The Commercial Production Process.

.Ben Holmes.

Production

Facilities

.Production Suite.The radio production studio is one of the most important parts of a successfully aired radio show. Without soundproofed environments and top of the range equipment, production quality will be poor and the show will rapidly loose listeners. For example if background noises are allowed to distort the sound or the studio has poor quality microphones the listeners will quickly loose interest.

.REAPER.REAPER is digital audio editing software. It can be used as a complete multi-track audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering programme. Ideal for creating radio commercials and jingles. REAPER’s simple layout also allows you to layer audio files without it getting confusing.

.Audacity.Audacity is a free, easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac and other operating systems. Some of the features audacity contains are:

• Record live audio.• Convert tapes and records into digital

recordings or CDs.• Edit WAV & MP3 sound files.• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds

together.• Change the speed or pitch of a

recording.

Audacity is great for radio DJ’s to record their shows and mixes and upload them as podcasts to soundcloud for their fans to listen back if they miss anything.

.Adobe Audition.Adobe Audition software is a digital audio workstation featuring a multitrack waveform editing system. This would be useful during a radio show to change the way certain things sound. (For example add quick sound effects whenever necessary). With this software the DJ would be able to manipulate the sounds that would be pre-set for them, for example Jingles and promotional commercials.

Production Roles

Creative Producer:The creative producer plays one of the most vital roles when producing a radio commercial. The job requires a combination of high level radio production skills and the ability to interact with clients and interpret client briefs. A creative producer will also be expected to generate and pitch ideas, write scripts and manage voiceovers, select music and organize recording sessions. The creative producer must remain organized in order to create successful commercials.

Recording Engineer:As a sound recording engineer in a recording studio you would need to make high quality recordings of music, speech and sound effects. The job requires you to have a good sense of hearing, a good understanding of musical pitch, timing and rhythm. The recording engineer would control the mixing desk, mixing sound together, creating sound effects as well as sourcing production music and working closely with the voiceover act.

Copy Writer:

A copy writers job is to create the scrip for an advert, as well as ensuring that all information is correct and complies with the advertisement rules and regulations. A copy writer works along side the creative producer creating persuasive advertisement content. In order to be a successful copy writer you will be require a creative way of thinking in order to constantly be developing new ideas and advertising techniques. Once complete he script will be shown to the client to receive their feedback.

Voice Over Artist:A voice over artist is the person that does all the speaking during a commercial or jingle. There are a number of different style voice over artists and they are all used for different style commercials. Most clients choose a voice over artist with a unique voice or accent to make their advert more memorable. Clients can now visit websites such as www.voiceovers.co.uk and listen to a number of different voice overs and accents before choosing to purchase. Another common technique in commercial production is celebrity endorsement, this is were clients choose to use a famous actor or celebrity's voice to attract a wider audience.

Music

There are a significant number of rules and regulations that must be followed when choosing the music for an advertisement. Copyright makes it illegal to broadcast or use any track that you did not create yourself or that you have not paid to use. However some companies have adapted this rule and it is now known as ‘the fair use policy’. This is where companies use a small section of a song in their advertisement but leave out the most recognisable parts. Using key component from a song breaches his policy whereas using short sections of the song is acceptable. Generally it is illegal o use any song in a radio or television advert without authorization from the producer.

7 Second RuleThe 7 Second rule is an idea that many advertisement agencies operate under. It is In no way legal but many big advertising companies still apply this method. They believe that they can use any song in an advert as long as It is no longer than 7 seconds. However the copyright laws still apply and advertisers that break this rule may be sued or prosecuted.

LicensingIn order to avoid breaking copyright laws, radio stations can apply for permission to use certain music in their advertisements through the licensing agreement. To gain full access to the music you must possess 2 licences. The first licence is for the party that owns the copy written song, the second is for the party who own the copyright for the recording of the track. However if a production company doesn’t want to go through this process another option is to purchase the copyright of the track and use a different artist to perform the song.

Royalty Free MusicRoyalty free music refers to the use of copyright music without having to pay royalties or license fees for each use. The music we have in our college library is royalty fee as it is only broadcasted around the college. In order to broadcast the music to a significantly larger audience the college would be required to purchase a different licence.

Financial Considerations

Rate cards are used as a way of showing potential advertiser the price rates for adverts at certain times, rate cards usually including placement availability and pricing information. Rate cards are used as a method of research into which companies give the best going rates. Once a company creates a rate card they are then able to sell it on to another similar company that have to same aims and targets; this has been known to save many companies time and recourses. Larger companies will be required to pay a significant amount less for advertising slots as they will be buying a lot larger volume than other small companies. Another factor that will effect the price of advertising slots is the time requested for it to be played.

Here is an example of a rate card. As you can see the most expensive time slot is class A (between 7:30am – 2:00pm) this is prime time on the UK radio. The price of the time slot is determined by the number of listeners at each given time. The more listeners the more it is going to cost to advertise. However some advertisement companies may favour a later advertisement slot for example at night when their target audience is more likely to be listening