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Duration 43’21”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 61 MB.
Loudness -16 LUFS.

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Show notes

A lockdown edition of the Earshot podcast as Matt Podd in rural Essex and Adam Venton on the South West coastal town of Portishead play and discuss their creative audio production.

Hear Adam’s latest work for stations in the UK and the US, Matt’s Iron Imager entry and some of his work for the BBC.

We also discuss working in lockdown (nothing’s changed really) and RadioCentre’s current ad promoting the benefits of radio advertising.

Links

Adam Venton

Matt Podd

Credits

Thanks to Harrison RB and InQuality, makers of the ipDTL platform.

Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Views are personal. Steve and the contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

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Michaela Hallam, Kate Dinsdale and Debbie Dillon

Duration 39’27”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 55.5 MB.
Loudness -16 LUFS.

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Show notes

In this edition, Michaela Hallam, Debbie Dillon and Kate Dinsdale demonstrate how the BBC’s in-house creative agency approaches radio.

They play trails that promote Audio Description for viewers with restricted sight, their Wimbledon 2018 campaign that was much-loved by Chris Evans and the launch of the corporation’s ambitious project to aggregate music, podcasts and radio together in one place, BBC Sounds.

Kate, Debbie and Michaela describe how they achieve consistency of message while creating bespoke executions to fit the sound of each BBC radio service to maximise the effectiveness of their work.

You’ll also hear how BBC Creative works with independent production houses like Mcasso Music and Audio Always, and the team share tips for you if you want to be part of a future production with the agency.

Links

Career opportunities with BBC Creative

Mcasso, responsible for producing the sonic mnemonic for BBC Sounds.

Audio Always, which has contributed to several recent campaigns by BBC Creative.

Credits

Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Views are personal. Steve and the contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Friday 12 April, 2019, 6 Music pioneers dynamic personalised trails | Earshot writes: […] …and this trail from BBC Creative: […]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Just weeks after launching its new breakfast show, station sound producers Ben Stones and Liam Hadley share the production secrets of Radio 1’s imaging. We hear also from host Greg James and ReelWorld music director Erik Huber who created the show’s theme.

Play or download this podcast

Ben Stones and Liam Hadley

Duration 45’44”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 64 MB.
Loudness -16 LUFS.

Subscribe to the whole series with your favourite podcast app, Google Podcasts or iTunes. If you enjoy the show please rate and review it.

Show notes

The sound of BBC Radio 1 is heard by more than nine million people in the UK every week. In this edition of Earshot, producers Ben and Liam explain how they and their team create the imaging production and promos for this legendary station.

They unpack the new imaging for Radio 1 Breakfast and presenter Greg James describes what he wanted the imaging to achieve, and what it means for him, his audience and the show he leads.  You’ll hear the different mixes of the Breakfast theme, produced by ReelWorld, including the 2 minute opener.

Ben explains how the station uses a cast of four station voices – Matt, Georgia, Rachelle and Lewis – and how he found new talent for breakfast. Beth is the female voice of the show and it’s her first ever voice gig.

We also learn how many people can fit into a tiny BBC production booth, how ideas Liam heard on Australian radio have inspired his work at BBC Radio 1 and why he insisted on reinventing the music montage.

All that, plus the creative genesis of the Live Lounge opener, the flexible structure of “The 1 for…” positioning line that ended up emblazoned on the side of a tour bus, and deep imaging geekery from two producers passionate about their craft and the power of great radio production.

What Greg says…

As with Matthew Corbett and Sooty, Greg had a hand in it…

Question and answer session from The Guardian

Links

In the show Ben and Liam mention Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James, Reelworld, the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, the station branding service IMGR and the Official Chart with Scott Mills.

Earshot bonus: the Erik Huber interview in full

Erik Huber talks to Steve Martin

In this exclusive half-hour interview, ReelWorld Music Director Erik Huber discusses his approach to radio imaging production, how the craft has changed in more than twenty years of ReelWorld and his personal perspective on the Radio 1 breakfast project which his company won in a hard-fought open pitch.

Credits

Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons. Special thanks to Meryn Shetye at ReelWorld.

Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 12 November, 2018, ReelWorld celebrate new sound of BBC Radio 1 Breakfast – JingleNews.com writes: […] The BBC Radio imaging team and ReelWorld Music Director Erik Huber have spoken to the latest Earshot Creative podcast about the project, which can be heard here. […]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Playing games

This time, two of planet Earth’s leading commercial radio practitioners explore the world’s greatest contest and competition mechanics and what makes them so effective for audiences and sponsors alike.

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Jonathan Lumley and John Simons

Duration 47’45”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 71.2 MB.
Loudness -16 LUFS.

Subscribe to the whole series with your favourite podcast app, Google Podcasts or iTunes. If you enjoy the show please rate it so its utter brilliance can be in no doubt to anybody.

Thanks to you, Earshot recently hit number 377 in the Apple podcast chart for Marketing and Management in the UK. Yes, 377. In this world one takes what one can get.

Show notes

From the Cash Call to the Bong Game® to the Real Radio Renegade, Jonathan Lumley from East Coast Radio and Jacaranda FM in South Africa and international radio consultant John Simons from the UK reveal their favourite competition ideas, both as set-piece promotional moments and everyday benchmarks.

In conversation with Earshot’s Steve Martin, they explain how their favourite competition mechanics work, the critical dos and don’ts for any promotion and how data from engaged listeners can help you demonstrate to advertisers the quality of audience you attract. You’ll also discover the 1% rule and why John’s cousin hasn’t been for dinner recently.

If you run competitions, games or sponsored promotions on your station this is a rare opportunity to learn from two of the best, from both sides of the globe.

Trademarked competition names

If you want to check whether a proposed competition has been trademarked in the UK, this is the central UK Trade Mark registry.

Jonathan Lumley (left, enscarfed) and John Simons (jacketed and labelled).

Next time: Ben Stones and Liam Hadley from the BBC, including the inside story on the imaging for the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James, produced with ReelWorld.

Credits

Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Play or download this podcast

Gordon Lundy, Matt Shields and Gavin Pearson.

Duration 49’51”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 69.7 MB.
Loudness -16 LUFS.

Subscribe to every new edition of Earshot with your favourite podcast app or iTunes.

If you enjoy the show please rate it so its utter brilliance can be in no doubt to anybody.

Show notes

With a live audience of media students in an even more live acoustic, this is possibly the greatest radio production podcast ever recorded from the other side of a room.

Guests Gordon Lundy (Absolute Radio, Kerrang!), Matt Shields (Wave FM) and Gavin Pearson (Bauer City production hub) share examples of their on-air imaging work and explain how they approach it.

Presented by Steve Martin.

Gordon Lundy

Gordon started in radio production in 2001, in New Zealand, and has been a jack of varying trades since.

He picked up a couple of NZ Radio Awards and returned to his native Edinburgh in 2009 to produce imaging for Radio Forth, and then the Bauer Scotland network in general.

In 2012 he moved to Birmingham as imaging and S&P producer for Kerrang! Radio, later adding Planet Rock and a new base in London. After 2 years in London, he escaped and ran away to Edinburgh working remotely in the same position. And since 2017 Gordon has been part of the imaging production team for the Absolute Radio Network.

He’s also finds it impossible to let go of anything so he keeps his oars in various old pies (mixed metaphors), including as a voiceover for Bauer Scotland stations, and hosting the mid-mornings on Kerrang! Radio.

Matt Shields

Matt Shields studied at Edinburgh & Fife College and, despite his young age has been prolific in Scottish radio.

Since 2009 Matt’s audio production work has been heard on just about every independently owned radio station in the country. Original 106, Kingdom FM, Wave 102, Central FM and now the new Wave FM in Dundee and Perth are just some of them.

Matt also hosts the evening show on Kingdom FM and presents for stations around the Bauer network in Scotland.

Gavin Pearson

Gavin Pearson began his radio career at Forth 1 back in 1991, becoming a technical operator a year later. At the age of 17, he presented his first show on the station Christmas day 1993. He then took up a regular slot presenting the Scottish Chart and a Friday night show with Edith Bowman. All of this led to a Best Newcomer award in 1996.

In April 1998, Gavin moved to Clyde 1 where he has presented every show on the schedule from Chart countdowns to Election Specials and the world famous Clyde 1 Super Scoreboard.

Alongside presenting, Gavin has kept his hand in when it comes to imaging, and with branding becoming more and more vital, he switched to a role doing this in a full time capacity from 2006. His production of promos and programmes specials has earned him several New York Radio Festival awards.

Gavin is now a proud member of the Bauer City Production Hub; a group of eight producers who image the entire Bauer City Network. He is the only member of that team based in Scotland and he specialises in sport production and Bauer City 2.

As well as all of this, Gavin continues to present on the Bauer City 1 network, hosting Sunday Breakfast.

Dedication

Richard “Nobby” Newby

Steve Martin dedicates this edition of Earshot to the memory of audio producer Richard “Nobby” Newby who lost his life in April 2018. Richard was originally due to appear on this recording.

In the podcast you’ll hear tributes to Richard from Steve Martin, Global’s Ashley Bard, Matt Fisher at the BBC and Jim Gallatly of Amazing Radio.

You can enjoy Richard’s work in this edition of Earshot from February 2016.

Photos

by Michèle Dillon photography

Pre-production meeting

(L-R) Gordon, Matt, Gavin & Steve with John Collins on the faders

Thinking about Nobby

Tricky question from the back row

Gavin Pearson scares everybody

Venue

This show was recorded at Scotland’s Creative Media Network student festival at the CCA in Glasgow on 25 April 2018.

Credits

Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons. Thanks to John Collins on the faders.

Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Sam and Steve of A Million Ads

The Earshot podcast is all about great radio production, shared by the people who make it.

Play or download this podcast

A Million Ads, with and Steve Dunlop & Sam Crowther.

Duration 43’23”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 60.89 MB.
Loudness -16 LUFS.

Subscribe to every new edition of Earshot with your favourite podcast app, or iTunes. If you enjoy the show please rate it so positively on iTunes that its brilliance can be in no doubt to anybody.

Show notes

Explore new creative opportunities in programmatic advertising and dynamic audio in the company of two highly knowledgeable and likeable pioneers in this emerging field. Steve Dunlop and Sam Crowther run A Million Ads, the London-based agency that leads the world in dynamic, personalised audio advertising.

With patience and clarity in this Earshot podcast, Steve and Sam take Steve Martin through this emerging growth area and how it works. They also demonstrate some new creative routes to more effective communication through personalisation with real-life campaign audio from their early clients. What’s more, they do all this in a pub.

If you listen to online radio or streaming music services that carry advertising you may have already heard dynamically assembled ad spots that take account of the data advertisers know about you.

A short route to increased effectiveness or a little bit spooky? Download this edition of the Earshot podcast and hear for yourself.

The A Million Ads platform

Everything Sam and Steve describe in the podcast is achieved through this platform, unique to A Million Ads.

As they explain in the show, data from trading desks triggers individual elements to be instantly assembled to create a customised variant of the ad you hear.

On the production side, the assembly workflow takes around 1.5 times more than production of a traditional ad, yet can yield many tens of thousands of personalised variants… perhaps even a million ads.

Variants are indexed with text labels. Here there are 7 day variants x 4 alternatives triggered by live weather data

Each variant is linked to an associated audio object within a traditional DAW timeline.

A whole campaign

In this graphic visualisation (click the image to go big), the first division is a branch determined by the closest airport to you,
the second is the weather where you are,
the third is a rotation of airport specific holiday destinations available,
the fourth is the temperature you could be enjoying there,
the fifth is the flight time from that particular airport,
and the sixth is a dynamic sales message call-to-action.

Over 12,500 ads in all. Sam says it’s not their biggest, but is one of the more beautiful!

Venue

The Theodore Bullfrog

This show was recorded in the Theodore Bullfrog, John Adam Street, London. A great pub in which to discuss dynamic audio.

Credits

Research by Hayley Hayes. Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Tom Cross and Adam Burgess of Contraband Media

The Earshot podcast is all about great radio production, shared by the people who make it.

In this edition Steve Martin meets Adam Burgess and Tom Cross: two thirds of the production house Contraband Media.

Together with music director Small Paul, Adam and Tom have built Contraband into one of the UK’s leading independent radio imaging companies with clients here, in the US, New Zealand and Australia. They were nominated in the 2017 Audible Audio Production Awards for their CHR imaging work.

In the Earshot podcast you’ll hear how they made the transition from technical operators on Southern England’s 103.2 Power FM to station imaging producers and then directors of their own business.

Tom and Adam share production secrets from their branded song intros from the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show with Nick Grimshaw and their Imaging Blueprint CHR imaging service and play some great examples of this work.

They also explain how their work for Radio 1 is puzzle of micro-editing, pitch-shifting, tuned voices, soft synths and the cheekiest individual syllables smuggled from song lyrics.

Generously, Tom and Adam share business advice for you if you’re thinking you might leave a salaried job and set-up your own production company or enter the freelance world.

…and we enjoy a simple, beautiful radio ad from one of the longest-running FMCG campaigns in Britain. It’s a monthly winner from the Aerial Awards scheme which honours the most creative and effective radio advertising in the UK.

Play the podcast

Tom Cross and Adam Burgess from Contraband Media.

(duration 38’48”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 54.8 MB)
Subscribe to every new edition of Earshot with your favourite podcast app, or iTunes. If you enjoy the show please rate it positively so others can be confident of its quality.

Credits

Research by Hayley Hayes. Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Left to right: David Konsky, Steve Martin, Ron Tarrant and Victor Lisle.

Play the podcast

Konsky, Ron Tarrant & Victor Lisle at Reelmix.

(duration 33’04”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 49.2 MB)
Subscribe to Earshot with your favourite podcast app or iTunes. If you listen and enjoy the show please give it a star rating on your podcast portal so others can be confident of its quality.

David Konsky

Head of Production at Southern Cross Austereo’s Hit Network and 2DAYFM in Australia, Konsky got into radio by doing graveyard and swing shifts at Triple M. Today, he also produces for ReelWorld’s Production Vault service through which is work is heard on stations worldwide, including Z100 in New York. He’s a self-confessed ideas magpie:

Victor Lisle

A former on air personality and creative services director for Clear Channel, Victor has run ReelWorld’s Production Vault service for the NewsTalk format for the last nine years. He’s also the voice of the Rogers NewsTalk network in Canada and is a leading proponent of imaging that connects emotionally.

Ron Tarrant

Head of Imaging and Sound Design for Howard Stern on Sirius XM, Ron is the first Canadian to hold the position. Ron also voices all the production used across the bouquet of Howard satellite channels on the Sirius XM platform. He has previously worked across rock, CHR, AC, talk and sports formats in Canada and you can hear more of his career reel on Soundcloud.

About Reelmix

The Reelmix imaging event was held in September 2016 in Miami, Florida USA by ReelWorld and the Mix Group. The two day masterclass in imaging production for radio featured the world’s leading imagers who shared their expertise to a capacity crowd. You can see our live blogs from the event in a series of posts on this site.

Day one morning.

Day one afternoon.

Day two.

Credits

Thanks to ReelWorld and The Mix Group for bringing these people together and for inviting Earshot to join them in Miami.

Earshot theme music by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Steve, Chris and Hayley, complete with knitwear in a panelled room.

Chris Ward

Bauer Media is one of the UK’s leading commercial radio operators. Chris Ward is the Content Operations Director and Group Production Director for its Bauer City Network of around 50 outlets.

Every week this network reaches around 7 million listeners and generates more than 60 million hours of total listening.

Its stations are based in large cities across the North and Midlands of England, and Scotland. They operate under heritage brand names like Hallam, Clyde, Metro and Viking, tiered in three networks with local speech content among the tracks: Bauer City 1 operates a hot AC format, recently repositioned, and it drives the biggest audience, Bauer City 2 plays classic hits and Bauer City 3 is a punchy CHR network.

Chris’s team is largely based in Salford, near Manchester but he has a couple of team members in Glasgow and Birmingham too.

In this Earshot podcast, hear audio that communicates the new music positioning of the Bauer City 1 network, creative production to support S&P activity and examples of customised sung vocals on playlist tracks that Chris’s team uses on many of the network’s major promotions.

Play the audio

Chris Ward of Bauer Media.

(duration 49’00”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 67.7 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts or Google Play Music.

Also in the show

Vintage audio from Africa’s first commercial radio station, Lorenzo Marques Radio.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Credits

Guest: Chris Ward with audio from his team at Bauer Media which includes James Espley, Reagan Charles, Lydia Athey, Gavin Pearson and Joe Thomas.
Research: Hayley Hayes
Ambassador of Radio: Steve Martin

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Steve Martin and Hayley Hayes are back with another edition of the radio promotions, marketing and production podcast. Only one of them has a cold: see if you can work out who.

This time, the Earshot podcast is all about creativity. Our two interview guests are experts in creative thinking and the processes that support it:

Play here

Earshot podcast: Dr Becky Spelman and John Vorhaus

(duration 33’18”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 46.2 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts or Google Play Music.

John Vorhaus

John Vorhaus is a writer and creative trainer. His work as an advertising copywriter and television sit-com developer has helped feed a string of books on creativity and comedy writing. We discuss The Comedy Toolbox: how to be funny even when you’re not in this show.

You’ll hear tips on overcoming the fear of not being funny and learn some great ways to work towards genuinely funny characters, situations and jokes. There’s something for writers, producers and on air personalities in John’s advice.

Dr Becky Spelman

Dr Becky Spelman DPsych Couns Psych, PG Dip Couns Psych, PG Dip (Cog Thp), BABCP (Accred), HPC Reg, B.Psych (Hons) is a London-based registered psychologist and cognitive behavioural therapist, specialising in psychodynamic therapy, eye movement desensitisation reprocessing, dialectical behaviour therapy and mindfulness. She has a very large business card.

Dr Becky explains what happens in our brains when we have an idea, how to overcome the temptation to procrastinate, how to activate the parts of your brain that will let creativity flow and shares lots of practical tips for making the most of your creative ability.

Also in the show

What is “Voice Fry” and does it annoy you? One Earshot listener takes issue with what he feels is an increasing prevalence of the effect on air.

And, since we’re recording in December, Aleksander Lilleøien provides a festive treat from his Christmas station in Norway, P7.

The station’s singalong Top of Hour ident became so popular with listeners that he and production company Wise Buddah have now turned it into a full length song.

Here’s a rough translation of the lyrics:

Christmas bells are ringing
Now the time is here
Everybody’s coming home from far and near

The wait is over
So let’s sing along
To our Christmas favorites
‘till Santa can be seen

Hello, hi everybody, it’s good to meet again
Here’s family, here’s friends, and everyone we know
The Christmas feeling

With children laughing, winter, snow
On the square, there is a Christmas tree
And maybe Santa will come home to you

The radio’s playing P7 Klem
It is the wonderful Christmas feeling
Merry Christmas

All the lights are lit and
the calm feeling returns
We’re all excited to see
If santa’s on his way

Christmas food and a crackling fire place
At the table, there’s nothing but smiles to see
The night has only just begun
And the presents are waiting when we’re full

Hello, hi everybody, it’s good to meet again
Sharing good memories, when the stars are shining,
on heaven high above

With children laughing, winter, snow
On the square, there is a Christmas tree
And maybe Santa will come home to you

The radio’s playing P7 Klem
It is the wonderful Christmas feeling
Merry Christmas

Hello, hi everybody, it’s good to meet again
Here’s family, here’s friends, and everyone we know
The Christmas feeling

With children laughing, winter, snow
On the square, there is a Christmas tree
And maybe Santa will come home to you

The radio’s playing P7 Klem
It is the wonderful Christmas feeling
Merry Christmas
With P7 Klem

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Credits

Contributors: Dr Becky Spelman, John Vorhaus and Aleksander Lilleøien.

Research and audio editing: Hayley Hayes
Ambassador of Radio: Steve Martin

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Ollie Raphael at BBC Radio 5 Live

Play here

Earshot podcast: 5 Live and 2FM imaging

Download the mp3 (duration 45’17”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 63.4 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts or Google Play Music.

5 Live and 2FM imaging show notes

Explore two strikingly different approaches to radio station imaging in this edition of Earshot.

Pete Maguire from RTÉ Ireland explains how 2 FM‘s new imaging completes a modernisation journey for the station and Paul Fernley of ReelWorld describes the search across Ireland for vocalists and voice artists that led to a highly original and authentic sound for the national CHR brand.

Ollie Raphael of Delicious Digital demonstrates the thought and musicianship that his organisation put into new work for BBC Radio 5 Live. Hear how the new package unifies the network’s wide range of news and sports programming and learn about Delicious Digital’s approach to media branding.

Hayley Hayes is in the house too with Hayley’s Homework, answering a listener’s question from the previous edition.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Pictures

Pete Maguire and Paul Fernley

RTE 2FM logo

One that got away

In a rare move, one music company that pitched for the BBC Radio 5 Live project, but lost out in the competitive process to Delicious Digital, has contacted Earshot to share its pitch.

Grooveyard Music says it aimed for a modern, energetic sounding package that used musical reference points that would resonate with the target audience.

It’s interesting to hear the amount of work that goes into these pitches.

Credits

Paul Fernley of ReelWorld
Pete Maguire of RTÉ 2FM
Ollie Raphael of Delicious Digital
Ace Researcher: Hayley Hayes
Ambassador of Radio: Steve Martin

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Play here

Earshot podcast: Commercial production with Sara, Rick and Dan

Download the mp3 (duration 49’56”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, size 75.1MB)
Find the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts, Deezer, Acast or Google Play Music.

Show notes

This edition of Earshot is all about commercial production.

Our guests are Sara Hashem, senior creative producer from Maple Street Studios and Radioworks, a major London-based production centre for commercial work, and the Wireless Group creative team of Rick Loynes, group commercial producer and Dan Seavers, senior commercial copywriter, both based in Stoke on Trent, a city in the English Midlands.

In this show Sara, Rick and Dan explain how they work with clients on a national and local level, and the challenges they must overcome to deliver great work on air. They play spots they’ve made for clients from insurance companies to a local car dealership and reveal the audio that inspires them to stay creative and make effective advertising.

We also hear from Clare Bowen with the latest on Radiocentre’s lobbying work to change the regulation that governs the inclusion of the Terms and Conditions in radio ads. The radio industry wants to lose them because they are ineffective and add clutter to good creative work.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

As recommended by Darren Altman

Picture

Clare and Steve

Clare Bowen and Steve Martin meet at the BBC. Worth a selfie?

Credits

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band with kind permission. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons. Interviews conducted via ipDTL.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Laura Mather of ReelWorld, Stephanie Hirst and the BBC’s Kathy Clugston

This edition of the Earshot podcast is happily sponsored by Broadcast Bionics.

Play here

Earshot podcast: Women in Imaging with Stephanie Hirst

Download the mp3 (duration 46’10”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, size 69.1 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts or Google Play Music.

What is the role of women in radio imaging?

In this edition of the Earshot podcast, broadcaster and radio imaging enthusiast Stephanie Hirst explores the role of women in imaging with guests from opposite ends of the radio production spectrum.

Laura Mather is a multi award-winning imaging producer and the European Production Manager at ReelWorld, writing and producing creative audio for client stations worldwide. Kathy Clugston helps shape the sound of BBC Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra and the BBC World Service as a voice artist and newsreader on those networks.

Together they seek to identify the unique creative contribution that women make to radio station sound, promotion and imaging, ask why are there so few women in certain fields of radio production like imaging and to what extent does sexism exist in radio production?

Stephanie, Laura and Kathy also play some creative work they’ve made or which has inspired them, and we hear audio and comments from Jo Nicoll, who has made it to the top flight of UK commercial radio production as head of Production for the Smooth and Gold networks at Global Radio.

This all-female show is produced by Hayley Hayes and Sara Hashem at Maple Street Studios.

Be part of the show

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Pictures

Steph and Laura in studio

Steph and Laura at Maple Street Studios

Maple Street’s Sara Hashem and Hayley Hayes of Earshot producing.

Earshot’s all-women team of (l-r) Hayley Hayes, Laura Mather, Stephanie Hirst, Kathy Clugston and Sara Hashem.

Maple Street Studios – our home for one day.

Stephanie Hirst’s Veronica cassette

Sound Women

The professional membership organisation for women in UK radio has a focus in 2016 on women in technical roles. Membership for those working in radio costs £5 per month. More information here.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band with kind permission. Studio recording made at Maple Street Studios in London’s West End. Our thanks to Broadcast Bionics, makers of Virtual Director, for their help in making this show possible and to ReelWorld for producing the special Women in Imaging jingle for Stephanie.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 9 May, 2016, Earshot creates Woman in Imaging podcast | RadioToday writes: […] to it here or catch it on inRadio during one of its regular slots – Wednesday at 11am, Thursday at 5pm […]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Mitch Von Arx and Hayley Hayes

Play here

Earshot podcast: Mitch von Arx

Download the mp3 (duration 33’29”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, size 49.1 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts, Google Play Music or acast.

Show notes

Producer and composer Mitch von Arx shares his production work for the UK’s Kiss network and explains how he and his colleagues create that distinctive Kiss sound.

Mitch plays top-of-hours, Kisstory sweepers, S&P work for a film promotion, imaging for the ever-giving Father Kissmas and a mighty new year countdown piece that definitely deserves a second listen in the cool light of day.

Mitch’s compositions are released under the name Legomec.

Also in this edition, the best ad for a local camping store you’ll hear all year…. and it was made in-station too.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Pictures

Mitch is rightly horrified by Steve’s approach to production

Father Kissmas

Mitch von Arx and Steve Martin

Credits

Thanks to London’s Grange Fitzrovia Hotel for hosting us.

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band with kind permission. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Hayley Hayes and Richard Newby at the Earshot bar.

Play the show

Earshot podcast: Richard Newby and Mariana O’Kelly

Download the mp3 (duration 33’07”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, size 46 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts or Google Play Music.

Show notes

In this edition of the Earshot podcast Richard Newby plays his work from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music and Global’s Chill.

As one of the UK’s most in-demand freelance producers, Richard works across all the major groups in the UK including the BBC, Global, Celador and Bauer.

In this Earshot podcast he plays his promos from the latest BBC Radio 1 brand campaign, an Iggy Pop flight of fancy from BBC Radio 6 Music, his original compositions for Global’s Chill and Richard reveals the secrets of his vocal processor chain. Goodness.

We hear also from Ogilvy’s Executive Creative Director in South Africa, Mariana O’Kelly about her Cannes Lion award-winning campaign for Lucozade, plus Hayley Hayes is with us, picking out some of your delightful comments about the podcast from the Earshot inbox. Butter us up and we’re all over you.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Look

Richard Newby answers Steve Martin’s questions.

Hayley points at Richard so you know it’s him. Do your own Old Master joke.

Mariana O’Kelly, Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy, South Africa

Here’s the video that accompanies Matt Fisher’s epic mashup for the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend, described by Richard in the podcast:

Link

Ben Neidle, lauded by Richard is at noise fusion

Matt Fisher talks about the Radio 1 Big Weekend mashup in this report from the Imaging Days 2015.

Thank

Earshot Creative Review theme by Tiger Club Band. Research by Hayley Hayes. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Earshot podcast: David LLoyd and Colin Kelly

Download the mp3 (duration 43’05”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, size 61.1 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts or, eventually, Google Play Music.

Show notes

There are few true ‘bibles’ of radio broadcasting craft. In this Earshot podcast, David Lloyd explains how he identified the need for a different kind of radio book and why he wanted to be the one to write it.

He introduces a thoughtful approach to hooking and teasing, prioritises positive writing over fussy production and explains how radio promotions producers can make their work more effective with a focus on listener benefits.

How to make great radio – David LLoyd

Colin Kelly’s with us too – he has just launched a children’s radio project for schools in Scotland. Hear the results of Scottish Schools Radio in the show, including one schoolgirl who gives Steve Wright a run for his money with her take on Factoids.

And because it’s Christmas enjoy a couple of remarkable radio ads from the USA and Ireland.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to share great audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Buy David’s book

Buy How to Make Great Radio from Amazon. Proceeds go to the Radio Academy.

David Lloyd

David is the Content and Operations Director of Orion Media, owners of Gem 106 and Free Radio. In a certain light he looks like this.

David Lloyd. Photo by Kris Askey

I got my copy of his book back in May…

at the airport – inflight reading sorted thanks to @DavidLloydRADIO pic.twitter.com/oyUGBqBVxP

— Steve Martin (@smartin) May 16, 2015

Colin Kelly

Founder of Scottish Schools Radio

Colin Kelly, founder of Scottish Schools Radio

A box of tea bags

Barry’s Tea looks like this. Available in some UK supermarkets.

…and if you’re looking for a firearm in the Fresno area, here’s the link to PRK Arms.

Festive treat from David Lloyd

Thanks for reading down this far. Here’s your reward.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band with kind permission. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons. Interviews conducted via ipDTL.

Special thanks to Media Central, Dublin.

Any views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Play here

Earshot podcast: Ollie Melville-Smith

Download the mp3 (27’59”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, 39.9 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot podcast via iTunes or PocketCasts. It might even be in Google Play soon.

Show notes

In the Earshot podcast Ollie discusses the art of jingle composition with Steve Martin, explains how the Tonmeister course at the University of Surrey gave him a musical grounding and we hear from breakfast presenter Peter Gordon immediately after he played Ollie’s work on air for the first time.

All that, and of course we play the jingles written by Ollie with Wise Buddah jingles for Eagle Radio.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Pictures

Ollie Melville-Smith plays bass

Peter Gordon. Hosts breakfast, commissions jingles, wears women’s clothing.

Peter Gordon is Dame Dolly Trott in Jack and the Beanstalk, this Christmas at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review theme music by the Tiger Club Band with kind permission. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons. Interviews conducted via ipDTL. Special thanks to Rob Wallace and Hayley Hayes.

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Wednesday 2 December, 2015, Mike Powell writes: Sounds great. Well done Ollie. Punches the station name loud and proud in a musically memorable way. Job done!

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Tony Blackburn and Steve Martin

I love it when we do a magazine format edition of the podcast. Not just for the stories and the people but also because I get to do a high-energy menu sequence at the top!

Play here

Earshot podcast: Imaging special

Download the mp3 (53’20”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 61.1 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes or PocketCasts.

Show notes

Two of the world’s leading station imaging production companies pitch their demos head-to-head. Wise Buddah’s Mark Goodier and Anthony Gay from Reelworld Europe explain how their organisations are tracking the changing needs of radio stations across the world.

Paul Plant introduces No Sheet Music – a new production library designed to lift the production standards of radio and more.

Tony Blackburn shares his enthusiasm for the radio jingles that help give his programmes such popular appeal. PAMS are his favourite.

Anthony Timmers invites you to attend the first Imaging Days event, taking place in Amsterdam on 8 and 9 September. Apparently Amsterdam has the most imaging per square metre.

Colin Kelly on the BBC’s Commonwealth Voices – a pop-up station that explored the story of Glasgow and other Commonwealth cities during the Commonwealth Games.

…and a few other cheap thrills for anoraks.

The Reelworld Europe team

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by PURE Jingles. Voiceover is Sefa Nkyi at Hobsons. Thanks also to ipDTL

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Pat Gill of Dublin’s market-leading FM104 is my guest in this edition of the Earshot production podcast.

Play here

Earshot podcast: Pat Gill at Dublin’s FM104

Download the mp3 (34’35”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 39.7 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes or PocketCasts.

Show notes

Pat’s been at FM104 for eleven years and boasts a string of awards for his audio work. In the podcast Pat plays a bunch of FM104 production – from morning show jingles and music imaging to punchy and provocative trailers.

FM104 itself is living proof that market leading doesn’t have to mean narrowly-focused. The playlist is hit music with a few surprises but the station also broadcasts a comedy-rich breakfast show and a real appointment listen in the late night phone show.

I always love to meet creative people who are happy in their work and Pat is a wonderful example of that. Hear how enthusiastic he is about the station and his creative work in our half-hour converstion recorded in Pat’s production studio.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by PURE Jingles. Voiceover is Sefa Nkyi at Hobsons. Thanks also to ipDTL

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 23 June, 2014, Radio Today | FM104′s Pat Gill on the Earshot Podcast writes: […] Steve Martin at Earshot says: FM104 itself is living proof that market leading doesn’t have to mean narrowly-focused. The playlist is hit music with a few surprises but the station also broadcasts a comedy-rich breakfast show and a real appointment listen in the late night phone show. […]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Play here

Earshot podcast: Nathan Freeman and James Espley

Download the mp3 (40’02”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 45.8 MB)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes or PocketCasts.

Show notes

In this edition of our production podcast we welcome Nathan Freeman of BBC Radio 6 Music and winner of the 2013 Creative prize in the Radio Production Awards and James Espley of new national rock station TeamRock Radio. Both are nominated in this year’s Radio Academy Awards with their respective teams and, as you’ll hear, producing some great work for their different styles of music radio.

As well as playing some of their recent trails and imaging elements, Nathan and James explain how they come up with the ideas that convey their promotional messages and share great production tips that we can all learn from. They also look to Australian radio and cinema for their creative inspiration.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it. Right now we’re collecting your secret tips for better and more efficient production. What little production secrets do you rely on every day?

Gravity

Here’s the movie trailer Nathan references in the podcast

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by PURE Jingles. Voiceover is Sefa Nkyi at Hobsons. Thanks also to ipDTL

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Gerald Jackson (centre) receives his Gillard award from BBC Trust Chairman, Lord Patten (left) and David Holdsworth, Controller of BBC English Regions

BBC Local Radio’s Gerald Jackson celebrates 45 years of production.

A local radio legend, Gerald Jackson has recently been awarded in the Gillards for his outstanding contribution to BBC Local Radio.

Radio production, music and technology have played leading roles throughout Gerald’s 45 years in BBC Local Radio. In our podcast, Gerald steps us through the history of the network’s promotional production and identity and explains how, today, he manages the audio image of the 40 local stations.

Eloise Whitmore

Beds, water parks, mics on poles and motorbikes: the newly-honoured Radio Production Awards producer of the year shares some of the secrets behind her award winning approach to dramatic sound design.

Chuck Knight

Philadelphia’s market-leading B101 runs voiced “song tags” off the end of every song it plays. With its PD we discover what audiences insights led to this innovative technique and hear how song tags have changed the sound of the whole station.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/earshot-11-2013.mp3|titles=”Gerald Jackson Eloise Whitmore and Chuck Knight with Steve Martin.”]

Download the mp3 (49’47”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 59.9MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes or PocketCasts.

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by PURE Jingles. Beds by radiobeds.com. Voice is Sefa Nkyi. The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons and IPDTL and is produced by Steve Martin.

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

James Stodd, Richard Culver and Chris Reay

Meet this year’s Sony Radio Academy promotion and imaging winners.

James Stodd from the South Coast’s Jack FM and The Breeze, Richard Culver from BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 2‘s Chris Reay play the audio that gained them and their teams recognition this year in the UK’s  leading radio awards.

In conversation with ambassador of radio Steve Martin they also explain the creative processes behind their audio, the challenges that make their work so enjoyable and they reveal where they find some of their creative inspiration.

If you’re looking to learn from the industry’s brightest, there’s nowhere better to start than with James, Richard and Chris.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/earshot-06-2013.mp3|titles=”James Stodd Richard Culver and Chris Reay – all within Earshot”]

Download the mp3 (47’04”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 54.6MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes or PocketCasts.

The Earshout

If you’d like to get in touch or share your production work, we’ll play it in “The Earshout” feature. Just email us. We love to play audio from around the world – any station – any format, especially if it has an interesting story behind it.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by PURE Jingles. Beds by radiobeds.com. Voice is Sefa Nkyi.

The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons and produced by Steve Martin.

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Hello to a new series of the Earshot podcast

For the first show in the new run we’re at VOX, the annual conference for voiceovers, to explore the critical relationship between voice artist and radio producer.

Steve Martin asks voiceovers and producers about the changing nature of work in the radio production and advertising sector. You’ll also hear Sara Hashem on directing technique, John Myers on the Equity ratecard, Andrew Wright on production workflow, Steve Barreton on setting up microphones and a huge number of voice artists including Chas Rowe, Chris Stevens, Della Phillips, Oliver Dukcevic, Emma Hignett, Gayanne Potter, Louisa Gummer, Piers Gibbon, Hannah Patterson, Mike Cooper, Noni Lewis and Ian Brannan.

If you hear your voice on the podcast and we’ve missed you off the list please let us know and we’ll fix it.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/earshot-05-2013.mp3|titles=”Earshot at VOX 2013″]

Download the mp3 (39’33”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 46.6MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

The Earshout

The regular home of our radio production shout-outs is back with greetings and audio from across the radio production world. This month we also hear the production sound of QFM and Easy FM. Both stations are imaged by Davis Mwasaru in Nairobi, Kenya. If you’d like to share your work in this feature just email.

Pictures

Ambassador of radio Steve Martin distracts interviewees with a hideous checked shirt. Gingham style.

Credits

Many thanks to the VOX organisers: Posy Brewer, Mark Manchester and Gina Mellotte.

Earshot Creative Review imaging by PURE Jingles. Beds by radiobeds.com. Voice is Sefa Nkyi.

The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons and produced by Steve Martin and Jonathan Jacob.

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

from left: Mark Hulmes, Matt Deegan, Sefa Nyki, Tim Johns, Clare Bowen, Chris Wood, Jake Yapp, Helen Quigley and Jumoke Ogunkoya.

Seasons greetings

The Earshot Creative Review podcast plays great radio production with the people who make it. This is the last in the present series.

This festive edition comes direct from the Hippodrome Casino in London’s Leicester Square where some of our closest friends have gathered to enjoy some fun audio together and talk about radio production.

Clare Bowen of the RAB plays comedy radio ads that really sell, comedian Jake Yapp reveals what happened in the studio when he auditioned for the voice of cheese strings, Matt Deegan from Folder Media shares one of the latest “D Love” digital radio ads, producers Tim Johns and Chris Wood compare their experiences making trails for BBC Local Radio, Steve Martin plays an ad he heard on the radio in Liberia, competition finalists Mark Hulmes, Sefa Nyki and Jumoke Ogunkoya look back over the Hobsons Voicesearch 2012 challenge and voice artist and producer Helen Quigley shares her tips for the winner.

You’ll also hear audio from Gremlins Audio, a Church, a fish and chip shop, Jake Yapp’s radio show and Armstrong & Miller.

Hobsons Voicesearch 2012

We announce the ultimate winner of our competition to find and reward new British voice talent. Jumoke, Sefa, Mark and Scott have all faced studio challenges with us and our friends at Global Radio, the BBC and Reelworld but only one will land a twelve month professional representation contract with Hobsons. Listen to the podcast to discover who it is.

Play here

[audio:https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_december2012.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for December 2012″]

Download the mp3 (45’33”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 53.6MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Vote for us

If you like what you hear please vote for the Earshot Creative Review in the European Podcast Awards.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX  with custom sung vocals from Session Singer Online and beds by radiobeds.com. BBC Local Radio bed by Mcasso Music.

The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons. Special thanks to Kate Cocker.

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Producer Brionne Olsen from South Africa’s 5FM.

South African radio production

This month we drop below the equator for a taste of AC and CHR imaging in South Africa. Our guest is Brionne Olsen, current imaging producer at national CHR station 5FM and formerly of regional AC brand, Jacaranda 94.2.

In conversation with Steve Martin, Brionne explains how he approached the challenges of imaging those two stations with some interesting examples that demonstrate his points.

We also hear audio from the Eric Chase in the US and Australia’s David Konsky that inspires Brionne’s work and we learn how radio can ruin a marriage – especially if you’re always practicing your voice work at home in the kitchen.

Hobsons Voicesearch

Our shortlisted finalists Jumoke, Sefa, Mark and Scott enter the studios of high-end production powerhouse Reelworld with Andy Jackson to voice a selection of sweepers for the Student Radio Chart Show.

Reelworld has kindly donated a complete package of production from this session to Student Radio.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_november2012.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for November 2012″]

Download the mp3 (45’14”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 53.2MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Vote for us

If you like what you hear please vote for the Earshot Creative Review in the European Podcast Awards

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX  with custom vocals from Session Singer Online and beds by radiobeds.com

The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons.

Hobsons Voicesearch report by Kate Cocker. Special thanks to Andy Jackson and Anthony Gay at Reelworld.

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Gateshead Millennium Bridge. Photograph by Karen Bullock

Frank Gillard Awards

Meet two of the finalists for best station promotion in this year’s BBC Local Radio awards.

Chris Wood produced an energetic and multiplatform campaign for a local music festival in Oxfordshire while Richard Latto steered a sensitive course through coverage of the Titanic’s 100th anniversary on BBC Radio Solent. Hear them describe how they approached these two large-scale local projects and the resulting creative production.

Hobsons Voicesearch

Jumoke, Sefa, Mark and Scott continue their quest to win a year’s professional representation with Hobsons. This time they each voice an insurance ad at Global Radio, complete with caveat terms and conditions read at 900 miles an hour.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_october2012.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for October 2012″]

Download the mp3 (40’02”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 47.1MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Bonus audio

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/gillards-solent.mp3|titles=”BBC Radio Solent entry by Richard Latto”]
Competition entry audio by Richard Latto.

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/gillards-oxford.mp3|titles=”BBC Radio Oxford entry by Chris Wood”]
Competition entry audio by Chris Wood.

Links

Full details of the BBC Local Radio Frank Gillard awards, with a complete list of all winners.

If you like what you hear please vote for the Earshot Creative Review in the European Podcast Awards

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX  with custom vocals from Session Singer Online and beds by radiobeds.com

The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons.

Hobsons Voicesearch report by Kate Cocker. Special thanks to Jo McCrostie and Dan Akers at Global Radio creative.

Views expressed are personal and not necessarily those of the BBC or Global Radio. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 22 October, 2012, Earshot creative review « Chris Wood Radio writes: [...] October 2012 – Earshot Creative Review [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Clare Bowen and Lenja Papp

Radio Advertising

Some secrets of great radio advertising with Clare Bowen, head of creative development at the UK Radio Advertising Bureau and Lenja Papp, European radio writer and consultant.

Discover why Lenja wants to seduce – not shout in any language, how the comedy of Ricky Gervais, Karl Pilkinton and Stephen Merchant can address serious medical matters and how the RAB is working to improve the creative quality and effectiveness of radio advertising in Britain.

Hobsons Voicesearch

Meet Jumoke, Sefa, Mark and Scott: the shortlisted candidates in our competition to find and reward new, unsigned UK voice talent and hear them face a real-life studio challenge at the BBC with producer James Stodd.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_september2012.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for September 2012″]

Download the mp3 (53’09”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 62.4MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Links

Clare recommends the Inspired by Audio initiative created by the RAB with D&AD. We also mentioned the Voxmas party to which Earshot Creative listeners are invited.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX  and the sung jingle features custom vocals from Session Singer Online. Beds by radiobeds.com

The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons.

Hobsons Voicesearch report by Kate Cocker. Epic thanks to James Stodd.

Views expressed are personal.  The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Today BBC Radio 2 airs its new jingle package. It’s the first time in fifteen years that Britain’s most popular radio station has commissioned a completely new package.

The new work comes from London-based production house Wise Buddah who produced the jingles using the heritage logo from Grooveworx after a long commissioning process.

It is the result of considerable collaboration. The package includes performances from some of the BBC Radio 2 presenters including Clare Teal, Beverley Knight and Paul Jones. It also features the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Community Gospel Choir.

A few days ago, locked behind two levels of BBC security and sworn to total secrecy, Chris and I opened some drinks, discussed the package then played all the cuts back-to-back. Perfectly normal behaviour for a beer & jingles lock-in, as you’ll hear in this month’s podcast.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_july2012_embargo.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for July 2012″] Download the mp3 (28’13”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 32.5MB) Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Credits

Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX. The podcast is sponsored by Hobsons. Chris Reay’s anorak by Millets.

Views expressed are personal and not those of the BBC or Wise Buddah.  The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 16 July, 2012, Brand New Jingles for Radio 2 | Fred Hart: Jingles writes: [...] This month’s Earshot Creative Review podcast features Radio 2′s Station Sound Producer Chris Reay talking about the story beind the new package and playing all the various jingles. [...]
• Sunday 26 August, 2012, PhilEdmonds.com » Recent links and bits writes: [...] listening highlight is catching up with the July edition of the Earshot Creative Review  – looking at the new Radio 2 jingle package, which is a fascinating listen to some of the [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Dan Mumford and Brian Murphy. Picture:Steve Martin

Download our June podcast to celebrate a couple of Sony Radio Academy Award winners and their winning audio.

Guests this month are Dan Mumford, Manager of Station Sound at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1 Xtra and Absolute Radio Senior Producer, Brian Murphy.

You’ll hear an “awesome foursome” promo from the winning BBC Radio 1 Xtra station sound entry and the Geoff Lloyd “complaints” promo from Absolute Radio that was awarded the top prize for Best Single Promo or Ad.

This month we also discover how Absolute Radio is promoting online listening, hear the demo of Radio 1’s new imaging from PURE Jingles and why Radio 1 went overseas for it, and Dan Mumford reveals who does Fearne Cotton’s segues. Clue: it’s not Fearne.

Our producers’ inspiration comes from Dollar Shave Club and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and… “from the mountains to the sea”… we mark the lost art of the local radio station song.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_june2012.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for June 2012″]

Download the mp3 (43’43”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 50.1MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Last gasp

This is also your last chance to enter the Hobsons Voicesearch 2012 competition. If you’d like the chance to start a career in voice work with a 12 month artist representation contract with Hobsons then entries close on 30 June.

Credits

Audio from the Sony Radio Academy Awards courtesy of Radio Today. Station song excerpts from BBC Radio Shropshire (TM Century), Chiltern Radio and Radio Trent (Alfasound). BBC Radio Leeds song by Jake Yapp. Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX and the sung jingle features custom vocals from Session Singer Online.

Special thanks, as always, to Hobsons for their continued sponsorship.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

This Month, we’re recorded live (you know what we mean) at the Creative Loop student media festival in Glasgow.

On the panel are Paul Tyler from commercial production at Radio Clyde, Gavin Pearson, head of creative for all of Bauer Scotland and Steve Martin, the regular host of the Earshot Creative Review.

The podcast is hosted by Colin Kelly and produced and engineered by John Collins.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_may2012.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for May 2012″]

Download the mp3 (39’50”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 47.1MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Credits

Photographs by Creative Loop (yep, that’s Jim Gellatly up there, and John Collins on the faders). Earshot Creative Review imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX, music bed by Radiobeds with custom vocals by Session Singer Online. Thanks to Hobsons for their ongoing sponsorship.

Next month

Absolute Radio’s Brian Murphy celebrate’s his Sony Radio Academy Award for best single promotion and BBC Radio 1’s Dan Mumford discusses his new imaging package from Pure Jingles and 1Xtra’s big imaging win at the Sonys. Plus, your last chance to enter the Hobsons Voicesearch 2012 competition.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Bernard Achampong of BBC Radio 1 Xtra, Neil Cowling of Fresh Air Production and Chris Howell from Eagle Radio.

This month we meet three radio producers whose recent promotional and imaging work has been recognised by this year’s Sony Radio Academy Awards judges. As our guest producers wait to discover whether their nominations will be converted into coveted awards we hear their nominated audio and the stories behind its development.

Bernard Achampong is station sound producer at BBC Radio 1 Xtra and his station is nominated in the Best Station Imaging category. Neil Cowling runs Fresh Air Production which has produced two entries for the BBC which are nominated in the Best Promotional/Advertising Campaign category. He’s up against Surrey and Hampshire’s Eagle Radio where Chris Howell has earned a nomination too.

Play the podcast to hear exerpts from the BBC Radio 1 Xtra imaging entry, Fresh Air Production’s work on the BBC Comic Relief and Wimbledon campaigns, Eagle Radio’s anti-car crime campaign for Surrey Police and a whole bunch of other audio that has inspired and excited Bernard, Chris and Neil to make great creative work for their clients, employers and listeners.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_april12.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for April 2012″]

Download the mp3 (46’54”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 53.8MB)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Eagle Radio’s anti-car crime camapaign

Chris Howell explains this highly-effective campaign in the podcast. This is the video to which he refers:

The Earshot Creative Review is kindly sponsored by Hobsons. Music beds are provided by Radiobeds.com and thanks also to Session Singer Online for custom vocals. Many thanks to the BBC Academy for the use of their studio at Bush House. If you would like to suggest a subject, a guest or some great world-class audio for for a future edition of the podcast please get in touch.

Views expressed are personal and not those of the BBC, UKRD, Fresh Air Production or their clients. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 10 February, 2014, The Winter Olympics campaign on BBC radio | Earshot Creative writes: […] Air Production, produced this campaign for BBC Cross Trails and you can hear more of his work in this edition of the Earshot Creative Review podcast from […]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Chris Reay of BBC Radio 2 and Matt Clark from Magic 105.4 at Elton John’s piano

In this month’s podcast, Chris Reay, senior producer at BBC Radio 2 and Matt Clark, station imaging producer at London’s Magic 105.4 play and discuss their favourite pieces of station production.

With Radio 2’s huge range of styles and content set against Magic’s highly consistent ‘more music’ promise you’ll hear a great demonstration of how different these two stations really are.

We also discuss how research can inform the production of station promos, the best places to source artist acapellas, the latest on BBC Radio 2’s new jingles commissioning process that aims to follow the current trend of bringing music publishing revenue back to the broadcaster who commissioned it and you’ll hear inspirational audio from the US and musician and producer DJ Earworm.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_march12.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for March 2012″]

Download the mp3 (47’50”, 160kb/s stereo mp3, 52.6M)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

The Earshot Creative Review is kindly supported by Hobsons and music beds are by Radiobeds.com. If you’d like to have your work featured on a future edition of the podcast please get in touch.

Views expressed are personal and not those of the BBC, Bauer or Hobsons. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Stuart Barrett, Kate Cocker and Chris Stevens in Salford, Greater Manchester

As if it wasn’t chilly enough, we’ve travelled North to present the Earshot Creative Review podcast from Salford* this month.

Play the audio to hear freelance producer and leading member of SoundWomen Kate Cocker, GMG‘s Chris Stevens and Stuart Barrett of BBC Radio Manchester run some of their favourite production work and discuss it with Steve Martin.

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_february12.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for February 2012″]

Download the mp3 (160kb/s stereo mp3, 52.3M)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Why has Real Radio brought its jingles in-house? Do women and men make different kinds of production? Can you really rebrand a station for just one day and make it successful? So many questions it’s like an Andrew Neill promo.

There’s also a special treat for fans of vintage radio comedy and the sound of children playing Angry Birds in the background. Work-life balance, ok?

The Earshot Creative Review is kindly sponsored by Hobsons.

Views expressed are personal and not those of Guardian Media Group, the BBC or Spotify. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Left to right: Lou Nash, John Myers, Nik Goodman, Steve Martin, James Stodd, James Cridland and Jacob Rickard.

Direct from the heart of London’s Theatreland, some of the UK radio’s leading creative producers and commentators play their favourite promotional audio of the year and discuss why they love it so much.

Download the podcasts and you’ll hear sixteen pieces of great audio from stations like BBC Radio 1, URN, Capital FM, Choice FM and Classic FM, Norway’s P1 and Xfm. You’ll also hear the informed views, expertise and experience of James Cridland, John Myers, Nik Goodman, James Stodd, Lou Nash and Jacob Rickard.

Part one

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_festive2011_1.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review festive show part one.”]

Download part one (160kb/s mp3, 41.6M)

Part two

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_festive2011_2.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review festive show part two.”]

Download part two (160kb/s mp3, 27.5M)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Credits

Recorded at London’s Novello Theatre by Steve Martin, imaging by Wizz FX, sponsorship by Hobsons, beds by Radiobeds.com and closing music by Efya, Eazzy, Tinny and Okyeame Kwame.

Views expressed are personal and not those of Global Radio, the BBC, URN, Media UK, the Radio Academy or Santa. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Left to right: Lou Nash, John Myers, Nik Goodman, Steve Martin, James Stodd, James Cridland and Jacob Rickard.

Direct from the heart of London’s Theatreland, some of the UK radio’s leading creative producers and commentators play their favourite promotional audio of the year and discuss why they love it so much.

Download the podcasts and you’ll hear sixteen pieces of great audio from stations like BBC Radio 1, URN, Capital FM, Choice FM and Classic FM, Norway’s P1 and Xfm. You’ll also hear the informed views, expertise and experience of James Cridland, John Myers, Nik Goodman, James Stodd, Lou Nash and Jacob Rickard.

Part one

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_festive2011_1.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review festive show part one.”]

Download part one (160kb/s mp3, 41.6M)

Part two

Play here

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_festive2011_2.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review festive show part two.”]

Download part two (160kb/s mp3, 27.5M)

Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Credits

Recorded at London’s Novello Theatre by Steve Martin, imaging by Wizz FX, sponsorship by Hobsons, beds by Radiobeds.com and closing music by Efya, Eazzy, Tinny and Okyeame Kwame.

Views expressed are personal and not those of Global Radio, the BBC, URN, Media UK, the Radio Academy or Santa. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Capital FM’s imaging king Chris Nicoll and voice artist and producer Helen Quigley.

Chris Nicoll reveals the secrets behind Capital FM’s hot new imaging style, Helen Quigley shares her work from radio and television and together we discuss voice selection, productivity tips and the sources of our inspiration.

You’ll also hear Harvey McCabe from Kings College, London and audio from the voice session he won in our recent competition. Note that this was recorded before Capital announced Dave Berry as  their new breakfast host and that is why we don’t talk about him.

And Chris plays some cool 90s promo videos from MTV. Here are the video files so you can see what we saw.
MTV Promo 1 MTV Promo 2 MTV Promo 3

Get the audio

Play here: Duration 46’14”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_december2011.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review, December 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 54.3M)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Credits

Presented by Steve Martin, imaging by Wizz FX, beds by Radiobeds, sponsorship by Hobsons.

Next time

John Myers, Nik Goodman, James Stodd, James Cridland, Jacob Rickard and student radio production winner Lou Nash play their favourite promotional audio of 2011.

Views expressed are personal. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Friday 16 December, 2011, Earshot Creative Review Podcast | Helen Quigley - British Voice Artist. Clear Smooth Voice Over writes: [...] If you’d you’d like to listen (and Chris really is very good) you can acquire it via iTunes or here: Earshot Creative Review: December 2011 [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Simon Rushton, Jardin Lobo and Tim Johns. They never actually met.

Recorded at the height of London’s recent Indian Summer heatwave this podcast brings together radio creatives from India, Kenya and the rural British county of Lincolnshire.

You’ll hear Jardin Lobo explain how spot advertising and live talk-ups work on Indian FM stations and get a wider sense of the changing nature of radio in that huge country. You’ll also hear Gillard award-winning producer Tim Johns from BBC Radio Lincolnshire play his promos and show production. Together Jardin and Tim compare their work and generally try to keep a conversation going over a flaky Skype connection.

Also this time, Nairobi-based radio advertising consultant Simon Rushton says we should always prioritise effective advertising over creative advertising and he explains how to do it. On a beach.

Get the audio

Play the audio here: Duration 43’12”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_october2011.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review, October 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 49.6M)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Photographs from our beach location in Sierra Leone

Credits

Imaging by Wizz FX, beds by Radiobeds, sponsorship by Hobsons. Indian music is Haratanaya See by Veena Kinhal. Used under Public Domain licence. The beach relaxation music we knocked up in 15 minutes on Reason. It’s not available in the shops.

Next time

The evolution of Capital FM’s imaging with Chris Nicol and writer, voiceover and producer Helen Quigley on the appeal of shifting from television to radio creative.

Views expressed are personal. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Enjoy an extended edition with James Stodd of the BBC and Matt Lomax from Kiss. At an hour long, it’s perfect listening on your Summer holiday.

James’s audio shows how the BBC is using smart promotional techniques to convey public service messages while Matt demonstrates how he puts listeners at the centre of the Kiss imaging.

Together we discuss monitoring for the real-world, studio sound design techniques and we share your comments and reaction in a new feature: the EarShout.

Big reveal

We also reveal the answers and the winners of the Hobsons Mystery Voice competition, hear from the Radio Academy Sound Designer of the Year Peregrine Andrews and play production from one of the world’s youngest professional radio imaging producers.

Get the audio

Play the audio here: Duration 59’55”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_july2011.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review, July 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 70.3M)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX, beds by Radiobeds, sponsorship by Hobsons. Thanks to The Coal Hole on London’s Strand for hosting us.

Next time

We meet British radio advertising copywriter and producer Simon Rushton who now works in Kenya and is a fervent supporter of the creative-led sell.

Views expressed are personal. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

This month we celebrate TalkSPORT’s remarkable achievements at the Sony Radio Academy Awards with senior writer and producer Jonathan Young.

Jonathan has been one of the leading creative forces on the station since it launched and in this month’s podcast (recorded before TalkSPORT gained further honours at the Radio Academy Production Awards) you’ll hear him play some of TalkSPORT’s brave, fun promos, describe how they make this stuff and how they get away with it.

You’ll also hear Peter Gordon of 96.4 Eagle Radio try to help us with our Hobsons Mystery Voice competition, a funny ad from Peperami and some music inspired by the London Olympics – already.

Get the audio

Play the audio here: Duration 39’01”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_june2011.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review, June 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 45.9M)
Subscribe to the Earshot Creative Review via iTunes.

Win a voice session with a Hobsons artist

The competition is still open with a top prize of a one-hour voice session with a Hobsons voice artist and runners-up prizes of designer T shirts from myradiofashion.com

If you haven’t entered yet, here’s the full detail.

Jonathan’s awards

Winner Sony Radio Academy Best Promotional Advertising campaign Gold Award 2011
Winner Sony Radio Academy Station Imaging Bronze Award 2011
Winner Sony Radio Academy Best Single Promo Gold Award 2010
Winner Radio Academy Best On Air Sponsorship 2009
Winner Arqiva Commercial Radio Station Sound Award 2008
Radio Academy Best On Air Imaging Promotion on UK Radio Award 2007
Sony Radio Academy Station Imaging Award Silver 2007
British Radio Awards Station Sound Producer Of The Year 2007
Radio Academy Gold Award Creative Team Of The Year 2006
Arqiva Commercial Radio Station Sound Award 2006
Sony Radio Academy Station Sound Award Bronze 2006
Sony Radio Academy Station Sound Award Silver 2005

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX, beds by radiobeds.co.uk, sponsorship by Hobsons.

Next month

July’s show will feature the BBC’s James Stodd and Matt Lomax of Kiss, current holder of the Sony Radio Academy best imaging award.

Views expressed are personal. The participants acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Recorded in Glasgow towards the end of April, this is one of my favourite Earshot Creative Reviews yet – a thoroughly enjoyable celebration of some superb creative radio production, played by a couple of really great producers.

Play it and you’ll hear Ken Lindsay of BBC Radio Scotland, Gavin Pearson from Bauer Scotland and a nasty shock for me.

Radio production in the podcast comes from Clyde 1, Forth 1, Manchester’s Key 103 and BBC Radio Scotland and we also discuss architecture and ageing.

The audio

Play the audio here: Duration 35’42”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_april11.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review, April 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 41.9M)
Subscribe via iTunes.

Win a voice session with a Hobsons artist

It’s also your first chance to enter the much-vaunted Hobsons Mystery Voice competition in which you could win a one-hour voice session with a Hobsons voice artist or a designer T shirt from myradiofashion.com

Full details of the competition are in the audio. You’ll also need the rules and the entry form. Good luck.

Ken Lindsay

As BBC Scotland’s senior promotions producer Ken keeps-up a creative production tradition that I contributed to in the early 90s and which helped Radio Scotland secure the Sony “national station of the year” award in 1994. I understand it remains the only time the national award was given to a station serving just one nation (Scotland) rather than the whole UK.

Gavin Pearson

Gavin is the senior guy responsible for imaging and production on all of Bauer’s Scottish stations, from the mighty Clyde 1 in the West to Moray Firth Radio in Inverness whose production is nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award this year. In the audio you’ll hear how Gavin is using Clyde’s local heritage to defend itself against the newly-arrived Capital FM.

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nichol at Wizz FX, beds by radiobeds and thanks also to Stewart Priest and John Collins who made my recent visit to Glasgow particularly enjoyable. They’re not in the podcast but are both talented figures in Scottish radio and I’d like to extend a public thanks to them for making me feel at home in the city again.

Comments

• Saturday 7 May, 2011, RadioJinglesPRO writes: another brilliant episode.
• Friday 13 May, 2011, Jonathan Marks writes: [via Facebook] Brilliant edition from Scotland. Blows away any cliche thinking you may have. These guys have great strategic thinking north of the border. What recording equipment are you using? Sounds incredibly crisp and punchy (which means its superb).

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Steve, Sam and Clive. Photograph by Sony-nominated* Matt Deegan.
*not nominated for photography.

This edition of the Earshot Creative Review was recorded in March at the RadioDays Europe conference held in Copenhagen and features three eminent radio leaders:

Clive Dickens, Absolute Radio‘s Chief Operating Officer. In this podcast, recorded before reports circulated of a possible sale of Absolute Radio, Clive explains how he considers the radio group’s imaging and production to be a significant part of its value.

International radio consultant Sam Zniber who’s also vice president of Radio Intelligence. Sam began his career in the production studio and remains as passionate as ever about production’s contribution to station success.

and Mark Barber of the UK’s Radio Advertising Bureau, a key figure behind RadioGuage who was in Copenhagen to introduce the measurement service to broadcasters in new territories. You’ll hear what RadioGuage can teach station producers.

Other discussion themes include remote working and achiveing flow in CHR formats, plus we all listen in awe of work by production legend Jeff Thomas.

In addition to our chat you’ll hear bags of production from Absolute Radio and Absolute 80s, KIIS and Kiss, and RadioGuage-proven ads from CocoPops and Autoglass.

The audio

Play the audio here: Duration 37’00”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_march11.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for March 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 43.4M)
Subscribe via iTunes.

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nicol at WizzFX using the voice of Elly Fairman. Thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and Session Singer Online for the vocals. The Earshot Creative Review is sponsored by Hobsons. Find out more on their Hello Hobsons blog. Thanks also to Tony Moorey at Absolute Radio and Bauer’s Matt Lomax who did some behind-the-scenes chasing.

Next Month

Ken Lindsay of BBC Radio Scotland, Gavin Pearson of Radio Clyde and the highly-anticipated* launch of the Hobson’s mystery voices competition.

*late

Views expressed are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education.

Comments

• Friday 8 April, 2011, Clive Dickens talks at The Earshot Creative Review 2011 – One Golden Square writes: [...] the latest edition of The Earshot Creative Review here which features our very own Chief Operating officer Clive [...]
• Tuesday 12 April, 2011, Radio Intelligence - Earshot Creative Review with Clive Dickens and Mark Barber writes: [...] Listen to the podcast Share [...]
• Friday 2 September, 2011, Earshot Creative Review with Clive Dickens and Mark Barber | Sam Zniber | Radio Consultant | Your Station Is A Social Network writes: [...] Listen to the podcast /* [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Play here: duration 24’46”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_bonus_311.mp3|titles=”Earshot bonus edition from Radiodays Europe.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 28.4M)
Subscribe via iTunes.

This is a 25 minute snip of conversations I shared at the Radiodays Europe conference with various creative, production and imaging people. Play it and you’ll hear:

Lee Harris, the top-of-the-hour morning news voice on New York’s all news, all the time station, 1010 WINS. Lee describes how the station carefully modernised its imaging, partly in response to insights gained from PPM audience data. Worry not – the famous teletype effect is still there. It’s the soul of the station.

Wise Buddah‘s Russ Williams and Dave Albers of TopFormat updating us on current imaging trends in Europe and the latest work they’ve been creating for their respective clients.

The guys from myradiofashion.com who were in Copenhagen with a selection of radio-themed merchanside, mostly t shirts. If you like their stuff then you can get 30% off any item before 31 March 2011. Just use the exclusive discount code “earshot30” when you order.

Belgian radio advertising writer and consultant Philip Maes who has some truck with current advertising creative but quite likes some older gems which we play.

Thanks as always to Hobsons for their sponsorship and to all those who kindly gave their time and audio to make this as interesting as it is.

Ok, it’s highly disingenuous to label this as a ‘bonus’ edition given the sorry gap since the last podcast. But you’ll understand the need to distinguish between this and the regular Earshot Creative Review which is coming soon and also made at the Radiodays Europe conference.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Ben Townsend, Steve Martin and Jonathan JJ Jacob.

Our guests this month are JJ (Jonathan Jacob) of First Radio Sales and recent graduate from the University of Nottingham Ben Townsend who helped secure URN‘s recent clutch of student radio awards.

In the podcast you’ll hear audio from Liverpool’s Juice FM, City Beat of Belfast, Surrey and Hampshire’s Eagle Radio and URN. We also discuss how student radio is feeding mainstream stations with new talent on both sides of the mic, and play some great audio from Australia’s 2Day network and the new Capital FM network.

You’ll also get a head start in our new competition to win a voice session with Hobsons.

The audio

Play the audio here: Duration 42’38”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_jan11.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for January 2011.”]

Download the audio (160kb/s mp3, 51.2M)
Subscribe via iTunes.

Jonathan Jacob

JonathanJacob2011CV

Ben Townsend

Ben Townsend CV

Latest tracks by brgtownsend

URN’s winning written Marketing and Station Sound entry for the 2010 SRA awards (pdf)

URN’s audio entry

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nicol at WizzFX using the voices of Elly Fairman and Andrew Burt. Thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and Session Singer Online for the vocal cut. The Earshot Creative Review is sponsored by Hobsons. Find out more on their Hello Hobsons blog.

Next Month

Hear the Hobsons mystery voices and win a voice session.

Views expressed are personal and not necessarily those of First Radio Sales, Hobsons, City Beat, Juice FM, Eagle Radio, URN or the BBC. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Sunday 21 August, 2011, Home | brgtownsend writes: [...] a work in progress, but I have posted some links below as an introduction to myself and my work. http://earshot.tvi.gg/2011/01/creative-review-january-2011/ LinkedIn Profile http://uk.linkedin.com/in/brgtownsend Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

In December’s hot-rocking, flame-throwing podcast, some of the loveliest people in UK radio production play their favourite audio of the year. Now that’s a format.

They are: David Couch of Maple Street Studios, Chris Nicoll of WizzFX, Joe Thomas from Absolute Radio, James Cridland of Media UK, James Stodd from the BBC, and Jonathan of our sponsor, Hobsons.

You’ll also hear audio from BBC Radio 7 and BBC Suffolk and we predict the major radio events of 2011. Yes, all of them.

Play the audio here: Duration 53’03”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_december10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for December 2010.”]

Download the audio (128kb/s mp3, 49.9M)
Download in HD Sound (192kb/s AAC, 73.9M)

Subscribe via iTunes.

HD Sound – how HD is it?

It’s better* than the normal file in three ways:

1. It has more data in it… 192kb/s rather than 128kb/s.
2. It’s encoded with a super-efficient codec… AAC-HE rather than mp3.
3. It has around 10dB more dynamic range and virtually no peak limiting.

*yes, it’s subjective – you might quite like the sound of multiband compression.

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nicol at WizzFX using the voices of Elly Fairman and Andrew Burt. Thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and Session Singer Online for the vocal cut. Also, the Strand Palace Hotel kindly allowed us to put some money behind their bar.

The Earshot Creative Review is sponsored by Hobsons. Find out more on their Hello Hobsons blog.

Next Month

Your chance to win a session with a Hobsons voiceover. Meanwhile, I do hope you have a decent festive break.

Views expressed are those of the contributors and not of Global Radio, the BBC, Hobsons, Absolute Radio, Maple Street Studios, Media UK, Wizz FX or their clients. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review. Merry Christmas to all lawyers everywhere.

Comments

• Wednesday 22 December, 2010, Tweets that mention Creative Review of 2010 | Earshot -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by James Cridland. James Cridland said: RT @smartin: the new Earshot Creative Review is out today http://bit.ly/hutUKw with @wizzFX @jamescridland @jamesstodd @producerjoe and ... [...]
• Sunday 23 January, 2011, Jonathan Marks writes: Earshot has turned into a monthly festival of superb ideas, celebrating all that's great about sound design. What's more it showcases work that has been done under pressure, to a deadline, but with passion. I really like the way Steve drives the conversation.

  Yes it's a niche area of radio. But the context in which we listen to great audio is so important. Building creative signposts to great stuff are as vital as trailers in the movie industry. I notice that creative filmmakers are making great "insiders guides" on vimeo. I think of Earshots as radio's equivalent.

  Which brings me to a couple of suggestions.

  1. A making of video ( curious to know what equipment is used to record the show).

  2. a trailer for the podcast that's designed to be stolen and plastered all over the place...

  More ears need to discover Earshot.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Left to right: Chris Stevens, Steve Martin and Steve Taylor. Picture by Channelle Stacey.

November’s review is here with Chris Stevens, GMG’s Group Production Director and Steve Taylor, Commercial Creative Director from Bauer.

We play promos, jingles and S&P audio this month, and we consider how branded content might sound should Ofcom relax the restrictions that govern that kind of programming. There’s also an unhealthy preoccupation with biscuits.

Play the audio here: Duration 46’22”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr-november-10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for November 2010.”]

Download the mp3 (160kbps, 54.5M).

Subscribe via iTunes.

You’ll also hear the creators of award-winning promotional work from BBC Local Radio and Sri Lanka’s Shree FM, and there’s classic archive audio from a famous US CHR war plus news of a new online sung jingles service…

Session Singer Online

This service takes any music backing track to which you have rights and then scores and sings your lyrics to it. They have singers in the UK and US and, as you’ll hear in the podcast, we put them to the test.

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nicol at WizzFX using the voices of Elly Fairman and Andrew Burt. Thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and to Bauer for use of meeting room 3.

The Earshot Creative Review is sponsored by Hobsons. Find out more on their Hello Hobsons blog.

Next Month

There’s a festive feel to the podcast as we invite back some of our favourite guests from 2010 to play their favourite audio of the year and share a glass of wine. Hang on. As it’s Christmas, let’s give them one each.

Views expressed are those of the contributors and not of Bauer, GMG or the BBC. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

BBC London’s Paul Hilton with Ben Motley of BBC Global News at the piano.

This month, the sound of London. Paul Hilton runs production at BBC London 94.9 while BBC Radio 7’s Ben Motley has spent the last year at BBC Global News where he produces promotional campaigns heard on the English language channels of the BBC World Service. If you’re confused, I’ll draw you a diagram.

You’ll hear a huge range of production designed to appeal to both local and global audiences of speech radio. Discover how BBC London tries to position itself apart from LBC, how to connect with listeners overseas who speak English as a second language and why comedy and Christmas means pulling out the creative stops at BBC Radio 7.

There’s also music from Coldcut, brand imaging heard on speech radio podcasts and we endure a tortuous play on words which helps you remember a text number.

Play the audio here: Duration 39’06”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_october10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for October 2010.”]

Download the mp3 (36.8M).

Subscribe via iTunes.

Credits

Imaging by Chris Nicol at WizzFX using the voice of Elly Fairman. Thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and to the Waldorf Hilton for use of a table and 3 chairs.

The Earshot Creative Review is sponsored by Hobsons. Find out more on their Hello Hobsons blog.

Next Month

Chris Stevens of GMG on the new national Smooth Radio and Bauer’s Steve Taylor explores the latest innovations in S&P.

Any views expressed are those of the contributors and not of the BBC. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Chris Reay is in charge of station sound and promotions at BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music.

This month we get inside the creative hubs of stations big and small. From BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music to the remarkable promotions-led arrival of Oxfordshire’s Glide FM, we hear creative radio production and discover the strategies and techniques behind it.

Also – what it’s like to work with Chris Evans, how a tiny team in Oxford secured worldwide media attention for their new station launch with their Glee stunt and we discuss the challenges of staying creative when time is tight.

Play the audio here: Duration 40’00”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_september10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for September 2010.”]

Download the mp3 (39.7M).

Subscribe via iTunes.

Glide FM’s Sue Carter (left) and Sophie Bruce in their Oxford Studio.

Corporate headquarters. Look, we tried everything… sunny weather, sporty car pass… but it still looks like this.

This month’s stars

As senior producer at BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, Chris Reay is responsible for promotions, imaging and steering the overall sound of these stations. He also leads the creative team of writers and producers. Sue Carter is programme director of Oxfordshire’s Jack FM and Glide FM and Sophie Bruce is the stations’ deputy head of programming and news, and Glide FM’s breakfast presenter. She’d like you to know that her fiancée works there too.

Our sponsor

This month we also welcome Hobsons as a new sponsor. Hobsons represents hundreds of voice artists who love being part of great radio production. They are also behind the studio finder iPhone app. Find out more on their Hello Hobsons blog.

Credits

The new Earshot Creative Review imaging is by Chris Nicol at WizzFX with the voice talent of Elly Fairman. Thanks also to radiobeds.co.uk for the incidental music and to Sue for making a decent cup of coffee at Glide FM.

Next Month

Er, nothing’s organised yet but if you’d like to suggest a guest or join us yourself then drop a line to earshot@smartin.me – we plan to record on Monday 11 October.

Any views expressed are those of the contributors and not of the BBC or Glide FM. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Wednesday 15 September, 2010, Tweets that mention Creative Review for September | Earshot -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stephen Martin and Stephen Martin, Chris Nicoll. Chris Nicoll said: The imaging in the latest Earshot Creative Review for September? We did that... http://bit.ly/a0Ds2n [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

James Cridland and David Couch in typical showbusiness mood. Picture by Sally Walker.

You’ll learn a lot from this month’s Earshot Creative Review with David Couch and James Cridland. And you’ll hear a lot of radio ads.

Discover how Spotify is allowing advertisers to target audiences by postcode, what is the most important content to have on your radio station web site and what not to do with cameras in the studio. Hear ads from Cuervo, Kwik Fit, Transport for London and the Bentall Centre, plus an educational promo from Absolute Radio.

Play the audio here: Duration 42’17”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_august10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for August 2010.”]

Download the mp3 (39.7M).

Subscribe via iTunes.

David Couch is Managing Director of Maple Street Studios and a former creative head at GCap and Global. You’ll hear him enthuse about some superb radio ads and discuss the freedom and new opportunities of product placement.

Radio futurologist James Cridland divulges tip after tip on radio’s multiplatform future. Be sure to take notes – James’s clients spend vast sums of money on his advice. You only have to pay attention.

And, as always, there’s tons of great audio including leading entrants to The Cow Moo Challenge and its ultimate winner. Thank goodness that’s over.

Credits

Thanks to London’s Somerset House for hosting our recording on their wonderful sunny terrace, thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and thanks to Pascal Standaert from Belgium for the ident used towards the end of the podcast.

Next Month

Inside Glide – the story of the year’s biggest radio stunt so far direct from the people who pulled it off, and what’s going on at BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music? Christopher Reay shares his perspective from the production desk. Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss it. There’ll be no cows.

If you’d like to comment on anything in the podcast or if you’d like us to include your audio just drop us a line to earshot@smartin.me

Any views expressed are those of the contributors and not of Maple Street Studios, the BBC or any of our associates, employers or clients. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Wednesday 1 September, 2010, The Earshot Creative Review - James Cridland writes: [...] Absolute, and am amazed at a rather brilliant ad featuring Brack Obama, you’re welcome to take a listen. (You’ll also find it on your PURE connected radio; just search for ‘Earshot’ in [...]
• Wednesday 1 September, 2010, Jonathan Marks writes: Great show as usual, although may I make a plea to return to the pub or the park for the upcoming editions. Somerset House sounds too distracting on headphones. May be the MP3 acts as a sort of Optimod.
• Friday 3 September, 2010, Stephen Martin writes: A plea to return to the pub, eh? Who am I to refuse?! It was rather hectic at Somerset House at the height of the school holidays. We're back there this month but it's much quieter now. Oh, and the thing that's acting like an Optimod is not the mp3 coding but, er, the Optimod. I'll turn it down a smidge.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Russ Williams of Wise Buddah and Peter Gee from TalkSPORT.

Featuring creative from TalkSPORT, imaging from Wise Buddah and introducing The Cow Moo Challenge, it’s July’s Earshot Creative Review.

Play the audio here: Duration 37’45”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_july10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for July 2010.”]

Download the mp3 (34.6M).

Subscribe via iTunes.

In this month’s edition, you’ll  hear a great selection of audio production from TalkSPORT when Peter Gee delivers a masterclass in engaging, memorable ideas, sharp writing and clever casting.

Russ Williams from Wise Buddah is also with us, showcasing the music imaging he’s created for BRMB in Birmingham, the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 and music stations who wanted to embed World Cup content into their output without diluting their audio brand.

You’ll also discover why you might want to put your radio promos on YouTube, what’s happening on the frontline of Manchester’s strapline war and we introduce “The Cow Moo Challenge” – your chance to win, just by being part of the latest bovine craze in UK radio imaging.

Introducing the Cow Moo Challenge

Original photo (c) Rick Harrison. Used with kind permission.

You could win! Best use of a cow moo in a piece of radio imaging wins the entire joint. And we mean that. It’s a joint of beef.

Here’s what to do

1. Make a radio promo, trail, sweeper or other imaging element that includes the sound of a cow moo.

2. Put it on the radio.

3. Email the evidence to earshot@smartin.me

4. Listen next time to see whether you’ve won.

Need cows? Of course you do.

We’ve found a selection of copyright-free cow moos that are truly outstanding in their field. Download copyright-free moos.

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/cowfx.mp3|titles=”Moos”]

Credits

Big Earshot thanks to The Royal Festival Hall for letting us play jingles in their palace of the high arts, thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the music beds and thank you cows.

Any views expressed are those of the contributors and not of TalkSPORT, WiseBuddah, the BBC or any cattle. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators, herdsmen and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Monday 19 July, 2010, Tweets that mention Earshot Creative Review radio production podcast for July - warning: includes cow moos. -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stephen Martin, Joe Thomas. Joe Thomas said: RT @smartin: Earshot Creative Review radio production podcast for July http://bit.ly/9I5h47 - warning: includes cow moos. [...]
• Tuesday 20 July, 2010, Don’t have a Cash Cow (man) « James Stodd – Radio Producer writes: [...] So a creative challenge has been thrown down by my friend Steve Martin via this month’s  Earshot Creative Review. [...]
• Saturday 7 August, 2010, The Cow Moo Radio Production Challenge « RadioJingles.co.nr writes: [...] So long as it’s been on the air that’s fine. More details of this contest are posted here. Join [...]

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin

Matt Fisher of the BBC and James Beckingham of Global Radio

Featuring BBC Radio 1 and Fun Kids, it’s June’s Earshot Creative Review.

Play the audio here: Duration 33’16”

[audio:http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/earshot/podcast/ecr_june10.mp3|titles=”Earshot Creative Review for June 2010.”]

Download the mp3 (31.2M).

Subscribe via iTunes.

This review features James Beckingham from Global Radio who’s playing and talking about his work on the Fun Kids brand and Matt Fisher from the BBC who runs imaging for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1 Xtra.

It’s rather a relaxed summery meander through some of their recent audio despite the fact that we recorded early on Friday morning in a stiff breeze in Regents Park, London. If you listen carefully, you can hear James audibly shiver at one point.

You’ll also hear audio from NME Radio, Absolute 80s and Capital FM. And that’s hot.

Plus we receive a question crowdsourced via AudioBoo. Look at us with the meme.

If you’d like to follow us, James is on Twitter as @tweetjamesb, Matt is @mrmatthewfisher and I’m @smartin.

James Beckingham

James started in the industry as a tech-op at Invicta FM and Capital Gold Kent, before doing some TO-ing on a station which he’d never heard of, but fell instantly in love with, called ‘Capital Disney’.  James stayed here, presenting, producing and running the show alongside the superb programme controller, while doing bits at Capital’s various other ventures, including Life and Holiday FM.

When GCap retreated from Digital, he headed to Emap and became Creative Producer on digital brands, working under Ric Blaxill to relaunch Q Radio.

The lure of Leicester Square was too strong though, and James returned to be a producer and presenter within the Content and Services team, looking after FunKids, Classic FM TV and instore radio.

Matt Fisher

Matt’s obsession with radio and audio imaging began in 1998. He is now the Station Sound Manager for BBC Radio 1 & BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Matt studied at the University of
Bedfordshire where he graduated with a First Class BA Hons in Media
Performance with Radio. It was there he first developed his radio skills
whilst at the helm of the University radio station Luton FM.

After graduation Matt worked at BBC Three Counties Radio and Chiltern FM (now Heart) where he cut his teeth as a presenter and producer.
He also created on air imaging and promotions for a number of GWR stations.

Then he was snapped up by Xfm London to join their Station Sound Team alongside Karl Pilkington. It wasn’t long before he was finally promoted to Head of Production and remained at the station for almost two years.

Then in 2005 he moved to BBC Radio 1 and joined the Station Sound Team
before ultimately heading the department in a role that sees him leading
a creative team to deliver Imaging and Promotions for two of the BBC’s
key youth networks.

Matt’s dedication and creative approach to radio has been rewarded with
numerous industry accolades including two Gold Promotions & Marketing
Awards, a New York AIR Award and several Sony nominations.

Notes

Radio Advertising Awards closing date for entries is 2nd July. Look for new categories including best radio as part of a multiplatform campaign and best writing.

Thanks to radiobeds.co.uk for the audio beds used in the podcast. Thanks also to Simon Cryer of Crying Out Loud for providing the Arqivas ceremony audio.

Still ahead

In July Peter Gee from TalkSport on the World Cup and his station’s Sony winning promo “Dear Stan”. Then in August, radio futurologist James Cridland helps radio creatives make the most of the digital and multiplatform opportunities before us.

Any views expressed are those of the contributors and not of Global Radio or the BBC. We acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

Comments

• Saturday 19 June, 2010, Tweets that mention Creative Review for June | Earshot -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stephen Martin, Jacob Rickard. Jacob Rickard said: Oh yes, @mrmatthewfisher is on Earshot this month! Gwaan. http://earshot.tvi.gg/2010/06/creative-review-for-june/ @smartin [...]
• Tuesday 29 June, 2010, Jonathan Marks writes: What a great just outside broadcast. Curious to know what mikes and recorder you used. Just love the cheezy old school retro...
• Tuesday 29 June, 2010, Stephen Martin writes: Hi Jonathan - location recording is on one of these... http://www.roland.com/products/en/R-09HR - then I snip things together on Adobe Audition 3 on the train between Waterloo and Petersfield. Lastly, the complete podcast gets a final listen while being dubbed through one of these... http://www.orban.com/products/radio/dab/optimod-pc1101 and then encoded to mp3 and uploaded etc.

  I've had twice as many comments about the delightful birdsong than the insightful conversation this month.

From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin