November 2004 RAP
November 2004 Highlights
Feature: Against the Law... If Someone Cares
By John Pellegrini
This is another article on music copyright, however it is not an article
about what is legal and what isn't. This is instead an article on copyright
enforcement. Perhaps I should rephrase that sentence and say that this is an
article on the lack of copyright enforcement specifically, the lack of
copyright enforcement by the music industry.
Interview: Jim Cook, Sr. VP Creative Services, Clear
Channel Radio Creative Resource Group
By Jerry Vigil
Remember 12 commercial minutes per hour? Now there's 15, 20, 25, and some
stations have even gone beyond that. Perhaps you thought it would never end.
Well, the bubble is getting ready to burst. With the introduction of
satellite radio, iPods, Internet radio and more, traditional radio is being
forced to reevaluate exactly what it is were forcing upon our listeners.
With at least a few stockholders squirming in their chairs, Clear Channel
Communications recently announced a new "Less Is More" strategy that, among
other things, intends to REDUCE the number of commercials on their 1200+
stations, as well as shorten their lengths and improve the creativity and
effectiveness of them. Enter the Clear Channel Creative Resource Group,
headed by newly appointed Sr. VP/Creative Services, Jim Cook. This months
RAP Interview chats with Jim about Less Is More and how he plans to execute
a major shift in the way radio has been handling their inventory and their
clients.
Test Drive: Neodynium Compressor Plug-in from Elemental
Audio
By Steve Cunningham
Plug-ins, those little add-on software modules that extend the capability
of a digital audio editor, are some of the most useful and innovative
devices ever developed. Modern plug-ins often duplicate actual outboard
hardware devices, particularly highly-prized vintage devices that are either
wildly expensive or altogether unavailable. But some of the most interesting
plug-ins are those that work in ways that their hardware counterparts never
could. Elemental Audios new Neodynium compressor falls into that category.
Unlike a multi-band compressor that lets you set different compression
levels for specific frequency bands, Neodynium lets you set different
amounts of compression for specific volume levels in your audio track.
Production 212: Less Is More... More or Less (reprise)
By Dave Foxx
There's been a buzz flying around the industry for several weeks now
about the Clear Channel "Less Is More" strategy that goes into effect at the
first of the year. Just about every CC producer I've spoken with is anxious
about how they're going to make do with less time. Every non-CC producer is
curious about how were going to do it. Well, I wont pretend to speak for any
other producers, but I think the whole thing is brilliant. You might even
recall that I wrote an entire column with exactly that title a few months
ago. (My ego would like to believe that the folks at the top of the CC food
chain read my article and took it to heart, but come on lets get real.)
Radio Hed: Audio Chemistry
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Events with emotional significance cause electrochemical changes in our
nervous system and are more likely to be stored as long-term memory. Stories
are both the way we store memories and the way we recall them.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - What imaging
libraries/services do you use?
Q It Up: This question is for the imaging producers out
there. What format(s) are you imaging for, and what production libraries
and/or services are your favorites when producing promos, IDs and other
imaging material? What do you like about these libraries and/or services? Do
you create any of your own beds, sound effects, etc.?
Feature: Beware All Ye Who Submit Spec Spots Here...
By Blaine Parker
Pity these poor reps who stray into my line of fire. It would be so easy
to just fix things for them. But then, they'd never learn anything. And it
wouldn't be as much fun as poking them through the bars of the cage. A
script for a spec spot recently crossed my desk on its way to production. It
was for the local branch of a national maid service. I read it, then picked
up the phone.
Feature: A Matter of Perspective
By Jean Heatherington
I recently received this joke in an email from a friend. After reading
it, I realized it has a VERY good application to advertising. It is
extremely important, especially in radio advertising, to relate the correct
message. We can do this best by putting ourselves in the listeners shoes.
When they hear confusing offers, old clichés and "business-speak" they tune
out. Little if any of the message gets through to them, and we squander a
golden opportunity to win their business.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
Some really good audio tools that were few and only available to the rich
and famous Music Producers just a handful of years ago are now abundant and
are available relatively cheaply to anyone who slings audio, but they aren't
magic. If you want to make them sound like they are, you gotta do the work.
Believe me, that's how the rich and famous got that way.
The Monday Morning Memo: Your Seat in the Stadium of
Life
By Roy H. Williams
Regardless of how many people suggest that you start thinking "outside
the box," it cannot in truth be done. As long as you are living within your
skin, you will always be in a box. Your box is your perspective, your
worldview, your schema - the sum of your life's experiences - your own
personal set of assumptions. Like a seat in a stadium, your "box" determines
the angle from which you view every game.
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