Category Archives: Commercials

To free, or not to free.

November 12, 2014Commercials, Generalannouncers, audio production, Commercial, creative radio, jingles, radio account executives, radio production, radio sales, radio scripts, script writing, scripts, targeted advertising, television, voice over artists, voice talentOvernight Radio

When you work in an industry where price is a part of every negotiation, every question and everything you do, price points can become very nauseating. We realize our voice talent, our producers and our writers time is valuable, even if it is affordable…in fact ESPECIALLY because it’s affordable. If they are affordable, that means they are used a lot in the industry and therefore, have limited time for you. Which means, every piece of work must be paid for…either affordably, or extravagantly…Overnight Radio is the former, and by proxy, so are our employees.

When we do business with anyone (merchant or client), we realize their time is valuable and that even taking the time to see what my needs are is cutting into time they would otherwise have to themselves, and because of that, I take as little of it as possible.

Specifically in the voice over business, every second counts. Some talent like to do a couple takes, some do 4 or 5 and some only want to do 1. All acceptable (provided you get the right inflection and tone needed). Each person has their own value of their own time, and THEY are the ones to decide how to divvy it up.

This is why I personally do not ask that anyone do anything for free (excluding of course, mistakes). We don’t ask that our voice talent provide the extra takes, we just appreciate it when they do. We don’t ask that ANYONE do anything on spec. We aren’t neophytes, we are industry professionals who make a living at this, and every second counts.

So when you, as an economically priced voice talent come across a client who asks for FREE spec from you, or multiple takes (for no apparent reason other than to ‘just have it on hand’), or anything else that normally comes with HIGH priced voice talent, you can be sure that client does not know or care about the value of your time.

This is not to say you should dump the client, but it may be in your best interest to lead the client…in a safe way of course, to the realization that the restaurant he is at, while a great diner, is a diner…not a snooty high end cuisine that caters to your every whim (because you are paying them so much). Don’t get me wrong, snooty places are great! They have their place. We are just not one of them.

Leading is hard…because you have to do it without them becoming aware of it. But if you use avoidance words such as “we can’t do 10 takes of each spot because we can’t book that big a session for this job” or “we don’t give away our previously produced spots as free specs for you to use because it’s against company policy and i could get in trouble.”

Both of these items are true…but they are better said that way than “we would lose money doing 10 takes for you” and “please stop asking to steal our work”.

Anyone asking you to do something for free is asking for your permission to steal your stuff. When you come to this realization, it’s much easier to say no. Granted, every situation is different…but only in degrees, not in circumstance.

Be strong, stand up for yourself, sell yourself, charge for all that you do.

But of course, always fix your mistakes for free 🙂

Creative limitations

October 16, 2014Commercials, General, Musicannouncers, audio production, Commercial, creative radio, jingles, radio, radio account executives, radio sales, radio scripts, radio stations, script writing, scripts, targeted advertising, voice over artists, voice talentOvernight Radio

i wish i could do it all. And at one time, i thought i could.

there have been many points in my professional life where after finishing a project that took a lot of time and real effort…the finished product was sub-par…and not for lack of trying.

it’s something that is a very hard lesson to learn. i try and trace it back to my childhood, and think that maybe it’s my parents fault for being so encouraging…saying that i could do anything i set my mind to…something very familiar to a generation x’er.

i suppose my parents were right…i can, and DO anything i set my mind to…but they didn’t say anything about doing everything well. (or maybe they did…it was such a long time ago now ha!)

regardless, one should always do what they set their mind to…in order to find out what they are good at, or even great at.

finding out you aren’t good at something seems like bad news. kinda like finding out it’s going to rain on your day off. but like anything in life, it’s neither good nor bad…it’s just is. and it is what you make of it. suppose it rains…so be it…your garden could probably use it. or it forces you to stay inside and work on your painting, creative writing, or in our case…your voice.

creative limitations are are misleading…it seems like a road block. as in you can’t do this, you can’t do that. but what they really are, are signs…pointing you in the right direction to fully realize your talent.

if your particular sign says ‘you cannot dramatically act’…then fine…stop wasting your time on it, and focus on direct/announcer driven spots. despite popular myth, they are still the most popular production out there, and we all need your voice. if your sign says, ‘you cannot read with high-energy’…fine…focus on making your relaxed ‘wilford brimley’ type read the best wilford it can be.

what i have found is that people will seek you out if you are good at something, because word travels fast. this is only true of course, if you stick around long enough for people to find you. meaning you can’t get discouraged by all the signs. use them to help guide you to what you are great at. find your road and drive fast.

knowing what you are good at is a freedom to be envied. here at overnight radio, we believe we are great at producing great radio spots, simply because of all the signs we came across in the last 15 years of business. all pointing us to what we do best. creating great production.

now if only i could read the signs about blogging.

Your client is your only client.

October 14, 2014Commercials, General, Musicannouncers, audio production, Commercial, creative radio, jingles, radio, radio account executives, radio production, radio sales, radio scripts, radio stations, script writing, scripts, targeted advertising, voice over artists, voice talentOvernight Radio

I work with a multitude of different people each day. Some more than others. Some are easy-going, some are high strung. I can only imagine where I lie on the spectrum. Regardless, when i am dealing with these people, no matter what mistakes they make, what they like, what they dislike, the only thing that matters to me, is that they are engaged with me, right at this moment and understand and hear what I need.

I am well aware that the people who sell me product (music bed companies, voice talent, producers etc) have many clients…that’s just how it is these days…everyone works for themselves…including me. BUT i am also aware that somewhere deep inside of me, I feel like I am or should be the most important client that merchant has ever known.
I of course, know this not to be true…but there is something driving me to always hope that I am.

I believe this just to be the human condition when doing business and there is nothing you can do to change it.

Which brings me to a point about dealing with you clients (ie: who you sell your wares to), as opposed to your merchants (ie: people who sell you their wares).

Sometimes it can be frustrating when a client has outrageous demands, oversteps their bounds and asks for things that are inappropriate to the agreed upon deal. Case in point: a client has agreed to a large amount of quantity in exchange for a smaller price. A fine agreement. But along with a smaller price, comes an implied agreement…that re-do’s, tiny fixes, script changes and the like, comes another payment. The smaller price does not leave any room for such extras.

So when someone violates that implied agreement, and puts pressure on you to deliver at a loss or lose their business as a consequence, one is always tempted by the same thing. The need to convey to the client, that you don’t need them. You have many clients, just as everyone else does. You don’t need the hassle, you don’t need the stress.

All valid points…if you are a child.

But seeing how we are business people, and the business is who we are, and we must do what’s right for the business, caving into knee-jerk reactions is counter-productive.

This particular client, is saying more than his/her words…they are saying that they don’t feel heard. Not particularly by you, but by anyone. You just happen to be the one in front of them at the moment. This is not your fault, but you must deal with it in a mature way for the good of your business.

This is all well and good, but your desire to show you don’t need them will still be there. I received good advice about this a while back, and so far, it’s working. When faced with the decision to tell your client that you don’t need them, or simply resisting…do both!

Begin to type out an email with all the things you want to say…say them all, use capital letters and exclamation marks! Be sure to note that you don’t need the client at all and that they need you…and be sure to picture the look of horror on their face when they read your email and realize they are totally lost without you.

Then…delete that email immediately.

Next step…feel better that the urge is gone…and get to work giving the client what they need. Tell them that you hear them, understand their needs and will do all you can to fulfill their request…and what you can do to help with the extra cost. Because, there IS an extra cost. Figure out what it is, explain why and proceed with the request.

If they leave because of it, there is nothing you can do. But they didn’t leave because you were childish, rude, or off the handle…they left because THEY were childish, rude and off the handle for disregarding the contract between you two. The latter is a much better situation to have than the former…and you should be glad that they are gone…like a marriage, no good relationship ends in divorce…only the bad ones.

If of course they DON’T leave, you have just confirmed that your stance AND your agreement with your client is strong and true and is deserving of your tact, warmth and listening.

For the good of your business (your business being anything from a one person voice talent, to a large corporation) don’t lose your cool…because even though it might feel good in the instance…the good feeling wears off when you lose your client.

Navigating a voice talent’s demo.

October 6, 2014Commercials, Generalannouncers, audio production, Commercial, creative radio, radio, radio account executives, radio production, radio sales, radio scripts, radio stations, script writing, scripts, targeted advertising, television, voice over artists, voice talentOvernight Radio

In any business, your business card is your introduction.

And depending on the business you’re in…sometimes your business card is not of the paper variety. It could be the decal on the side of your van, the picture of your band on your poster, or in our case, your demo.

The demo or demonstration shows what you have to offer any prospective buyer…it doesn’t have to include everything (and shouldn’t)…but it should include the very best of what you can do…all in a timely and efficient manner.

Most demo’s don’t get played past the first 5 to 10 seconds…as producers, talent scouts and creative directors and producers can usually tell in an instant if this is worth listening to immediately. And when they do listen further, it’s not to help make up their minds, it’s to help organize in their minds what you may or may not be useful for in any work they may have.

Some of the time, demo’s sent to Overnight Radio are of low caliber (ie: someone told me i have a voice for radio, so here is my iPhone recording of me doing my best daffy duck impersonation). Fair enough, we get that. Not for us, but we get it.

Other times, we get fantastic demos that show amazing range and a dynamic read, on a multitude of different types of scripts. We used to get very interested in these and follow up right away. But sometimes (more often than not), to our dismay, when faced with actually voicing scripts in that style, the voice talent shows a lack of skill in performing. We’d say ‘but you had such a great hard-sell on your demo…can we have it like that?” only to get a confused response of ‘but i DID give you that read”. This wasn’t a situation of us being duped by a voice talent swapping out their voice for another on their demo…it was their voice – no doubt about it. But for one reason or another, they could not duplicate the read for us.

We realized a few years in, what was actually going on…the voice talent, while possessing great voices – actually lacked in certain directing skills…directing themselves.

Directing yourself is something that looks easy, but it is quite the opposite. Like a band producing itself, for the most part…it comes off as directionless. It’s hard to navigate your car when you are inside it, with only a vague idea of where to go. If on the other hand you had a GPS unit to see your car from up above…your course will be well plotted, efficient, and get to your destination fast.

The same can be said of a producer. He/she is outside of your car (your voice) and can guide your finely-tuned engine to the destination (the message) far better than without. You are the driver of the voice, you are not the navigator. It took a lot of effort to mold your voice to what it is today, it’s concise, it’s beautiful and it’s worth listening to. These are the things you worked on your whole career and it’s paying off. Especially on the straight-away…scripts that conform to the race track you built in your mind for the optimal performance of your voice.

It’s when things start to veer off that straight-away that you start to need a navigator, or as they are known in our business, creative directors or producers. These navigators seem unnecessary to most voice talent, because they have been practicing on a certain road so long, that they have forgotten that roads curve.

If you have a hard-sell on your demo and you are a working voice talent…BUT no one gets you to do hard-sells, it’s because you don’t know the route, you don’t know how you actually did that great hard-sell on your demo. You most likely had a director/producer/navigator on that trip. And now when you are asked to go that route, you are lost.

In my opinion, most voice talent are fantastic at one or two types of reads on their own. Anything beyond those parameters requires a navigator…OR it requires you, for a lack of better terms, create your own GPS unit. This requires you to drive and drive and drive, and map and map and map (ie: voice, voice and voice again) until you have mapped out the voice area. This could take many weeks, to many years. And you will only know if you have done it correctly when people ask you to do that type of read again.

If people ask you to do one type of read over and over again, it’s because it’s the only read they feel you can do. You might be confounded by this, as you have done lots of other types of reads, and they sound great…to you. But if you were to honestly look at that read from a satellites point of view, you would see that it veers away from the actual destination intended.

Becoming your own director/producer is a talent few of us possess. It’s really tough to see the earth from our perspective. And while I advocate that everyone become their own director/producer, a more realistic approach is to fine tune what you can do, and represent that and ONLY that on your demo. Focus on what you are best at, and present that, a lot o that. If you are great at soft-sells, warm reads and the like, present that and only that on your demo. Don’t bother with acting, hard-sells, cartoon voices etc…just show us what your car can do, all by itself, without a navigator.

Anything else, is a reach at best, and false advertising at worst.

Jingles…the mini kind.

September 29, 2014Commercials, General, Musicannouncers, audio production, Commercial, creative radio, jingles, radio, radio account executives, radio production, radio sales, radio scripts, radio stations, script writing, targeted advertising, voice over artists, voice talentOvernight Radio

The most rewarding part of being an advertiser is the knowledge that someone, anyone knows your brand…and that someone knows your brand specifically through your efforts. There are great roadside/street-side signs familiar to Torontonian’s such as Sam The Record Man and all of the world famous distinct signs on Fremont Street in Las Vegas.

If they are impressive and make an impact with the viewer, the impressions last forever. The same is true with audio – a great spot will make a great impact on a listener. But a great jingle, along with the proper exposure it needs, will make an incredible impact. These, like iconic signs, last forever in a persons memory. I can still recall jingles from my youth today…they will probably be with me till my dying days. Jingles like the “Oscar Mayer Wieners” classic, among other local jingles are part of my psyche.

One must remember though, to be memorable, one does not need to be Beethoven…only only needs to be great at conveying a message. Jingles are an art form, that is true…but art implies a tortured soul conveying his/her inner emotions onto a canvas, music sheet or otherwise. Jingles however do not require tortured souls – as they are only conveyors of happy/funny emotions…but emotions nonetheless. They are indeed art, just not the type of implied art that so many of us picture in our minds.

The ability to a) create a memorable melody, b) match it to an efficient lyric and then c) actually create the audio with the professionalism required for such a task is no easy feat.

When I am asked about our jingles by anyone, either an outsider of the radio business, or even a new account exec/sales rep, I inevitably get pitched musical ideas they have in their minds. Some are great, and some are not. But most are just vague outlines of something they THINK sounds like a melody and something they THINK would fit into a particular type of music. These are all great things…they are the nucleus of ideas needed to get started. But after the casual musings of such things…the ideas drop away, and we are left with the actual task of taking the idea floating in the wind they provided and turn it into a solid piece of material we can use to convey they message of the company they represent.

Going beyond the initial idea is what we have been doing for years and we have become very efficient at it. All the musical years of formal training, self training and actual work experience training come into play. This is what allows us to go beyond the initial idea in the wind, and make it an actual jingle.

What we specialize in are something we call mini-melodies…essentially tiny sing-outs that give the impression of a full scale jingle, but at a small scale budget. We use our small but talented musical staff to create the lyric, the melody, the music bed and finally the vocals.

Team One creates the lyric and melody along with a description of the music bed that fits the style of the client. Team Two takes that solid idea and turns it into an actual music bed with the strong and appropriate vocals.

We can do this within just a couple of days. How?

They are just as the title implies – they are small jingles – mini-melodies. They are usually only a 3 to 5 second sing-out placed at the end of an ad…lyrics such as ‘smiths bedding, we’ve got you covered’…or ‘home sweet home, is living in a reed’s home’.

Over the years, we have produced many a jingle, but have noticed that only the sing-outs get used in any capacity. This is why we scaled down our productions to only include the mini-melodies. They are just as effective as a full 30 or 60 second (if not more) and are a fraction of the cost. For account exec’s/sales reps for radio/tv stations…we have found they they are invaluable in recruiting first-time buyers to the medium and in keeping current long-time clients happy with a creative refresher, or value-addition to their current campaign.

In October, we will be posting samples of recently done mini-melodies that you are welcome to download/show your clients as possible demo’s for them. Cost-wise, the price is lower than you imagine. And for current contracted clients, these mini-melodies are included in your package at only 3 units each…an amazing value considering the power they can wield on the field with clients.

Contact us with any questions you may have – we hope to help your sales with our mini-melodies. New demo’s for you to use are coming soon!