by Jerry Vigil
R.A.P. asked for your suggestions to make this a better publication, and many of you responded. It was suggested that we include a cassette tape of hot production from around the country with the tipsheet. This is a great idea and we'd like to do it. Here's how it would work.
Once a month you would dub a copy of your best promo and your best commercial and send them in. We would then produce a cassette of all the and commercials we've received. Promos would be on one side and commercials on the other.
From the tape you would be able to get some great ideas for production. Your promotions department would get some great ideas for promotions and your sales department and continuity people would get some great ideas for spec spots. Oviously, it would be interesting just to hear what kind of work is being done in other markets. Sound good so far?
We think so, and of course, we will need your participation in order for this to work. If you like the idea and would like to see a tape accompany each issue of R.A.P., you can extend your support of the idea by sending in one of your promos and one of your commercials today! We would like to produce a tape for the February issue, but that will depend upon whether or not you want one. If the response to this idea is good, look forward to a tape with the February issue. Otherwise, we will hold the tapes and wait for more. If we simply do not receive enough tapes to make this worth while, we'll assume you don't think this is a great idea. A few of our subscribers suggested this and we would love to pursue it.
We plan to absorb all costs of producing this tape and will offer it at no extra charge to our subscribers. If you plan to vote "YES" to the tape, send in your commercial and promo on reel or cassette. Quality will be better on reel, but cassette will be a little cheaper to mail. Be sure to put your name and station call letters on the tape. We need to receive the tape by the 21st of the month in order to have the work included in the tape that would accompany the February issue. Throw in any sweepers or ID's you're proud of as well. We'll include those on the promo side of the tape.
Don't concern yourself with whether or not the spot you're going to send is good enough. We're not looking for award winning spots and promos. Those don't necessarily come around every month. Just send some good work. Even a prank spot or promo would be great; something you produced, wishing you could air it, but knowing you couldn't.
Again, we hope this can become a monthly part of your subscription, but if we don't receive enough tapes to make it worth while, we will save them and wait for more. Don't think everyone else will send in enough to make up for yours. That's a very contagious way of thought. Let's make it work!
We received a few responses from our first issue that expressed concern about the $75 subscription fee. Some asked for a 6 month subscription at a reduced fee to allow for two smaller bites out of the pocketbook instead of one large one. Other responses indicated a wish to sample Radio And Production for less than one year to determine if this publication will deliver what we have promised. Still, others simply stated the fee was a little high. We had hoped that the stations would pick up the tab for Radio And Production, however, some stations didn't, and several of our subscribers paid from their personal accounts. In an effort to address all these concerns, we will now offer 6 month subscriptions for $40. We feel the addition of the cassette tape should increase the value of Radio And Production more than enough to justify the $75 fee to those who thought it a little high.
A couple of our subscribers suggested advertising as an additional source of information and as a way to possibly lower the subscription fee. We have already received a few inquiries from companies interested in advertising space. We agree that advertising can have several advantages, so we are currently researching the idea.
We are keeping an open mind regarding the format and future of Radio And Production. We expect to make changes as they become necessary to better service our subscribers. Your input and suggestions remain a vital part of our success. Please feel free to drop us a line anytime. Many thanks to our charter subscribers who have shown their initial support of R.A.P.
DO IT NOW! Make a note to dub a promo and a commercial you've done and send it in. We think the cassette will be a valuable part of Radio And Production and we hope you agree. The address is on the back page. You will be credited for you work in the issue that accompanies our first tape. If, for some reason, you wish to remain anonymous, just say so and it will be so.
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