EPISODE 100: THE 100TH SHOW

Announcer: The Producers, featuring the most respected international talent in the world of audio production and voiceover. Radio, TV, film, and online. In-depth interviews and industry insights, putting you on the inside. This is The Producers Podcast with Ryan Dreen.

Ryan: Okay, episode 100. I don't know, somehow I think I have it put together. I have a lot of tracks, a lot of people, a lot of countries, a lot of answers, and I quite honestly probably could have got this put out 2 or 3 weeks ago, if I'm being honest. I didn't know how to do it. I really didn't know how to put this all together so that it was coherent. I think I did the best way, or at least a good way. There's probably a better way, to be honest, but whatever. I finally decided I just have to pull the trigger and get this out. I hope it's listenable. That's really the only main goal I have is that I hope this ends up being listenable. 'Cause let me tell you right out of the gate, I ended up including myself with 40 people on this show. Absolutely could have had more without question. The goal was to go to the Imaging Days in Amsterdam where I knew there'd be a lot of imaging people and simply talk to as many as I, as I could possibly do in 2 days. These are quick interviews that I did with everybody and then I've cobbled together all of the answers to the same questions right in one long string. I do come back in and reintroduce our question from time to time when I felt it was necessary. So, as far as the people go, just so you know, we'll start this off by having everybody introduce themselves and answer why they work in radio imaging. And from there, we'll have everybody come right back in and chime in with different questions. Not everybody answered every question, but we'll just have them sort of go in a string. So, I'm not gonna reintroduce everybody every time they speak. That seemed ridiculous. This isn't meant to be, you know, specific, you know, top level, all the biggest people of the industry in one place. Yeah. This is meant to be taking the pulse of the industry, seeing what we generally think about these issues. So I wasn't even gonna mention this, but there's a chance you might be thinking, well, gee whiz, he had 40 people. How could I possibly not be on this list? Believe me, I didn't snub anybody. This was just a how many people can I possibly get in one setting? And then a few people that I had already planned, they sent me the audio and of course I put put it into the show. So I think I already said it, we had 40 people from 14 countries if I'm counting correctly, obviously multiple continents. The language is English, and that's people doing me a favor because, you know, a lot of people that are on this show, I think at least half, English isn't their first language. But they all were very kind and, you know, did it in English. So, it's just very nice. Just be thinking about that, you know, be kind to people, especially for us, stupid Americans listening thinking, how can we not all be speaking? No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, cut people some slack. I can barely speak the language and it's my first and only language. So I also wanted to make mention— I'm not even going to bring up what I heard, but see if you sense a theme about— I kind of asked people, you know, money is no object, you know, finish the statement, or what would you get, or what do you, what do you do? I thought there was an interesting theme, something you're not going to see in a lot of industries. People aren't necessarily thinking the way that radio or audio people are thinking. But that one's fun, that comes at the end. I got some words to live by, as I mentioned, and then a couple of— you know what, I think I had a lot more of the whole thank you, Ryan type stuff, but I didn't put a lot of those in. I put a few in the end where it seemed like people really specifically made an extra effort to hand those to me. So, — I think that's plenty for the intro. I believe it's apropos for me to start with, especially in the last year with a major transition happening in New York City, to start with this guy. Dave Fox, VO artist and imaging consultant in Austin, Texas. It allows me to express myself on a much larger platform to a lot more people and say things that I hopefully move people to think a certain way or to be a certain way. I think that's one of the greatest gifts this job gives me. Hi, my name is George Taylor. I am the imaging director for a production service called Imager, and I'm also a producer for Wise Buddha Jingles based in London, and also a mastering engineer for a music library called No Sheep Music. Why do I work in radio imaging? Well, firstly, I love radio. I still think it's a fantastic medium, even though we have all these amazing devices at our fingertips that can give you access to content instantly. I still think that radio is a very personal medium. I do think that it's going to be around for a long time. It will probably change quite a lot, but I still love it. I still get a lot of my knowledge and get a lot of entertainment and enjoyment from radio, and it's great to be a part of it. And also, as an imaging producer, it's a creative outlet. It's an opportunity to be— to have a fun job that you enjoy, and there's always an opportunity to evolve as well. And for someone like me who gets bored easily, that's a good thing. My name is Harmen Sipkema from Polycorp Media. I'm a freelance producer and engineer and composer from the Netherlands. I work for everybody who wants me to because I have the skills and I love radio. Chris Hardkust, Radio 538, head of imaging, Holland. I used to be a presenter at the local radio station in the city I grew up, but then for some reason I needed to make like a montage for my own radio show, and I discovered that, like, hey, I think this is way more fun playing around with voices and playing around with beats. So I was like, nah, I dropped the presenter thing and I just go ahead with imaging. Stax, imaging director, Z100, New York City. I want to move people. Chris Nicholl, creative director at Imager, London. Why do I work in radio imaging? I got into radio imaging because I love the idea of crafting cool, creative, crazy sounds, you know, with a message that could connect with someone, make them laugh, cry, feel something. I first remember hearing Geoff Thomas's work in like the early 2000s and being blown away and wanting to do stuff like that. Then I discovered Jon Frost and the style of production they were doing at Nova in Australia around that time. So I wanted to write like that. It was about then— after that, it was just getting swept up working at cool stations and having awesome jobs like the one I had at Capitol. But now it's about crafting useful stuff that other people can use to make really great production and help them be awesome at their jobs. Cowboy Kyle, iHeartMedia Imaging Director, Chattanooga, Tennessee. I love the creative aspect of imaging, just being able to randomly do practically anything I want. My name is Jaka. I come from Slovenia, Ljubljana, capital city, and I'm an audio engineer, audio producer. I am fully employed by this network, radio network group. I also partly work for myself, like write music and stuff like that. Yeah, it was an accident. Yeah. I was more like a musical producer and musician. I play certain instruments, but it's hard to survive doing that in our country. So luck struck me and they offered me a place to work, and I didn't know at the beginning anything about it, but then slowly I got introduced to everything and I'm enjoying it. Dom Narrow, imaging director for Hot 97 in New York City. because I didn't want to be a doctor or a lawyer. I work in radio imaging because it's, it's honestly fun. You get to create stuff, every day, and, not a lot of people know that there are people doing this job behind the scenes, but I love it. All right, I'm David and I'm from Branded Jingles. I work there as a sound producer in Brussels. Well, actually, I work in audio imaging, radio imaging only for a couple of months. It's coincidence, but I love— yeah, well, it's really true, but I love it a lot because it's opened a lot of doors in comparison with advertising, where it's really narrow. You have, well, you do music, you do sound design, you do voiceovers, you do songs, and that's Well, it's quite a good experience and it's a lot of fun. Hi, I'm Klaas. I'm from Belgium, radio station Studio Brussels mainly, and I produce promos and jingles, everything that's non-making new logos and stuff. I do everything, just the voice editing stuff. My first job that I got was in radio and I stayed there because I like it. I stayed there because I love the radio station I work for, because Studio Brussels is really a cool radio station and I'm I connect with it very well. I do other stuff for them as well. I am a DJ for parties that they organize as well. So my job is very intertwined with everything that I do. How long have you been there? Like 12 years in total. And I'm trying to stay there as long as possible, but I'm getting older. So in like the last 5, 10 years, I will be gone, I suppose. But I will try to stick as long as I can. I am Katja Černela. I come from Radio Slovenia. It's a public national radio, and I'm working as creative sound producer. I'm in between the programming and imaging. I work in radio imaging because I think it's an important way to show what you are doing to address your audience, because as Dave Fox said, we all do the same, we all sell the same thing, but we have to do it differently in 2 glue the program together with presenters and imaging to show who we really are and to show some emotion, what we are selling, and it is extra than the others are selling. Anthony Timmers, I'm co-founder of Spine Jingles, founder of the Radio Imaging Library, and founder of the Imaging Days, and I'm from Holland. Because I just love messing around with audio, I love listening to the radio, love music. Gabriel Passajou, Extra Image in Brazil. Well, I always loved this side of the radio and branding, and really love about branding and be on the mind of the listeners and customers. Ender W. Caldwell, European representative at allaccess.com, and additionally I'm S&P voice at Dublin Sunshine 106.8, where we sound really nice like that. And I voice-track nights and weekend middays at the dance station Pulse 87 New York and 96.7 FM Las Vegas. Location? United Kingdom, although to be sure, I'm actually originally Irish. Can't you hear it? I work in radio imaging because I love it. Same reason as most people, really. Jingles always excited and interested me as a kid. Radio Nova, you know, I remember Energy 103 and Sunshine 101, the pirates in Dublin. I have a tape someplace of me singing a jingle into a tape recorder about 10, and then I had to get my sister to read the news just so I could sing the jingle at the end. Hey, it's Justin Case, Benztown, Director of Programming and Imaging in Los Angeles, California. I work in radio imaging because we have the ability to affect brands and influence the way people feel about radio stations without them even realizing that that's what we're doing. We affect change immediately in the way that people perceive their favorite radio station or a station they've never heard before, and I love that. My name is Vish. I'm an image producer based in Dubai, UAE. I was the former network imaging and branding producer for Gulf News Broadcasting, and I'm currently freelancing. Why do I work in radio imaging? I work in radio imaging because as an audio professional, it's a great combination of 2 of my favorite aspects of audio production, which is music production and post-production. And also the idea of being able to combine speech and music in order to create a brand is something that's very, very creatively satisfying. name, Jeff Schmidt, owner of Alien Imaging Sound Design and imaging producer for now Cumulus in San Francisco. Yes, I've returned. wow, why do I? Because it's the first job I've ever had where I didn't get fired. I think that's— it's like, wow, maybe I should keep doing this, and they keep paying me, so I keep showing up. Tom Cross, I work for Imaging Blueprint in London, mainly because I love audio and I love recreating audio and playing around with radio. I'm Davis Mosaru from Nairobi, Kenya. I'm freelancing with BBC East Africa. I like the creative bit of it, the way it sounds, the sound bit of it. My name is Floris Lager. I work for Brandy Jingles based in Brussels. I'm an audio producer. The things I do is post-production. I do sweepers. I also do vocal arrangements, vocal sessions, cleanup and mixing of vocals, power intros a lot. It's the best of both worlds. It's— I work with music and it's for radio, and it's, yeah, it's both a passion for me. My name is Luka. I'm from Slovenia and I am audio producer because I love the sound. Music is like my life. Since I was young, I always thought that all the sounds in the world are in one box, and when you turn over something and if you squeeze something, that button sets off. So that was like my introduction in audio, in the sound and the whole philosophy of it. I love it. Adam Burgess, company director for Imaging Blueprint. based in London. I fell into radio imaging from a viewpoint, love of music really, and being in a band, and I wanted to connect somehow with music. So after being in a radio station, that was kind of my natural progression. Hi, I'm Thomas. I'm producer at Krone Hit in Austria. Krone Hit is a commercial radio station which is nationwide in Austria. It's the only station in Austria, private commercial station in Austria, which is nationwide. This goes back to the years when I was a kid. My father was listening to all the pirate stations here in Europe from the ships in the North Sea, and so I was infected by the radio virus very early, and I was always fascinated by the jingles and And so it was only a matter of time until I was going into production. My name is Marcel. I'm working as an image producer for Mix Megapol in Sweden because I love jingles ever since I was a little tiny boy. You know, it's, it's not so unpredictable like watching TV, for instance. with sounds, you can build your own pictures, I believe. So that's one of the things that I'm working with audio instead of working with pictures. Hi, I'm Chris Stevens. I am the founder and creative director of Ignite Jingles based out of Manchester in the UK. I also run the UK's country station, Chris Country, which is on digital radio and is a result of living in Texas next 5 years? I've always been fascinated by the, the psychology of communication. I love the way that radio can be such an intimate medium, even though you can have hundreds of thousands of listeners, but each one is getting the message their own way, a little differently. And the, the power of that, I just think, is, is phenomenal, both from an entertainment perspective, also from information. And you can just do so much with it. Radio is still, I think, such powerful medium. Dave Marsh representing Washington, D.C., because there are not enough representatives there, United States, and I'm with Splat Radio Imaging because it's a constantly evolving representation of what makes radio awesome. Hey, it's AJ Traspadiermi. I'm the production manager for Dubai 92, which is a hot AC station, and its digital brands 92 Rock and 92 Smooth. I'm also the production manager for Dubai Eye 103.8, which is a news talk station. For me, the main reason why I work in radio imaging is because I'm able to play with audio for most of the day, cut up voice parts, sound effects, music, Frankenstein it all together, and make it sound unique and original. And I think that's a skill that not everyone has. There's like a very select few of us as producers that are found or hired by companies to do just that. Okay, I'm Adam Venton from the UK. I work as Senior Group Imaging Producer for UKRD Group. and also creative director for Little Monster Media. Because I love being able to mess around with music all day and just play with creative sounds, and I find it really fun. My name is René Thompson. I work in imaging as a producer, and I also compose jingles for stations in northern Jutland in Denmark, a city called Aalborg. I work for CHR format called ANR and an AC format called Radio Neues. I just love sound, I think. I always loved music since I was a child, and then I got into radio because I wanted to be on the radio, but then I figured out what was going on behind the radio station was what's more interesting than being on-air talent. So I got into Pro Tools and manipulated sound ever since. I'm Nick Schmon. I work for Antenne in Austria and TRIL, the Radio Imaging Library, because I love audio since an early child. I love— I'm fascinated by radio always. I also love music. I just can't get enough of it. My name is Steve Martin. I run the Earshot website and podcast, and I'm based in the UK. Well, Earshot, the website and the podcast, is all about celebrating the best practice in radio imaging. Promotions, marketing, and advertising. And I do that because I think it's really important that the best work gets shared to inspire other people. And as we've seen at this conference here in Haarlem in the Netherlands, there is a real appetite for people who work in the industry to improve their game, to learn from others, and to share best practice. Hi, I'm Kristin Treutsch. I'm working for, or at, the 89.0 RTL station, CHR station in Germany. Yeah, I'm from Germany because I like to create musical stuff and work with creative people. I'm Daniel Hubinet from Sweden. I'm working on MTG Radio with a CHR station called Power Hit Radio. I not only work with imaging on the station, I love the complete picture of a radio station. It's just something with making the sound of a station, creating what you think that all the listeners— when I do stuff, I want to produce things that the listeners can have a wow feeling about, and also other radio producers can look at my stations and say, hey, look at Powerhit Radio in Sweden, look what they are doing, can we do something like that? All right, I'm Steven I'm Jason Lemons from Studio Brussels in Belgium, and I'm imaging director because I like doing so, because I love it. It's what I do. It's what I like most about radio, so I just do what I love. Hi, I'm David, and I'm an audio producer for Radio Antena in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It's a CHR station, so it's pretty fun because, well, actually This is my first serious job, and I really, really like it because of all the fancy production. I'm a musician as well, but I believe radio and especially imaging allows me to show a lot of creative work in short periods of time, like short elements, and you can show all different fancy production stuff. My name is Kelly, Kelly, Kelly Doherty. I'm the Vice President of Imaging for iHeartMedia, and I'm located in Los Angeles. Home. Where do you see the radio imaging industry heading or trending? Well, there are 2 options. One is that we don't provide a training ground for imaging and voiceover people, and it becomes a put this VO in this shell rather than teaching them how to produce the shell. The other is actually making the effort to be there for the people who really are trying to find their first step into the imaging or voiceover world and help them. And I absolutely believe that there are so many people out there that could be the next imaging and voiceover stars in the industry, but they just don't know where their next step is. And some of them are afraid to reach out to a lot of the imaging people you have here on your show, Ryan. They don't want to bother or whatever. The funniest thing was I used to hound Frost when I was just getting into radio imaging. And then I would call him up and I'd bug him and he would tell me to send him my demo. So then I would send him my demo and then I would call him the next week and say, did you listen to it? And he's— and he'd say, well, if it was any good, I would've remembered it. So try it again. And by the way, this time put it on a longer cassette. You know, those 100-minute cassette tapes. So he could erase my demo and put his own stuff on there. But I kept hounding him, and that's where I first learned how— I first learned to get my foot in the door. It depends on if we're going to train people to follow in our footsteps, and if companies are going to step up and have Training opportunities for voiceover and imaging people within their own company or if they're not? And I guess it's all up to us what we do individually, but it all depends on the training ground as to where the radio imaging industry is heading. That's a huge question to answer. If you compare Sweden with the rest of the world, we in Sweden Sweden need to be more focused on imaging. We have some people, but we don't have enough people, and that makes us— So Sweden actually may not have as many people focusing on imaging as the United States or Germany or— Exactly. And the result of that is that you have less time to do as much. So you compare with the quality just to like Payout productions to the PD. I think it's going more digital, you know that, and I think audio exists, will exist, because audio is a good way to bring messages on the listeners. Again, right now we're just talking about the future of radio imaging, and where do you think we're headed? I think, and I see this at the event here, that the standard of radio imaging in production terms is at an all-time high, and the fusion between radio production and music composition is closer than ever. You're seeing imagers who are moving into music production, and you're seeing composers who are coming into radio production. So there's a bit of flow there. I think the real challenge that we have in this industry as imaging professionals is to demonstrate the real value of this work to the brands. There isn't a lot of research out there into the power of radio jingles, radio imaging on the stations. And increasingly, radio is, is part of bigger multi-platform multimedia groups. And these specific, these, these specific disciplines like radio imaging are real specialisms. And we're going to have to demonstrate the value of the work that imagers do on stations to the management and senior management and brand owners. Because in a competitive set that now includes music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, it's, it's the production, it's the personality, it's the sense of place, and it's the imaging that helps to convey brand value and make that emotional connection with the listener. But we've got to get the evidence that that is the case. The sound is getting better, I think. And it needs to be more musical. I think imaging will be more musical than it was before, and maybe a better flow on the station. Everything flows, and maybe imaging one day will be just songs, like really discreet, you won't even notice it's on the song. So it's kind of like power intros today, but they're a little bit overproduced, I think. Maybe just really to put your stuff into the song so it's barely even noticeable. Well, I work in-house with UKRD, but we're not actually in a station, so we're kind of like a mini production house, particularly for our group, which is great. I mean, it's really creative environment because there's only— there's like 8 of us in the building, 6 producers. But I think as far as production goes, like, I think location's become less of an issue. The amount of guys I've seen here like walking around with their laptops, even working while they're here, I think maybe, you know, remote working, maybe even remote collaboration between producers would be really cool because it happens in music, so why not in imaging? I think the radio imaging industry is gonna get a lot smaller, and that's just based on the fact that a lot of companies are combining markets together and having a one guy image multiple stations as opposed to back in the day when one guy would image one station in each market. And I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, I just think it's gonna be a lot more competitive coming in the coming years. As we've seen here at the Imaging Days, brands are more and more important, and that doesn't just stick to radio. You know, a lot of radio stations have now got their own TV channels or doing a lot more digital content, interactive content online. I think what's really interesting is there'll be more and more brands. Radio will be a big part of that, and that means from our perspective, the imaging, the branding, that stamp of authentication and cutting through such a crowded market will be more important than ever. So I think while we'll probably see our own jobs evolving to include these different mediums in there, I think the root of what we do which is flying the flag for great brands, will be more important than ever. I think it will still be around because you can listen to radio while you are doing other things. It's unlike TV where you have to sit and concentrate watching it, but radio, it keeps you company. There's going to be more and more choice, I think. It's going to be about what's the best brand that's going to stand out. So now we've got Internet radio, satellite radio, FM radio, you're just going to get more and more options to choose on all your devices. So the stronger brands are the ones that stand out and have the most share, but each audience is— each brand is going to struggle to keep a massive share because audiences are going to have more and more choice on demand. I love the radio imaging. For me, it's 2 things. It's mostly the creativity, but it's also the immediacy. I can have an idea at 10 AM Send a script out, get it produced, have it on the air, and hear it actually coming through the radio, through the speakers, going out publicly at 1 in the afternoon. And that to me is just like, has that immediate feedback of like, I did something. Where do you see the radio imaging industry heading? A lot of it is being outsourced from where I'm sitting right now, at least from what I'm looking at happening around the world. There's so many new production houses that are doing custom imaging for a ton of radio stations around the world, so a lot of it is being outsourced. I don't see in the future that there will be a position for an in-station image producer, but having said that, it's not a bad thing that it's being outsourced. It just means that someone with the necessary skills to image or brand a radio station would effectively be working at a production house. I think that with the consolidation of radio, we're going to continue to see companies like Benztown and, and others that are out there continue to thrive in the ability to help small market stations, and large market stations for that matter, who don't have a budget or a great imaging person in-house. I really think and would hope that the trend would be towards more education in the music production and the way that we produce and provide great imaging to radio stations. I think that that is the way to continue to drive value to the radio stations, especially if you're a local producer and have a skill set of being able to produce multiple genres, multiple different types of radio stations with different presentations, all, you know, while wearing the same hat. So I think that there will be some more consolidation, but hopefully some growth in the knowledge base because of that. People can always fight back on consolidation with the knowledge and the tools that they bring to the table. What I'm seeing is a lot of power-branded intros and less creative promos. Maybe that was just imaging days, but I think radio is changing. Digital apps, streaming, podcasting, brand-focused. Therefore, how it identifies itself with its target listener needs to change. Therefore, I think more innovation in imaging is needed. Step outside the box, lads. If you've always used one style or accent VO, then why not think about something different? For example, me. Or somebody else? It's an interesting question. I come from an area where, from the radio station where everything is just starting on such a high level, but I think that it will be important to go back to people because everything is so— there's no dynamic range also in accessing people and that Audience does no longer have the feeling that the radio is addressing this guy in particular. They have the feeling they're just part of the mass which the radio is accessing. And I think that radio imaging has a big responsibility to go back to one person. Very difficult question because you see how fast it's changing now. But Steven was on the panel just before, he I think it will be more music-based, less jingle-based. I think it will be more everything integrated, but you just don't know because you also don't know where the music is going. It's really evolving a lot, and that's also what makes it really interesting to keep on doing it because you always have to reinvent yourself to stay in the job. Otherwise, there is a new kid who's coming up to take your job. But you just don't know. You only see like a few months ahead, actually. I see the radio imaging industry being just fine well into the future. There's a lot of young talented producers from all around the world that, you know, own a computer or a tablet or whatever they got now in their room that doesn't cost a lot of money, and they're able to start creating and practicing and coming up with cool stuff that, you know, 20 years ago a lot of people couldn't afford to do that in their bedroom. So I think the industry is going to be just fine with lots of young talent. Hard to say, really hard to say. Really, maybe I haven't asked myself that yet, so it's hard for me to answer this. But I think that especially CHR is very musical. music-driven, so whatever the trend goes, the image follows, sort of, I would say. For more traditional radio stations, I think they will keep it more conservative and stay on the sure path, you know, not so much experiment. Yeah, I think the days of how many plugins and effects you can throw at something to make it sound cool, that's disappearing. I think we're on the cusp of sort of returning to the root of what we should have always been doing, which is making people feel a message. Who cares how many lasers and Auto-Tune settings you can use to do it? That stuff's useful, but I think it's about making sure that you actually connect with the listener. You want to elicit and exhibit the listener's emotion right back at them. You want to engage to get a reaction. So I think there'll be a bigger emphasis on writing. But, you know, making sure it still sounds awesome. Honestly, I really wouldn't say. I just delivered 2 weeks ago a jingle package at Radio 538. We launched a new package together with Buddha. And if I see how we produce this package and the way we process voices and the way we make our beats now, comparing to, let's say, the previous package of 2 years ago, That's already like way different than we used to do it. So honestly, I think within like 2 to 3 years there will be like a massive turn at imaging already. So honestly, I really can't say. Well, from a historical point of view, sound has been evolving. If you look at music, more and more intervals have become accepted and the acceptance of intervals has been following the overtone structure of natural sound. So accepted notes have been coming closer and closer together. We now have reached a point that they're so close that noise is very accepted sound in both music and, of course, imaging. It's really difficult to talk about the future. No one knows what the future will bring, but if you follow this line— Yeah. more noise, and we will as humans evolve along that line and learn to appreciate the difference between different sounds, different types of noises, stuff like that. That's what I believe from if you extrapolate history. Where do I see radio imaging heading or trending? I think things are going to get more creative. I think the quality is going to get better because I think there's a lot of competition out there now. There's a lot of outstanding producers in the world, and the great thing is when you have outstanding people is they lead you to up your game. And there's a lot of people out there who are just incredibly good these days. And so I do think things are going to get better on that front. I do think there'll be less jobs. There seems to be less and less money in the industry, or it's getting spent in different areas. so I think there'll be more production services like Imager who will offer, high-quality imaging for, say, less than it would cost to have a world-class producer at your station. so I do think that things may go further in that direction. I'd say we've gone quite far in that direction already, but I think things will go even further. So next, and I will get to the positive, I figured I would take a quick peek at what it is as radio imaging producers or people in this business that we could work on. How can we better ourselves? Don't lose your enthusiasm. That's— I've been saying for years that European radio has, has really started to outpace the US in terms of quality of production and what they do and the depth of things that they go to to get what they need on the air. And American radio is kind of laid back. It used to be Europe came to America to find out how to do radio. Now it's the other way around. Americans are starting to come to Europe to find out how to do radio right. And, you know, and I think that the biggest component there is enthusiasm. If you maintain your enthusiasm for what you're doing, don't make it into a 9-to-5 Love it. And you will, you know, if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. What do we as imaging professionals need to work on? Well, I mean, I guess it depends really. For me personally, I'd say quality. I wouldn't buy a record, or I wouldn't put a record on my station if I didn't think it was well produced. And I think there's a lot of things in radio that is very badly produced. And I mean, In that the idea is probably quite clichéd in the first place, or that it's very insular. It's very radio imaging speak. You know, this is— you are listening to— this is— and now, you know, all this sort of stuff that you would never say normally. And I think that that stuff, it sounds a certain way. And I think the quality of that stuff is just shocking from a creative point of view. But also, From a, from an audio point of view as well, sonically, I think there's a lot of stuff that makes it on that is, it's just badly put together. And if you are on a music station and you want to cut through, I feel like the quality needs to match the music. So yeah, I'd say that. To me, radio is about, not only about connecting to people and satisfying what people expect, but also about educating people and moving to the edge and a little bit over it. And I think you can educate people more. What can we improve on as an industry as a whole? That's a broad question. I think you can always be improving, so not to water that response down, I think we could play less commercials. There's a billion things. I'll internalize that and say what I think I can do better. Try to make sure that there's always some kind of an emotional connection and know that every piece is going to move someone, to make them feel or laugh or even make them angry, just something. And I think if there's always that, we're probably always going to be winning. What do we as imaging pros need to work on? Time travel. I think it'd be great if we could all go back, you know, and make the great idea we had after we'd finished the promo. Make more time for the last-minute projects because everyone has the 5 PM, where's my sweepers for the weekend email or brief. Maybe with time travel we could all get our weekends back, our evenings, all of that sort of stuff. But I actually think, in all seriousness, we need to work on getting our bosses to understand the real importance of high-quality, well-thought-out, and well-programmed imaging, how that connects and makes a difference to the listener experience. I mean, I think that we could be shorter with our imaging for sure. I mean, there is some long pieces out there that shouldn't be running in between songs. As imaging pros, I think we need to not think we're imaging pros, if that makes sense. At the end of the day, our work isn't speaking to other imaging pros. It's speaking to regular people with regular jobs and regular lives and Communicating effectively to those people is, I think, something that we need to work on and not forget that. I think when you listen to all the sessions this year, but also the previous years, the thing you should figure out is who you are as a radio station, because I still think there's a lot of people just like to play and cut and paste and freak the hell out of the image because it's like going to be such a great thing, but it doesn't have the reflection of your radio station. So if I must say one thing, I would say try and take a look at yourself one more time as a radio station and see if it's giving that mirror feeling of the radio station into your imaging. As imaging pros, I really think that it's great to work on diversity. And being able to produce various formats of imaging effectively. And not just being able to throw a music bed under a VO, but really being able to understand how to use the music in that genre and have it be impactful and tailor those songs and the lyrics and clips and all of those different types of things to the message of the promo. Being versatile in today's imaging world, I think, is really key. If you can produce a country promo with as much effectiveness as you can a CHR promo, or a rock promo for that matter, you're gonna be indispensable and always, always have a job. What do we need to work on? One of the key things that I believe we need to work on is to be able to try and find a better way to differentiate CHR imaging. If we just go through any playlist on SoundCloud, whether it's best radio imaging or radio imaging and production, You will find that after a few minutes of listening to maybe 2 or 3 different pieces, that there seems to be something very standard about the kind of CHR imaging that's coming out. It almost sounds like you're listening to the same radio station over and over again, even though they might be completely different from one another and from different sources even. So one thing we definitely need to work on is trying to find a better benchmark, I think, with CHR imaging particularly. And also, just to make it clear, I'm just as guilty. The topic of creativity was here really on the pedestal because you can always know exactly what each plugin does, but it will be in those small things that will decide which producer is better. And that's creativity, how you use the delay, gated reverb, reverse reverb, that stuff, you know. Honestly, It's something that I don't come across too much anymore, but you know, you do get station politics, and certainly having taken a backseat from that and forming a company with Tom, we don't get really too involved in that. And I think that's quite refreshing, because I think having spoken to a lot of people at this event, it's something that crops up again and again. So yeah, I guess that's a positive. The guys who are doing programming, music director, production, I think here, a lot of the people who have represented their companies today are in a unique position where they may have 2 guys who do the imaging for one station, possibly 3 guys who do it for an entire group. Here in the United— In the United States, we see a trend going almost in the opposite direction, where you're taking what an imager is doing and you are diluting that. Because you're putting more stations, you're putting more responsibilities, and giving fewer resources. So I would like to see at least an appreciation in the United States from— and there is a lot of appreciation from program directors who really want the sound to shine through, and they're looking at creating an entire brand. I think sound, the technical side of sound, there's a lot of people in imaging today, I think, who doesn't really know sound too well. You could be better at understanding how to EQ right, how to compress right, not over-EQ, not over-compress, and make everything sit really well in a mix, and it will come out the radio station sounding better. I think people sometimes use too much of it. They have like too much different imaging. I used to replace morning show and I played the same jingle every day at the same hour. No one ever heard, but it's like, it works. I had like 3 cuts that I used. That was all. Some people use like, I think 20, 25, 30 things. Just use less. What do we as imaging pros need to work on? One is inspiring the next phase of imaging, of creative imagers and voiceover people. And the next Well, just as important is to inspire our bosses to lift up the imaging to a higher importance in their priorities. There's so much going on, and every boss now has regional duties or VP duties or SVPP duties or RSVP duties. There's so many duties. But We always need to stress the importance of imaging, that it's on the air 24/7. Some jocks are only on the air for 4 or 5 hours a day. Imaging is 24/7. And I feel like in some parts, imaging has kind of gone down the totem pole. And it's up to us as imaging professionals to not only encourage the next wave of imaging people, Right. It's also our job to inspire our bosses and brainstorm with them and get them a little bit more involved in the process. What could be better about what we do? I think honestly, at least in the States, I think States, the United States radio is very PPM-centric and that has a lot of people really, really afraid. So I would love for there to be less fear-based approaches to what we do. And of course, as I mentioned, and as we'll hear pretty clearly, some of the things that we actually do well, and there's a lot of them, but radio imaging producers are very skilled in a lot of arenas. And here are some of the reasons people think that is true. It kind of gives the radio an image. Everyone knows the radio, I think, because of the imaging. Music changes, especially with CHR format, but the imaging is kind of the thing that people connect with the name, with the brand of the radio. Maybe what's so great about it is that people, like, don't even realize it's there, but that it's, like, so important to, to keep people listening that it's like, it's like science that no one really knows it's there. What's great about radio imaging is that you can get creative with music. You can create actually new stuff out of it, which sounds exciting to me. Yeah, it's basically very close to music production, I would say, because you create kind of new songs almost out of it, and that's what I like about it. Well, I think it's about the energy you can put into the station, the way it sounds. You can make a unique sound for your station and kind of make everybody come together around a certain sound of the feel of the station, because nowadays everybody basically plays the same music. So what, what can be different is the energy and the feel you put into it, and that's, I think, the most important job we have. It's like icing on the cake. Everybody loves cake, but it's better when it's got the sweet stuff on top. And not only can you do that, but if you're mastering masterful, you can put cool messages on top. Happy birthday, happy retirement, whatever it is. So it's up to you as an artist to put that message and make it— make something that everybody's happy about when they hear it. I have to speak for Sweden then. I think we have a good tradition in Sweden with many music— really great talented music producers. I think that that has developed into radio producing as well. So the musicality of radio imaging? Musicality. We have Max Martin, for instance, and others, really talented producers in the music segment. So, and I think that we have gained a lot from that segment into the media, the radio. So we as imaging professionals, I would say we network really, really well. And it's necessary to move forward, to let other people know what you're doing. But also, there's just this great creative camaraderie between imaging people, whether it's exchanging ideas, copy, sweeper plugins, what gear are you using, what new voiceover people have you found, stuff like that. I think imaging professionals do really, really well with that. I think the almost the intimacy of it, The fact that things can be turned around very quickly, you can go from the creation of an idea to on-air if it's allowed to very, very quickly. And I think that's quite an exciting prospect. What do we do well? Apart from the obvious, which is audio, one of the things that I think we do well, we create brand personalities better than most marketing people I know. I've found in my experience that translating an existing brand into audio Not necessarily easy, but when it does come out right, it more often than not comes out better than what the actual brand itself looks like. Alain Rikman, I work at VRT Radio in Brussels. I'm the head of our own radio imaging team. Something good is that it defines the brand we are working with. You manage a team, so you work with multiple people that produce radio imaging. What is a good quality in a radio imaging producer? It depends on the job. We have 2 profiles in our team, the musical technical guys and the other guys who are more creative with writing and that kind of things. So a good thing, They have to be musical, there are some DJs also, and they have to be creative. I think it's fast, it makes the radio station stand out because it gives you the right brand, if you do it in the correct way, it gives the right branding of the radio station. I always say good jingles or good imaging would make your business card readable. What do we as imaging professionals do well? Communicate. I would like to think or hope that is our job, and I think people in these positions are able to communicate in a very creative, captivating way that I don't believe everyone can do. I mean, I think we're great at painting pictures for our listeners. I don't think that you need to just tell people about the moment. I think that You need to capture it. What do we do as imaging professionals well? So I reckon we pay it forward really well. I've never met or emailed someone that doesn't want to help out and share ideas, tips, and tricks. I think everyone's had a leg up into the industry. You know, we've all had that help, and so we're all prepared to do the same for others. I think that's really cool. I think you get a chance to be intimate with someone for a short period of time. while they're enjoying the things that make them feel passionate, and that's really a privilege. I love sound, I love music, and if you want to tell people what you're about, then that's the best way. I think from a psychological point of view, audio is an excellent way to be part of your auditive habitat. You can make people feel at home, feel comfortable, Be comfortable with what they know and build trust, build your brand, build your image as a station or as a brand. As imaging professionals, I think there are a few things that we do well. We do well on turnaround time, right? We have been kind of— we've been trained to turn things around right away. And I think that one thing that we do well is react. We are able to We are able to put promos on the air and have immediate reaction, immediate local reaction to events that happen in our communities. We are able to respond and let the people know that this is who we are, this is what we do, this is what these radio stations mean to us by the fact that we're able to provide and turn around audio that will impact and touch someone's life at the blink of an eye. We are very good at— Yeah. being local and providing content for our local markets that's relevant to the listener and the brand of that radio station. What do we as imaging professionals do well? I think we communicate well. We really have like one job to do, and that is to communicate a message. And I think if you are incapable of doing that, you probably won't stay in the job very long. So I think communicating is something we're very good at. And then there's obviously varying degrees of how good you are at that. I think if you're good at having a conversation in life, or you're good at making people laugh or feeling something, then you might be able to find a way to get that across in your imaging. And so I think communication is something we do very well as a profession. If we're good at what we're doing, if we're doing it right, we really do touch people, and we can touch people in a very significant way that is helpful, that helps them. You know, when I try to sell somebody on buying a pair of sneakers, I want to make sure that it's a pair of sneakers that I would like to have, or it's a— you know, I don't want to just sell things for the sake of selling them. I really want to do things the right way. So I mentioned in the intro that I wanted to talk a little tech, and let's just put it simply, an audio tool you can't live without. That could be a DAW, could be a plugin, could be a piece of hardware, could be anything. These will kind of fly by. Some of them are a little more explanatory, but I left it wide open for everybody. Well, personally, my main DAW is Cubase, and at the moment my favorite plugin would be BBE Sonic Maximizer. I use it on every mix at the moment. I think it adds that special spark. We call it spark. Depends a little bit on the master bus and And very often on vocal bus as well to gain the certain high frequencies to pierce through the sound. iD Mixing Key. I actually use TrueVerb a lot. Love this reverse reverbing. Just, yeah, just swooshing in. It's just so nice and clean. Mostly, yeah, lately I work in Reaper. I love it because it's open, everything can be set up. Actually, plugins are the most common that were mentioned here, except H-Delay and H-Verb, but I don't use that. I use FabFilter for delays mostly, and R-Verb. I think it's called R-Verb, yeah. Like many people, I love Waves, I love Soundtoys. I think, you know, the plugin I find myself using probably more than any other, on more channels than any other, is H-Delay. It's simple, it's straightforward, but it always does the job. I use what's in the box of Pro Tools a lot, so kind of like EQ3, love the L2. I use the C4 quite a lot as well because I don't have a huge amount of mastering plugins, so as a multiband on the master, that's pretty useful. But I love FX tricks, so Sugarbites FX tricks when it comes to doing beat mixes or anything rhythmic. Just all in one box, it's great. I know this is pretty basic, but H-Delay from Waves is one of my must-have plugins. It's easy to use, it counts the BPMs from the host, or you can put it manually. You can put a filter on it, it's just great. But I do hear that FabFilter makes some amazing plugins as well. I haven't tried any of them, but one day I do hope to do that. My go-to plugin is what my producers' go-to plugins are, because as Splat has grown, as our business has transitioned, it's taken me out of the studio and it's putting me more in the creative role overseeing everything. So almost as creative direction and business development. So I rely on the guys who were contributors, who were the producers of Splat, and, you know, they stay current with everything that's being introduced on the market, but also not letting the effects and the plugins get in the way of creating really solid imaging. Because I think it's the ideas and it's the content and it's the writing behind really great imaging, and then the plugins are just the sweetener. Well, first of all, we work with Nuendo, and I'm— I see that as actually the best DAW there is for audio production. I know, I know not a lot of people use that, but I think everybody could be convinced of the— that that is one of the best. It's, it's really better than Pro Tools. Plugin I really enjoy using is Guitar Rig, also on voice, because you have so much options. Yeah, that's really cool for post-production, for processing. Must-have audio tool. I have 500 plugins and I need all of them. Okay, I'm just kidding. If I had to pick one, it would hands down be the Waves L1 Limiter. There isn't a single session that I can think of where there hasn't been at least one instance of the Waves L1 Limiter across the session. So just by virtue of the fact that I've used it on practically every single thing I've produced, it would have to be the Waves L1 Limiter. The L1 Ultra Maximizer. Well, I know, very predictable, very basic, but in my defense, Dave Fox even endorsed my usage of it personally from the pulpit at the Imaging Days. So there, that's it. It's a do-all piece that can make things sound great in a flash. I'm use, I'm use Reaper, Reaper DAW, and now I can't live without Wave plugins. I forget all of them. Yeah, Wavetune, now it's really useful. If I would be a commercial sales guy now, I would say Spine Gray. We just launched it at the Imaging Days, but I'm not gonna do that. No, my favorite plugin is still, I think, the OneUp series from Waves. I just love them all because I'm You know, it's so easy. It's weird, the Spine Cray is awfully similar. It's also a one-knob. Yeah, but the original one was like a plug-in with like 50 knobs and really complicated and took a lot of time. So the creator of the original one, we asked him to create exactly the same thing on the one knob and he did the job. Yeah, it looks great. EQ, but there's a lot to learn. Yes, it's, it's like every day something new and you are never done with it, and every day you can screw something up. I, yeah, just grid, doing as much as possible in the grid so that you can chop up your voices even in promos, try to make normal spoken vocal almost rap to the beat that you're using. That's something that I really like to do. I will say a C6 from Waves. I think I could do anything with a C6 except reverbs and delays, but everything from, well, EQ, compression, everything. You can compress or expand per band. and you have 2 bands that are separate when you— well, it's an amazing tool. Apart from my Mac Pro computer, I would have to say my must-have audio tool is my UAD Apollo Quad. It's just an amazing interface, and even stock with the plugins that it comes with are great, not to mention their whole line of plugins, which you'd have to purchase, but Really a great investment and a great interface, and owned it for about 4 years now and never looked back. I, for DAW, I use many of them. I even rewire them together sometimes. It's more like, for me, it's more of a question. I needed something to be done, which tool is gonna be the most appropriate for that? So, but basically, if I— What about Radio imaging? Yeah, radio imaging, for example, if I'm doing some musical stuff like combining, gluing songs together, I'm going to go for Ableton. If I'm going to go for, I don't know, a lot of effects on short elements like sweepers, maybe I'll use Reaper. Then Cubase is for me the all-rounder because it's something that is sort of similar to Pro Tools, but also more agile, like, I don't know, Ableton maybe, or something else. You know, I absolutely love iZotope's Nectar 2. Love that plugin. Must-have plugin or audio tool? A decent frequency analyzer. Who cares how many other plugins you've got if you don't know how to use them? And a frequency analyzer can be a great way to figure out what plugins you need for what jobs. There's a really great multiband compressor by iZotope that comes with Adobe Audition, And I'm actually trying to use it less because it can crunch your music up a bit, but it's really easy to use. Basically, the basics for me are the API equalizer, L2 limiter. I hate the L3 because I think I use my L2 on the master, and I think the L3 is adding high end and boosting them, and I don't think you need to do that on your limiter. So basically, just L2, API, blah blah blah blah blah. SSL compressor for my vocals, and then the Freak plugins. Half a year ago, I just reopened after years and years the Phase Mistress. It's like a high rotation plugin for me now, and the FxTricks. I work in Pro Tools HD. My favorite plugins are, at this moment, I use a lot of Slate plugins. Yeah, it's just good, and it's affordable, it's reliable, and And it just does the job without artifacts, and it really colors your sound the way you want it, no effort. Must-have plugin or audio tool? Honestly, you know, all the plugins out there are fantastic. I use the CLA Effects quite a bit. I use the JJP package quite a bit. Frankly, one of the things I can't live without is my Logitech little wireless mouse here with the rolling scrolly ball. I like live and die by the scrolly ball. I hate the Apple Magic Mouse, so I don't know, sue me. And obviously you need a DAW of your choice. Duh. Plugin, definitely Reactor by Native Instruments. You can do everything with it, and I mean everything. It could be the only plugin I had on my computer. It is just simply the fucking tits. It's really good. You can do effects in there, you know, reverb, distortion, delay, crazy stuff. But it's also got synthesizers and it's just, it is literally endless possibilities. So I'd say Reactor by Native Instruments. Well, Pro Tools without question. I've tried them all. I really have. I really tried all of them. I have Audition on my system, I used to have Logic, I used to have Solid State, I used to have all of them. But Pro Tools, far and away, to my way of thinking, just gives you so much flexibility and so much range of motion and emotion. I love that. The one go-to, if I had to say a plugin, oddly, it's one of the old ones. It's the L-1 Ultra Maximizer. That is still one of the best sounding limiters on the planet. It's a clipping limiter, but on the human voice, who cares? And now here's that section, you know, money is no object, and finish the statement. I had some interesting answers. Hopefully, you know, these are very— these are all, all over the map here, but again, just keep in mind, money is no object. The best imaging studio there is. Yeah, top-end shit, everything. Yeah. Oh, a new electrical car. Yeah. I would get— good question. Well, the studio of my dreams. Best of everything. Money is no object, I would get— You guys in one room and to brainstorm without limits. with all the technical access for my radio. Radio jingles. Yeah, radio jingles, why not? Yeah, all the jingles. Well, I saw the new studio of Deadmau5. That was— I want that. More holidays, because I love what I do and I wouldn't want to give it up. And, you know, Few people work in radio purely for the money, but I think we're all quite bad at the work-life balance thing, and I'd like to balance that out a little more. Great. Out of radio, if that was true? Well, happiness in life. Power intros. All of them. Every single song that we play, I make a power intro of it. Anytime. I would get an API 2500. If I— so, so like everything would be possible, money would be no option. I would say at this point in my life, I would say the right medicine for my mother. Again, that was Anthony Timmers there, and I had, not that I forgot that his mother was going through some health issues, but it was the end of a long couple of days. I threw that question at him and he hit me with that one, and it might have got a little dusty in the room there, and we weren't even in a room. but just real quick, all of my most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Anthony and his family, especially his mother, obviously. so moving on from there, somebody had brought this up to me as we were talking, so I only asked a few people. There's some fun answers though, so I thought I'd throw them in here near the end. simply put, I'll get to it. Words to live by. Words to live by. It takes time to make things. You can never rush through things that are like— when you focus on doing things that are really important, it always takes time. Be awesome, have fun. Words to live by. That's a good one. I would say one life, just enjoy as much as You can. That's my motto. Words to live by. Confidence, authenticity, connection with the audience. Work hard and, within reason, break the rules. Words to live by. Yes, no matter what time it is, it's always now. Great. Always learning, always trying new things and wanting to do something new. I think you make the best of every moment you have. Don't overthink it. Always do what you like and always be yourself. Words to live by. Don't eat the yellow snow. I've got to say both a big congratulations on your 100th episode, and I've also got to say thank you. Back in 2009, when I first started off in radio here in Dubai, I had absolutely nothing as far as any resources of learning were concerned except for ryanontheradio.com and The Producers Podcast. Your podcast, which you've been doing featuring some incredibly talented top producers from around the world, has been very, very inspiring for someone like me sitting here in Dubai trying to learn new things. And there was enough number of times where I felt like I needed some amount of inspiration, and I actually did turn to listening to the podcast that you had, you know, randomly selecting a producer that you were featuring and just listening to the work that they were doing. So very inspiring stuff for someone first starting out, and it still works. It still works for me as well. So thank you for the phenomenal work that you've done. I'm really glad for that day where you decided that you were going to pay it forward and do this podcast. And thank you so much for doing this. And of course, big congratulations, man, and hope to speak to you soon. Cheers. Ryan, man, you rock, dude. Your podcast has, has, has continued to drive the culture of, of radio imaging forward, and, and for that, we We all thank you and appreciate what you do for us, man. Congratulations on 100 episodes. Hey, it's Steve Stone, voiceovers located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ryan, congrats on 100 shows. Holy smokes. When do you have time for a life? Ah, you don't have time for a life. You work in radio.

Ryan: Thank you for letting me be part of this. This is exciting. Let me close it up. I, you know, I'm, I'm not stopping the podcast. This isn't, any kind of a goodbye. It was a great time. I hope it was listenable. At the end of the day, I put— so you know what, let me do a quick count again. I put it in the intro, but that was like 2 hours ago in my time. I think 30, including me, 40 people on this episode. And I know we went back and forth. We bounced from, you know, continent to continent, country to country, language to language. Although again, I can't thank everyone enough for Staying in English for me, really. next time I'll do this, I'll just have everybody answer in their own native language, and then, you know, good luck with it. No, I don't have much more to say to end this. I keep— I plan to make these episodes bigger and better. I want to feature the best talent. I want to feature some great young talent. I want to help move the industry forward. We heard a whole lot though, that I'll let you digest and you can run with as you please, but a whole lot about what is good A few things we can certainly work on. You got some good notes on tools you might go out and investigate. The big piece of advice, or the big thing that everybody says, at the end of the day, it's not really the digital stuff you use, it's not the tools, it's not the DAW, it's not the plugins, it's not a Mac or a PC, and it's really not where you are. It's simply what you do, what you want to do. You are what will make your work good. And as long as you stay creative, keep your mind open, I think anybody can really excel in this industry. And I'm telling you, I'm involved in a number of other industries. There's nothing like this. The people, the way that they get along, the severe lack of egos, everything about this is a lot better than most, I don't know, other arenas that I'm involved in. So it's very exciting. So anyway, that'll do it. Thank you so much for checking it out. As always, I will simply leave you with a heartfelt thank you and bye.

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