Voice imagination
Summer is by far my favorite imaging season, people are out and doing things, eager to help out with almost anything. Case in point, I had to have some dental work done in an emergency, I went to a dentist I hadn’t been to in over 3 years and found that they were listening to a station I image, I called the on air personality and told him “Hey, they are listening at Barry Road Dental Group, give em a shout”, not only did HE call THEM, they were ecstatic about hearing their names on the radio as well as their business. Now how does that help you image your station?. Well it does a couple of things, first if you need some great tape, they would be one of the first places to look, second: they will tell their friends about how they got to be on the radio at KXXX. You’re always going to get great 1’s and 0’s here (or for my old school imagers.. great tape
I am in the process of re-producing imaging for the Heritage AC station KUDL and have a new voice talent to break in again. My previous voice talents Jon Carter/Buffy O”Neil -Megahertz Studios were an awesome addition to our station and for 6 years they dominated, you can hear them on a lot of Entercom AC properties. Our new talent is Sean Caldwell and I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with him yet, but at first listen, I think it will be a great partnership. We have taken the station out of a Hot AC and moved it back a few notches to more of a Smooth AC hybrid. (my opinion). These guys are the pros and I suggest you check our their demos for more enlightenment if you’re planning on changing your stations voices
LiveLeak.com - Rap Chop Slap Chop Remix.
You’ll enjoy this I’m sure
Ok, so I am not the defacto expert on anything, but I do know a little about mixing. I often get asked by clients who are trying to do quite frankly the impossible, they are trying (themselves) to either pull music or voice off of video or add music or voice to video using products that are not made for those applications. I am using two different versions of Audition 1.5 and 3.0. The 3.0 version will allow me to both remove audio and add audio to video files. I really want to tell them to “step away from the app slowly” and let a pro create or modify their projects. It will cost them less than they expected and more importantly it will be done right the first time. Something to think about isn’t it? I’d love to know what you think, or if you have a better tip,please share it so everyone can benefit.
I just signed a new client rooradio.com for imaging and was amazed by the amount of feedback I got concerning how well the imaging sounds online. If you image internet radio, the first things you should be concerned with is bit rate,stereo definitions and voice quality.
I send everything at 160kps stereo and depending on your clients (or your) streaming application this is probably the maximum you’ll want to set it at. Why? well anything more is a waste of bandwidth, anything less takes away the quality of production piece. You’re sweeps shouldn’t be more than 15 seconds anyway, and if they are, you should ask for a re-write. Music promos/sweeps on the other hand can be up to 30seconds but anything more takes away from the brand of the internet station.
So, I’ve become fascinated, allright addicted to FB, it’s like we took it over from the teenagers. I’ve connected with people I haven’t seen nor heard from in well over ## years (You didn’t really think I’d tell you how many did you?).
But as I cruise through the posts made from my old friends, I’ve come to the realization that we’ve really grown up. Although some still dwell in the past, that’s alright because that’s who they are and they don’t really know what the rest of the world is like because they never left the world we couldn’t wait to get out of.
Case in point, I have an dear old friend who still lives in the same small town we went to in high school. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it is like she is still stuck in 79′. I left that arena a long time ago and this summer I have the opportunity to re-visit that time period with some old friends, discuss life, liberty and our relentless pursuit of happiness. I can’t wait
Wow, I can’t believe how fast time has flown by!. Time to think about how in the next ratings period you are going to make your stations imaging shine.
Get new testimonials for at-work listening right in your stations account executives cubicles. Send them a memo with what you want them to say and then have them call your voice mail and leave the audio there, retrieve it and you’re ready.
Gotta sports franchise in your city, opening day baseball is just days away, perfect opportunity to connect with your core P1’s and 2’s so grab your digital recorder and go see the game. My favorite part about this plan is I get to see the game, and I can walk through the stands and get the responses I need from even fringe P3’s.
Think Spring, clean up and refresh! Your cume will bloom and your TSL will excel!. (sorry for the puns
Scott
Of course they are but there is a point where you may need to draw a line in the sand. You certainly don’t want to lose your client especially in this economic climate, but when the client is leaning toward using another source to sell their product then something needs to be done.
Tact is crucial here.
Perhaps your client has just had a bad day, or maybe worse, been told they have to cut costs. If you are going to be given the “ax”, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Don’t risk losing the client over a few dollars, in this era of economic hardships, if you have to take a slight cut, do so, but don’t compromise the integrity of your talent and don’t cut your own throat. Be firm, but fair when re-negotiating your fees. What is YOUR bottom dollar?