Thought this was worth a mention. I’m a huge fan of the concept, and recommend to all my students that if they make radio programmes, they should submit them for peer review and possible broadcast here on PRX.org

Audio slideshow producer Ben Chesterton on location in Africa

There was a television show back in the eighties called “Radio with Pictures” which played music videos from around the world. The name was nothing more than a snappy oxymoron at the time – but it’s turned out to be rather prescient. The future of radio would seem destined to include pictures of some description…

It stands to reason really. Many of the platforms on which we consume radio now feature a screen: DAB, mobile phone, ipod, computer monitor etc. Which is why the BBC has employed a team of young boffins to investigate the visualisation radio – and ask themselves the pertinent question “What exactly does radio look like?”

Even radio advertising is in on the act… The search for fresh revenue streams has inspired the creative arm of Global Radio to produce audio/visual commercials for clients which are displayed on their stations websites. Simon Forster, the Creative Services Manager for Global’s UK branch in the West Midlands, says the service is proving increasingly popular. They’ve produced over 30 of these “hybrid commercials” this year alone, at very lucrative rates.

“Enhanced podcasts”, such as the ones produced for the Chris Moyles breakfast show, have been around for a while now and have proven their success on the BBC website. (Although these types of files are not universally supported and can cause play-back issues.)

Although mainstream radio may have picked up on the trend towards “visual radio” – more could certainly be made of the opportunity. Switch on any radio station available via freeview, satellite or cable in the UK – and pretty much all you’ll see is a large blank screen staring back at you…

Another form of audio/visual narrative that’s gathering on-line momentum is the “audio-slideshow”. These differ from traditional vodcasts as they utilise still images instead of video and are therefore far easier to produce – and quicker to download.

As the name suggests, viewers/listeners see a series of still images while hearing a complimentary audio documentary. These pictures can be manipulated by cropping, dissolving the image, fading in or out, or directing the viewer’s eye with the “Ken Burns” technique – the name given to the act of moving a still image across the screen. But why try to explain it – when you can, quite literally, see for yourself…

This example comes from photographer David White and producer Ben Chesterton. I first got to know Ben and his family while working on a project in Ethiopia. He was in charge of a BBC World Service Trust project, training journalists to create innovative, often provocative programmes for Radio Ethiopia.

Before his involvement in development radio, Ben had enjoyed an award winning career as a documentary producer for the BBC. I was therefore surprised when he turned his back on traditional radio to start “duckrabbit.info” – a company specialising in bespoke audio-slideshows. I was curious to find out why and invited him answer a series of questions for New Radio Strategies…

As a former producer of traditional documentaries for Radio Four, what was it that attracted you to audio slideshows?

I used them as a training tool for journalists in Kenya. To shake and wake them up and force them out of the studio by confronting them with what was going on in the refugee camps. Apart from that, I love photos and I was becoming creatively frustrated with my work – so I thought I’d have a crack at something different.

Are audio slideshows more closely aligned to visual or audio documentaries?

I think it all depends on the use of the audio slideshow. I mean, at times it might have more in common with the language of art or poetry then documentary. I don’t think it’s got too much to do with radio in the sense that a good slideshow is completely dependent on the visuals to make sense, whereas it might not be so dependant on the audio.

So can they truly be considered a new form of “radio”?

They can be a great way of promoting radio but to call audio slideshows a new form of radio isn’t something I’d agree with. In fact there’s nothing really new about them. What’s new is the publishing platform, the web, which makes them worthwhile because there’s a potentially massive audience.

What are the differences between producing an audio slideshow – compared to producing a purely audio based project?

The major difference is that peoples attention span on the web is very limited so you are looking to contain an audio slideshow to usually around three minutes. For someone who is used to producing half hour docos this is really challenging! The other thing is learning to let the photos lead. At the end of the day it’s the photos that will keep people hooked, or otherwise.

What is the future of audio-slideshows as you see it?

It’s hard to say. I think they will have a limited use on news websites like the BBC. I think that radio people will start to use them to promote radio documentaries, if they can pull some budget together for this. Certainly Radio 4 could do really well promoting some of their stand out documentaries on the BBC website by using audio slideshows. I think commercially they offer a lot of possibilities for organisations to get stories out about themselves. I also think they offer plenty of possibilities for citizen journalism, for the way that everyday life is chronicled. They are also a great way of making art available to many more people on the web, in a way that is engaging and memorable.

Do you have any recommendations for people wanting to make their own slideshows – and where can people go to discover more about audio-slideshows?

Just come to our blog www.duckrabbit.info/blog where we showcase loads of great examples and also links to other great websites doing a similar thing. I recommend the software Soundslides, which is simple and produces great looking slideshows.

You can have all the kit in the world but at the end of the day it’s all about how you tell the story.

I will be the first to admit that there is nothing genius in here – for the most part, all these pillars are common sense, but that doesn’t make them any less important! And as stated above, I have changed these pillars many times throughout the years, rotating different ones in and out bur for the most part they have expressed the same things. So with all that being said, here we go…..

1. The Right Music – An obvious one, of course, but it needs to be said that if the music isn’t targeted towards your core listening audience then nothing else on this list will matter.

2. The Best Talent – This is NOT an area to skimp on. There’s a reason why certain talent demands big dollars. Because they’re worth it. The whole “you get what you pay for” thing. Back when Mel Karmazin ran CBS/Infinity radio he responded to those who questioned him about paying Howard Stern, Don Imus and others so much. Mel responded by saying something to the effect of, “you’re looking at it wrong – it’s not about how much I’m paying them, it’s about how much they’re MAKING for me.” Nuff said.

3. Unique, Compelling, Exclusive – The “Holy Trinity” of content creation, ESPECIALLY these days where there are unlimited choices for consumers. Any content that you create for your channel, station or platform should have these three elements – uniqueness, compelling-ness (to coin a word) and exclusivity. Sirius and XM got into a bidding war for content because they each wanted content that was unique, compelling and most of all, exclusive. The ONLY place to get Howard Stern was on Sirius; the ONLY place to get Oprah and Friends on radio was XM, they each competed for exclusive sports rights and so on.

4. Think Strategically, Act Tactically – Every station should have its own strategic plan, which simply put is a document that identifies what the overall plan for the station is. Like I said, simple. At its essence, the plan identifies what the station’s three (or so) key elements are. These three elements are the key positions that the radio station is trying to own. Once those are articulated, EVERYTHING that is done on the station has to support one of those key elements – whether it’s imaging, DJ talk, events, promotions and everything else. Once that’s in place, the tactical plan is created. The tactical plan is the document where all of the station tactics are articulated – each of these tactics should support the strategic plan. Sounds simple, and it is. But it’s surprising how many times it’s not done.

5. Specialty Programming – This is an extension of the point above, as specialty programming is a tactic that is deployed in order to carry out the strategic plan. However, it is a pretty important tactic and therefore gets its own number. It is critical for a few reasons, the first of which is that because whatever it is that is created will (hopefully) be good programming for the radio station. . Secondly, the promotion value of the show can’t be overestimated. The specialty program is something specific for your station to promote across dayparts, on the website, in e-mails to the database or elsewhere. Instead of saying, “hey, listen to our radio station ‘cause it’s great…” if there is a specific specialty show to promote the message becomes, “Listen to ‘Most Wanted with Ben Jones’ every night at 7…” (An actual show on Virgin Radio U.K.). And this becomes even more important when promoting across a platform, say like a satellite radio platform.

6. Promote, Promote, Cross-Promote – This ties in with the item above – Promotion is everything. Across dayparts, across channels (in a multi-channel environment), on the website, in e-mail blasts, in outside advertising, wherever, whenever. Promote specific things – shows, jocks, events, contests, whatever. Just promote it.

7. You Have Left the Box – (Think and Re-Think Everything) – You know that proverbial box you’re always hearing about? Not to be cliché about it, but really, take a look at everything you’re doing with a fresh perspective. Don’t necessarily throw out the rulebook (cause there ARE some really useful ‘rules’ that have been established), but re-evaluate EVERYTHING. Look at everything you do and your reasoning behind doing it with a fresh set of goggles. What do you see now? The landscape has changed drastically over the last few years and is still evolving. Make sure you are adapting.

8. It’s More than the Music – Okay, if you’re a music station the music is obviously super important (see #1). But don’t stop there. If you do you’re dead. What does your station do that is SO compelling that someone would rather listen to that rather than their iPod? Are your jocks compelling? Are they babbling idiots or do they have something to say? Do they relate to your audience?

9. Make it a Production – The importance of great production, or imaging, can’t be overstated. At its best, great imaging can go a looong way to communicating to listeners what your radio station is all about. It can convey the brand essence of your station in a way that is creative, exciting and pleasing to the ear rather than seeming intrusive to your audience. At its worst it is annoying, intrusive and sounds like a commercial. Be on the right side of that divide. Make it cool. Make it in tune with the brand essence. Make it fit with the strategic plan. And make it short – you know, attention spans and all.

10. Events – Another ‘more than the music’ element that is critical to the success of a station is events. Partner with cool existing events. Create your own events – be creative, think BIG, be unique. And make sure the event is a good strategic fit for your station. And then of course, promote it! The promotional value of events can’t be overstated – again, it is something specific to promote – and gives all listeners a sense of the ‘bigness’ of all that’s happening on the station/platform. Even if they’re not interested in that specific event, they’ll take note of it.

11. Artist Involvement – Get the Artists involved – through interviews, performances, endorsements, guest DJ slots, hosting a show or other creative ways. This is another area that people can’t get elsewhere – on their iPods or their customized Internet radio channel. The only place that can deliver the artists directly to the people is your radio station! You have to build the relationships with the artists, managers, record people, roadies, whomever; it is imperative that your station delivers the artists to the listeners.

12. The WOW Factor – This is kind of the catch-all. Even if you do everything technically ‘right’, does your station have that ‘it’? Does it reach out and GRAB the listener and entice them to listen? It better. There’s a great scene in that movie “21” when the main character is interviewing for a scholarship to Harvard Law School. The kid has a 4.0 GPA, has aced the law school exam and is a perfect candidate in every regard. The only problem is, as the dean tells him, is that there are 72 others just like him! So, the dean asks him, what makes him stand out and his application ‘jump off the page’ and rise above the rest? What makes his story so compelling? So the same can be asked for your radio station – what makes your station so damn compelling that listeners will say, “WOW”?

13. Communicate – Sounds silly and cliché and basic, but again, sometimes things are cliché for a reason – because they’re true. Communicate externally and internally. Make sure everyone at the station knows what the plan is and make sure everyone listening knows exactly what you stand for and what you’re all about.

I’ve written about these satellite radio micro-channels before here and here and I hate to sound like a broken record, but I will.

Investing in creative, compelling programming pays off.

Sirius just announced that Coldplay will take over one of their channels (Alt Nation) for ten days beginning Friday, June 13th. The launch of the channel, Coldplay Nation, coincides (shockingly!) with the release of the band’s “Viva La Vida” album which will be during the channel’s 10-day run. As is stated on the Sirius website, Coldplay Nation “celebrates the June 17 release of Coldplay’s new Viva La Vida with Chris Martin and the band’s personal introductions to songs from the new album. You’ll also hear music from throughout their career, artists who influenced the Coldplay sound and current favorites.”

This cuts to the heart of what radio has to do to succeed – create programming that is unique, compelling and exclusive. If listeners are given a compelling reason, they will listen and become fans of a radio station or in the case of the satellite radio providers, subscribe to their service.

Coldplay is one of the biggest bands today with one of the most anticipated new releases on the horizon. If you’re a Coldplay fan, the channel is great news for you because you get to listen to a channel that is running what you consider compelling content. Those who aren’t Coldplay fans may not listen, but they will hear about it (thanks to cross-promotion) and they will get the message. The message being that one of the globe’s biggest artists is doing something big and something exclusive for the service that they subscribe to. Sure, it may not be an artist that they’re particularly interested in, but nonetheless they are once again reminded of the fact that “cool things are always happening here” thus subtly giving them additional justification for subscribing to Sirius – which is critical during this time where every cent of discretionary household spending is analyzed for potential reductions.

With Viva La Vida being their 4th studio album, Coldplay doesn’t have the catalog to support a channel for an extended period of time like Sirius’ other micro-channels, such as Springsteen’s E Street Radio, Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margariville, Elvis Radio, Siriusly Sinatra or The Grateful Dead channel, but that’s hardly the point. With the announcement and imminent launch of Coldplay Nation, Sirius has scored a coup and like George Bush can proudly say “Mission Accomplished,” although without the irony. They’ve sent the message to fans of Coldplay, to non-fans of Coldplay, to subscribers of Sirius and to potential subscribers of Sirius.

This is nothing earth shattering, in fact it’s extraordinarily simple. But then again, most things are. Invest in programming. Be creative in the programming. Offer something compelling and unique and people will respond, even in this day and age of changing consumer habits, declining radio listenership and of serious questions regarding the relevance of radio to people’s lives.

Seems to me that in the US, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy, or anywhere in southern Europe, really, all you have to do is swing a mic around and you’ll hit someone who sounds great on the air. Back in England, we burden ourselves, with honourable exceptions, with ridiculous contrived styles. I’d love to hear a contemporary Brit Broadcaster who could deliver the mix of informality, rhythm, poise and gravitas of an Alastair Cooke or a Garrison Keillor. I’d love to see if that classic French affable wordy formal/informal radio style could translate to English. I have my doubts…

A while back, I mused about what we mean by radio, which sort of centered on communication between broadcaster and audience. And on that tip, I don’t feel I am being communicated with when I hear a hideously exaggerated local accent from someone who really doesn’t talk like that in real life. And I don’t feel I am being communicated with when I hear the same generic voice (butch, male, faintly pompous and shouty) doing the idents on a dozen automated digital stations.

That’s why I liked what I heard on Radio Campus 93.3. That gallic style – rich and relaxed – hasn’t changed in decades, and it fits well. Simple, inviting, unapologetic and direct does it for me. But, as with the last interesting new station I’ve come across (vocalo, out of Chicago), content is king and the style of the station flows from there.

As he pointed out, now that social engagement is moving from being a destination to a feature, it’s a big opportunity for radio.

Indeed.

Terrestrial radio has done a lot of things wrong in recent years but a way for them to get back in the game and re-establish their relevance is to make sure this is not an opportunity lost. Radio ain’t dead, but it’s broken. It’s critical for radio to re-engage listeners in new (and old!) ways.

And the whole ‘social thing’ is a big opportunity to re-engage.

Back in the day, the great state of New Jersey had an advertising campaign designed to promote tourism (and if there was any U.S. State that needed a campaign to promote tourism, it was New Jersey – Bruce Springsteen and the Jersey Shore not withstanding). The tagline of the campaign was New Jersey and You – Perfect Together! Taking creative license from the Garden State, I propose a slogan which applies to the topic at hand: Radio and Social Networks – Perfect Together!

So let’s get right to it – why are they perfect together? The fact is, at their core radio stations are and have always been social networks. In fact, they are the oldest mass-media social networks. (I’m sure the cavemen had their own version of a social network, but it probably involved cave drawings or something and sure wasn’t powered by technology!). Bound by music, lifestyle or point of view, a good radio station identifies, captures, becomes a source of entertainment and information for, and provides a voice and identity for specific communities of people. They do this by providing these communities of people with content that is important to them. Content that is relevant, interesting and exciting. Listeners to a great radio station feel like they are part of something – something bigger than themselves. They feel like they are part of a larger community of people who like what they like, who feel what they feel and who have similar experiences as they do. They feel connected.

It is about the power of the collective experience.

You know how a song always sounds better when you hear it on the radio as opposed to hearing it off a CD? There are a number of reasons for this, one being due to the serendipitous nature of it; but another is because of that sense of having a common or collective experience. It’s because as you sit there in your car listening to the song, you know that thousands of others – other members of this community – are hearing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

The sense of community is a powerful thing.

Great radio stations are community builders and community leaders. The essence of a station’s community (assuming the station is a music-oriented one) is the music, but it’s more than that. It’s the lifestyle the station portrays, it’s the language, it’s the imaging, and it’s the jocks – their attitude, the things they talk about, the way they talk about them and the points of reference they provide. It’s the whole deal.

Radio stations ain’t supposed to be jukeboxes. In fact there is probably an inverse relationship between the “jukebox-iness” of a station and its relevance and importance to people and how much “connection” they feel towards it. Call it the “sucky” equation.

Great radio stations – those with a low “sucky quotient” – get members of their target communities to place their trust in them by holding up their end of the bargain. Among other things, their end of the bargain consists of the following: providing creative and compelling programming; hiring jocks who know how to relate to and connect with people; creating ways for the listeners to directly interact with the radio station and by becoming vibrant members of the community. The members of the community look towards the great radio stations to be a guide for the community – a guide on musical tastes, on lifestyle on opinions, on trends.

When I think of great radio stations, I think of KROQ in Los Angeles. KROQ plays what would generally be termed as ‘alternative rock’ music, but defining them as purely an ‘alternative rock’ radio station doesn’t do them justice. They’re bigger than that. They’re the self-proclaimed “World Famous KROQ.” KROQ sets trends. KROQ oozes a lifestyle. They reflect the interests of the KROQ community while at the same time leading it. They have street cred. If KROQ says it’s so, it’s so. I remember a day back in the late 90’s when the Kevin and Bean morning show had Snoop on as an in-studio guest. Snoop? On an ‘alternative’ station? Yeah. The thing is, KROQ defines itself by a lifestyle rather than by a ‘format’. There’s a difference. A big one. KROQ understands who their core listeners are and then creates programming that group would appreciate, regardless of any traditional format boundary. That pertains to the music; it pertains to the jocks; it pertains to the imaging and it pertains to the guests they have on the air. Simple. Would the skateboarder kids in Huntington Beach think having Snoop on was cool? Yeah.

The point is, KROQ has made themselves the center of a vibrant community. They have served, led and engaged this community of people remarkably well. Sadly, most terrestrial radio stations aren’t doing this. But they can start. And for their own sake, they better start. The online social media revolution can serve as their wake-up call. The power of the online social networks is undeniable – and as pointed out by Dubber, it’s still evolving. So for radio stations to regain their relevance and importance to people’s lives, they have to figure out their strategy for riding this new media wave. First and foremost they can start by realizing that by having an existing broadcast signal and presumably a great deal of listeners, they already are social networks. Maybe they’re not strong, effective ones at this point, but that’s because their on-air product isn’t engaging their listener base. To improve the strength of the network they have to fix their on-air product. Invest in it, be creative in the programming, and all the rest. Once that is done and the station has an engaged listener base, they can further engage them by utilizing the web. This will require a lot of thinking. And a lot of work. But it has to be done. It’s show time.

Breaking the output down to work out how they put it together seems to go like this: lots of short, produced speech items, concise studio links, urban music never more than a few minutes way. All local people and local issues, with sympathetic production linked by comfortably confident presenters. To start I was less than impressed with the output – neither Jamiroquai nor Michael Jackson paedo gags would be my first choice – but some punchy social issue audio drama, with live studio commentary and discussion, tightly produced, picked up the pace. And now I don’t want to switch off, because it’s interesting, and I have no idea what’s coming next, and it’s doing what I want my radio to do: painting a picture.

Over on the website, there are loads of archived podcasts – with maybe not quite enough context – and the whole thing looks not unlike a Myspace page, full of graphics and user input. This is probably not the first attempt to mix up web 2.0 with radio stream; clearly they have given it a LOT of thought, and it shows. It’s web first, radio second: the stream idents the website, not the FM frequency.

If this is the new face of public radio in the US – where, according to the New York Times, listenership is up – then there’s grounds for some serious optimism. As long as they’re hitting their audience, not just old hippie liberals from the UK like me, that is. At least they’re not playing the same Amy Winehouse material everyone else is playing. Is this the future of community radio? I bloody well hope so.

So far so good. Trouble was, the track was treated and compressed, probably for MP3 and the transmission chain. This did not do the song any favours. That striking bassline was WAY up, the middle and top was sort of up, but a lot of the rest was… just hoovered back into the mix. Yuk.

So the same thing that brought Cogbill’s work to the fore damaged the rest of the mix. I’m all for digital storage, so we can have huge libraries to use as brilliant programming resources (see this interesting post from Billy Sabatini). But aren’t we in danger of damaging prime gold repertoire by crunching stuff down so insensitively? This is a huge problem with 60s and 70s material, which was often recorded live or near-live, with a wholly different approach to balancing and mixing. This stuff was built to jump out of tiny transistor radio speakers. Now, it’s altered by digitisation and remastering for radio, and crushed almost beyond recognition to fit on our Ipods and our databases. It’s not so much a technical issue as a cultural issue. To store our libraries in the digital world, we reprocess, remaster, spindle, fold, and mutilate our music. We commoditise and devalue it. We are in real danger of ignoring what the producers, artists and musicians were trying to do. Maybe that doesn’t matter to some stations, but it matters to old farts like me who remember the stuff from the first time around.

There’s good and bad here. I don’t have a solution. I’d just like to hear a better way of processing classic hits from 30, 40 or 50 years ago.

Hell of a bassline though…

Here’s a summarised recent email exchange. Comments and suggestions welcome!

David emails with a question: “I need help with budgeting for a show, single person narrative, 4 episodes of 15 minutes, all pre-scripted. How much would it cost?”

My digested response follows…

“David, you can do for very little (if any) cost. But you will have to put in time. If you can borrow a studio, do so; if not, improvise.

For equipment: use a PC with reasonable memory (512k or up) and hard disk storage (2 Gb) to spare. Download Audacity and learn how to use it. Beg, borrow, steal or even buy an acceptable Mic for maybe £30. You may need to get an external sound card.

For the studio: use a quiet room with a square table in a corner. Get 3 meter-square carpet tiles. Put one on the table, and the other two on the walls to left and right of the corner, cube-wise. Put your mic on a stand facing you, out from the corner. Voila! a £3 voice booth. Experiment with positioning to get the best mic sound.

Now… put in the time. I can’t tell you how long it would take to record the episodes. It depends on your voice artist. It depends on the script. It depends on how quiet the room is, and at what times of day you will record. It depends on your access to the room. But if you can control these variables, this is a much better option than forking out for a studio where you are working against the clock. A guesstimate might be three hours to get the basic material down; less if the script is good; more if the voice talent is inexperienced. And then factor in editing time.”

Did I miss anything? Suggestions for David are welcome…

I like all kinds of radio. I really admire great networks like Radio 2, with their top production and great presenters. Their stuff is brimming with imagination (sometimes) and confidence (pretty much all the time). But I’m also a huge fan of localness, with its raw edges. I like arriving somewhere and getting the feel of a place through its radio stations. You don’t get that from a national network.

When I was working in the US in the 70s, as a baby Rock DJ, I was tuning around the dial. It was midnight on the East Coast, but the station time check I heard was for 11 pm. That meant the signal had to be the central time zone. AM signals travel further after dark, remember? I had stumbled across an outfit from New Orleans. I was SO excited… You see, I was hoping for some local flavour: a little bit of Allen Toussaint, some Ernie K Doe or Fats Domino, or even some Doctor John, depending on the format.

Fat chance.

It was the same Top 40 repertoire I heard all day from my FM rocker’s sister AM station. Maybe I should have expected this. But back in the early 70s, it was still possible to define a place through its music: think Motown, or Mersey Beat, or Philly Soul, or Stax/Volt, or Chicago blues. I could go on. And that’s why I was hoping for a bit of Louisiana magic.

We don’t have anything like that these days. All that localness has largely been swept away as the record industry, and radio, has become more corporate. But we do have music making everywhere, and that’s a good thing. Unsigned Musicians’ end-products have got much much better as technology has become cheaper. Ideas can come from anywhere and go anywhere. Our global superstars, on the other hand, are increasingly branded, increasingly ubiquitous, and perversely, increasingly remote. So, back in Radio, how can we measure this stuff and use it? Tricky. Record sales are no longer creditable – if they ever were – as a barometer of popularity. Think chart fixes and collapsing sales. Think how music gets bluetoothed from phone to phone.

Things have changed, and Radio hasn’t picked up the ball. A lot of the old certainties are gone, and Radio is no longer the go-to place for hot new stuff. Like everyone else, Radio is scrabbling around to find some new anchors. I think we’re missing a big trick.

More in the next post.