduced on air last year. The reason is due to how the original heritage logo had to be licensed from the original composers – Groove Addicts in the US. This time, there’s a newly composed…
Mashing it Up – XFactor Style
A nice video landed in my Facebook inbox this evening via my friend Kirsty Mullan who is the Entertainment marketing manager at ITV. It’s for the new series of the X-factor. They’ve used a technique much popular in radio by the likes of David Konsky at 2DayFM and also by DJ Earworm. Instead of simply…
Celebrating the Royal Birth the Eagle Radio way
So – a new Royal baby. What is your station doing to be topical? Renaming the station? Playing non stop baby songs? Eagle Radio in Guildford have come up with a great idea – which has a strong community feel – and something really nice at the end of it. Yasmin Bodalbhai and Lou…
Nothing Beats an Award Nomination
It’s really easy to get tied up in the day-to-day grind of working in radio. Deadlines. Difficult clients. Presenter egos. And it’s sometimes easy to forget that radio is about being creative. Tonight I’m really proud that the team at JACK fm South Coast are nominated for a coveted SONY Radio Award. I’ve been nominated…
Getting Naked – and Get talked About
If you work in a radio station, what can you see from your studio windows? From ours, there’s a burned out business, a park, and some student halls of residence. My friend Goran Kurjak, the creative director at Antena Zagreb shared this great video with me today. Having worked at BBC Creative Marketing, it’s always…
I want it all (and now I could get it – sort of – if I was in the USA) UPDATE
Personalised radio. I’ve pondered it a number of times on this blog. Back in 2009 And in 2011 The radio I want – how I want it. According to a report in BILLBOARD from Sean Ross something similar is coming to Clear Channel’s Iheartradio service in the USA. Last week, Clear Channel announced that iHeartRadio listeners could…
Creating shareable content
How many times have you sent a presenter to a movie junket. Or a press call. Or had a new artist in and done the same interview that everyone else did? Did you film it? Did you post it online? And did anyone actually bother to share it? This interview by Chris Stark from the…
Owning Big Events
Tonight sees the Brit Awards in the UK. Unlike the Grammy Awards (with over 100 different awards), the Brits are a more manageable affair – celebrating mostly British artists and talent with a few overseas categories thrown in (to make it a bigger show). For many radio stations, this is a huge deal – particularly…
Bass. How low can you go?
The guys at the Benztownbranding Blog posted a great tip this week about the amount of bass you have in your final mix if you’re an audio producer. Now many of you may not be hands-on audio guys, so maybe skip this post. But for those who are – their blog raised a couple of…
The new look and sound to ITV
It’s always a big day in a radio station’s live when the new station sound arrives on air. Mostly for the on air and production team. For the listeners, it’s often a big change as the audio furniture, around something that many simply listen to, has changed. Sometimes it’s a huge change. More often than…
Fireworks Soundtracks and Mashups – 2013 update
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1yLRK2M8YQ For those of you who want to know, the soundtrack for the December 2012 display was produced by Nik Goodman and Dan McGrath from This is Bounce. I worked with Nik back at Capital FM when he was Programme Director for the original Capital FM Network and then Capital FM. Fans of the Chris…
Do it differently
When I say creative people – I’m not just thinking about people paid to be creative in their job titles. Obviously, anyone in any job has the ability to be creative. Not everyone is encouraged to be captive. But creativity can come in all sorts of different ways. From creative ways to solving problems to…
Testing the transmitter
There have been many ways used to create “test transmissions” on UK radio stations – the output broadcast on a service before it officially launches. Some played montages of music. Some play the output of other radio stations. Some played Birdsong. Jack FM in Oxford are doing it a little differently as they prepare for…
The Truth about Creative sessions
A quick post triggered by Dan McGrath at This is Bounce for anyone who has ever had to run an audio session where an advertising agency (“the creatives”) or a client (“the pains in the backside who often change their mind for no reason but ultimately hold the budget”) are in attendance. I’ve certainly…
It’s Showtime
It’s officially the countdown to Christmas as the TV channels in the UK all showcase their wares for Christmas. Every year, the channels try to find ever more inventive ways of showcasing the vast array of content available. Last year, BBC One had a singing and dancing spectacular – and loads of Christmas Jumpers. And…
The Sweet Sound of Student Success
Another year, another Student Radio awards. As I write this, I’m guessing most of the students are still on the dance floor of the IndigO2 enjoying the sound clash from Greg James, James Barr and others. It’s hard to know where to start really. This was another fantastic night that celebrates all that is good…
How do you promote your best content?
I just saw this on Twitter from @dannywallace and think it needs sharing. http://soundcloud.com/the-xfm-breakfast-show/behind-the-scenes-documentary There’s a tendency, particularly in commercial radio, to run a breakfast show promo that contains a quick clip from the show. The normal reason for this is that the show is sponsored, and as part of the deal, the Sponsorship team…
Time to look again at online video?
My former GCap Media boss Dirk Anthony shared this article yesterday. According to the article, YouTube’s skippable ads now make Google “as much revenue per hour as ads on cable TV”. That’s according to YouTube’s global head of content Robert Kyncl. This is a huge deal. The talk of platforms such as Apple and Google eventually…
Would Kenny Everett be allowed to flourish in radio now?
Last week, I watched a wonderful drama about the life of the radio producer and broadcaster Kenny Everett. For those of you born in the late 80s, or who aren’t from the UK, Kenny Everett was an amazingly creative radio broadcaster with an almost bottomless imagination. I never heard his shows on the radio. In…
Make That Change
There are some times in your career when you need to make a change. Sometimes it’s because an amazing job comes up. Sometimes it’s for personal reasons. And sometimes (and more and more often), its because it’s enforced. When these times of change come along, you can either bury your head in the sand and…
Is the jingle really dead?
; So, apparently, the radio jingle is dead. Or at least it’s dead to BBC Radio 1. Or it is according to a report in The Guardian This is of course not true, but it’s interesting what “real people” perceive as radio jingles and imaging. Chris Moyles is a huge fan of radio craft and…
JAMES STODD 