Would You Like Fries With Your AudioNET® delivery?

McDonald's and Telstra are negotiating to roll out wireless free Internet access at about 600 McDonald's outlets across Australia.

WiFi, also known as a wireless local area network allows users to connect to the Internet with their laptops or portable hand-helds (ie palm pilots) without having to actually plug in and dial-up.

McDonald's CEO Guy Russo says many of the burger chain's customers are business people on the road or high users of mobile data.

"There is a McDonald's restaurant in virtually every community and by making this service available to so many we are taking a leadership position and anticipating the future communication needs our customers."

AudioNET® Managing Director Dave Cox says many Australians are already upgrading to the new WAP-enabled models of mobile phone which allow Internet access anywhere, anytime.

"The news from McDonald's and Telstra is very exciting though, because it acknowledges that the Internet has become such an integral part of Australian life and business that they're prepared to make it available in hundreds of locations across the country," Dave says.

"For savvy AudioNET® clients this means radio spots will be able to be dispatched, or downloads checked, from hundreds of locations across Australia.

"The beauty of adopting AudioNET® for your business is that client service is going to keep getting easier. The companies providing the infrastructure will keep finding ways to improve their Internet infrastructure and in turn, we'll keep investigating how that infrastructure can work better for you and your clients."

McDonald's and Telstra are planning an 18-month rollout of the new Internet access before the end of 2003. 

Your Bits -  Studio News

8Colin and Cameron at Gusto Music have just signed a deal to produce four singles for Central Station Records under the band name Gusto.

Gusto Studio Manager Brigid Cotter says Central Station Records' A&R Manager Ashley Gay approached them about a month ago.

"We've been dealing with Central Station Records since we began and we've kept up a good relationship with them," Brigid says.  "We're very excited."

The contract was signed on the 1st of May and the first single, a re-do of "Magic Carpet Ride" will be out in about a month.

8Gusto has just finished all the audio-post on the new Levi's TVCs. According to Levi's there's a whole generation of potential customers who have never heard of Levi's - so they've revamped their image, cut their jeans lower and are spending big bucks on advertising.

8David + John composer Carlo Giacco has just finished working on a new Australian drama/thriller, 'Lost Things' which will be launched in Cannes this month.

Carlo wrote all the music for the film which includes some experimental contemporary pieces featuring a cellist.

Lost Things was directed by Martin Murphy and produced by Ian Iveson, and stars Leon Ford (Changi) Lenka Kripac (The Dish) and Steven LeMarquand (Vertical Limit.)

Radio Production Style and Myths - by Brown Bag's Mike Lee (PhD)

Much has been written over the years (rightfully so) about how difficult and under-appreciated radio production is as a craft.  We have a decent body of journalism about how to produce better spots, how to get voiceover gigs, how to use equipment more efficiently.  We have learned how to deal with stupid salespeople, malevolent managers and uncaring engineers.

But it seems that we have missed out on a review of where radio production is really at - in terms of the style and substance of what is actually airing in 2003.

That is the premise on which this article is based.  With every good intention to be objective, that is not entirely possible by a passionate professional.  Bear that in mind as we take a journey into reality.

Bombast8  This style of production has long been a staple of radio.  At its best, it can be very powerful and effective.  It is characterized by deep voices, fast-pacing, a tendency to exaggeration.  Good bombast has high-intensity, layered production with plenty of effects.  Most bombast is lacking in substance.  The style is the message.

Recently, bombast has received increasing criticism.  It has been accused of talking "at" listeners.  Deep voices are less in evidence in radio production than at any time in history.  Some production factions are against anything "unnatural," including effects and fast-paced design. 

Faux sincerity8  This is where many of those who decry bombast have chosen to go.  The style is based on doing everything from a "listener's" standpoint.  Voiceovers tend to be softer and more "natural."  Production intensity is much lower.  Advocates of this style say it is drawn from the sensibilities of top advertising campaigns.  The message that comes across is "You're in us. We're in you."  To which my reaction is "coo-coo-catchoo." 

The reason that the sincerity is false is that the production attempts to manipulate the listener every bit as much as bombast.  By utilizing the voices of listeners or pretending to be the listener's best friend, this style of radio production proves to be cloying and, most often, boring.  If bombast attempts to bully you into listening to the station, faux sincerity tries to be your ersatz buddy who just wants to snuggle.  It is quite possible that listeners are too smart for either of these approaches.

Vapor8  This is radio production formulated almost entirely on style.  Its best feature tends to be excellent mixing and some very nice techniques.  But it seems to draw its roots from dance, pop and alternative heritages, where filtered voices, world-beat rhythms and empty cliches are substituted for any sense of substance.  More often than not, a listener cannot recall a vapor promo three minutes after hearing it.  Those who produce it place a premium on being cool.  Unfortunately, that means a lot less to a listener than to a producer.

Grinder8  This is the style born entirely out of quantity.  The formula is the star because there is not enough time to put any real thought or effort into the production.  Grinding turns radio into newspapers.  Both style and substance are sacrificed at the altar of expediency.  The career path for grinders is not particularly bright.

Mood8  This can be a highly effective style of production because it creates a fantasy for the listener.  From the diabolical to the comedic -- when mood is done carefully it can be very entertaining, rich in textures and different than the material that surrounds it.  Here is the opportunity to be dramatic without relying solely on bombast.  Mood pieces are more of a dessert than an entrée when it comes to radio meals.  But they push producers to think of innovative uses of music, effects and voices. 

Stories8  Some of the best pieces in the history of radio imaging have told stories.  Unlike virtually every other style, they have a beginning, middle and end.  They can be heartbreaking and tragic, funny, clever or just plain wacky.  Nothing draws in listeners or is more memorable than a well-told story.  It can utilize the entire arsenal of a producer's savvy (including the oft-overlooked point/counterpoint), but it is rooted in excellent writing.  With excellent writing in such short supply and time at a premium, it is no wonder that stories are less in evidence now than ever before.  They've gone the way of big voices.

The caveat here is that stories not only take extra time to write and produce, but they also take more airtime than the typical 20 second promo.  Yet in a world where radio sells airtime by units, thus encouraging 60 second spots over 30's, wouldn't it be worthwhile to take 60 seconds of your own airtime to tell a terrific story.

A few years ago, while delivering a seminar in Australia to a group of perhaps 15 producers, I asked how many producers had ever created a story-based promo.  Only one fellow answered affirmatively.  He had done it years earlier in Tasmania, largely utilizing children to tell the story of a local tragedy.  "I never thought of this before," he said.  "But it was probably the best piece I ever did."

Comedy and Satire8 This is another often-effective style that suffers from a writing talent drought.  While it is not overly taxing to be clever in an eight second liner by using some great drops, creating a full-blooded promo that is funny on repeated airings is quite a challenge. Voice characterizations, loony sounds and the unexpected are welcome in comedy and satire.  Listeners tend to respond very positively to good comedy.  But when attempts at this genre fail, the results can be embarrassing.  Unlike listeners, radio has a tendency to classify bad taste as comedic or satirical.

Radio imaging has fallen prey to many of the same myths evident in radio programming, thus dragging down the overall quality and diversity of the product.

Myth 1 8 The Format.  By adhering to format purity, programmers restrict song variety.  Much in the same way, producers get locked into aural tunnelvision.  Why should promos contain only the type of music that the station has on its playlist?  Why has the creative use of inherently non-formatic sound effects all but disappeared? 

Indeed, the more narrowly focused the format, the more predictable its production generally is.  Before hearing certain stations, you can accurately forecast  how many of them will be produced.  Some formats are victims of seeming taboos.  Oldies stations are generally wary of using filtered voices.  You don't hear many stories or mood pieces on alternative or rhythmic stations.  AC stations ten to avoid anything with much drama.  Formats should have far less influence on production styles than they do.

Myth 2 8 Gender.  Men like harder-edged pieces, and women can't stand them.  If this were true, only men would watch television programs like 24 or Alias.  And we would see virtually no male demos in sitcoms like Friends or Everyone Loves Raymond.  The fact is that listeners are neither format purists nor gender-restricted to the extent that programmers and producers believe they are.  There is no proof that electric guitars cause damage to pregnant women.

Myth 3 8 Quantity.  A big part of the dilution of creative radio production is based on the notion that quantity is paramount.  The turnover of liners and promos is at record levels.  Many pieces air two or three times before the boss is tired of them.  Sadly, good pieces that bear repeating die an early death, while their replacements have nothing to recommend them except that they are "new."  An advertiser that changed its spots this often would be considered crazy.  How hypocritical does that make the people who would tell the advertiser not do it and then do it themselves?

That being said, quantity requirements are not a sufficient excuse for producers to bypass creativity.  Many programmers are simply too busy to restrict your creations.   If only five percent of your work can be considered for the masterpiece category, that is still enough to provide you with some measure of pride.

Myth 4 8 Entertainment.  Somewhere along the line, radio became convinced that it was either a deity (bombast) or your friend (faux sincerity).  In truth, it is no more a deity than drywall, no more your friend than an aluminum siding salesperson.  Radio is information, escape, entertainment.  When you're not informing your listeners (in a creative manner), making them laugh or cry or just tweaking their curiousity, you're part of the group responsible for lowering radio listening almost daily.

There are surely more styles and more myths than are presented above.  Just as reliably, there will be notable exceptions and readers who vehemently disagree with much of this content.

That would be a wonderful thing.  Because until we get past the blandly offered, blindly accepted norms, radio production is going to be stuck in the same rut that radio stations themselves are.  A healthy, even heated dialogue is much in order before we all go to sleep at the wheel.

The Pen Still Provides the Mightiest Measurement

Commercial Radio Australia Chief Executive Officer Joan Warner says ACNielsen's new radio ratings contract will run from January 1 next year until 31^st December 2006.

"Nielsen Media Research was chosen after very careful consideration as it offers a proven radio audience measurement system for Australia that is among the world's best," Ms Warner said.

"The industry also considered the likelihood of a move to electronic measurement in the next few years. As a move to electronic measurement is possible in the future the industry decided to maintain stability and certainty by awarding the contract to the incumbent."

Ms Warner said radio would continue with the diary system as it was still the premier system around the world, but looking ahead, the industry was keen to see a trial of electronic meters.

"The decision to award the contract to NMR (Nielsen Media Research) should not be seen as a decision in favour of the radio control watch. Both devices on offer, the radio control watch and the PPM (Portable People Meter) currently have a number of shortcomings and the further development of both devices will be closely monitored by the industry," she said.

The other tenderer was Arbitron-TNS, a combined bid by global research firm Arbitron and Taylor Nelson Sofres.

"We were very impressed by the professionalism of the Arbitron-TNS approach and hope there will be the opportunity to work with them in the future," Ms Warner said.

ACNielsen's client service director Mark Neely said the next three years would be vital growth years for local radio.

"We will continue to introduce data, software and education enhancements to assist radio and agency users with the highest quality research tools available," Mark said.

"As far as new methodologies are concerned, it should be emphasized that the diary remains the world standard for radio audience measurement, and any moves to meters for radio measurement would only follow an extensive trial here in real market environments," said Neely.

Award Calendar Update

Award Awards are now open. The deadline for radio material is June 16th. You can enter online at  www.awardonline.com, or email pip@awardonline.com for a hard copy, or pick up the phone and call AWARD on 61 2 9281 8004.