January 2008 RAP
January 2008 Highlights
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks! - How would you rate
this past year, and what are your goals for the New Year?
Q It Up: Q It Up: How would you rate this past year on a
professional level, based either on personal experience or just observation
of the industry as a whole; and what’s on your list of goals to improve
things in the New Year? Are you going to upgrade that studio? Finally get
that mic you’ve been wanting? Take some creative copywriting classes? Get
your freelance business off the ground? Re-organize your department a
little?
Interview: Steve Wein, KTRS-AM, St. Louis, Missouri
by Jerry Vigil
You’ve heard the advice… “find something you love doing, something you’re
passionate about. The rest will fall into place.” Maybe you’re still waiting
for those things to “fall into place,” but most likely, if you’re a regular
reader of RAP, you’re passionate about what you do and love it, and for many
of you, life is good, and there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing. For
Steve Wein, it’s a passion and love that has treated him well for nearly 40
years. Coming from a family of broadcasters, it didn’t take Steve long to
find his niche in the family business. Before long, Steve was out on his
own, turning creative commercials into dollars and happy clients, and the
journey hasn’t let up. Today, Steve cranks out the creative for the clients
at KTRS-AM in St. Louis, the only station owned by CH Holdings. Currently
#4, and within a ½ point of being the #2 station in the market, KTRS is one
of those rare instances of a privately owned station in a large market that
leaves the majority of the major group-owned stations in its dust. In this
month’s RAP Interview, Steve shares some interesting highlights from his
past, and focuses on the keys to his success at creating successful
commercials for his clients. Be sure to check out this month’s RAP CD for an
inspiring sample of Steve’s work.
Test Drive: Adobe Audition 3
by Steve Cunningham
To say that Adobe’s Audition is a staple of radio production would be an
understatement. Audition has been a favorite since it was Cool Edit and Cool
Edit Pro, and we’ve looked at that product several times in its various
incarnations. Adobe has continued developing Audition, and released Audition
version 3 in mid-November 2007. While it’s not groundbreaking, Audition 3
offers a group of useful new features that will be greatly appreciated by
production folks, at less than a hundred bucks for the upgrade. I’ve been
using Audition 1.5 since Adobe released it, and did not install version 2
because it required Windows XP with Service Pack 2, and I was still using
Windows 2000. So it’s high time I got with the program, don’t you think?
Let’s take a look.
Production 212: So You Think You're an Aural Artist
by Dave Foxx
As you read this, a lot of you will be getting back from an all too brief
holiday for the holidays, so let me wish you a Happy New Year. To celebrate
the advent of 2008, I want to hit the ‘reset’ button and see if we can
really boost the quality of the radio industry’s production in the next 12
months. As you read this month’s issue of RAP Magazine, I want you to open
your mind a bit and allow that we all need improvement. Once in awhile, we
need to stand back and reevaluate how we do things to see if there isn’t a
better way to communicate with our listeners.
Radio Hed: Client Prep: 101
by Jeffrey Hedquist
My consulting clients often ask me, “How can I get my clients to do radio
right? How can I convince them to not shoot themselves in the foot? I create
great commercials, but they turn ‘em down and want to run with an
ineffective ad.” It’s because we haven’t prepared them. They’re simply
acting from their comfort zone. In their mind, “If it sounds like a
commercial, it must be OK.”
...And Make It Real Creative
by Trent Rentsch
When friends outside of the business find out that I write this column,
inevitably I’m asked what I write about. It was a challenging question for
some time. I mean, I’ve written about the comparative value of heavily
produced ads vs. straight voice, the importance of the relationship between
the Creative Department and the Sales Staff, even the down and dirty way to
create your own electronic swooshes, among other bits of shop talk. Start
talking about those things to the average outsider and you get that blank
expression I save for mechanics trying to explain what needs to be repaired
under the hood of my car. Eventually, the years of columns formed a pattern,
and the answer became clear, at least to me. “I write about the day to day
challenges of being a Creative, while still dealing with real life.” Most
people then nod knowingly, but I can still see that light glazing of
confusion in their eyes
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