"Kat Jackson on Majic"
"Kat Jackson sitting in for Chuck Collier on Majic"
"Majic radio and Small Faces from 1967, two years before Rod Stewart joined the group."
"You can email me your request for the lunchtime diner. Here's Carly Simon on Majic"
"Elton John just celebrated his 60th Birthday, Oprah was there. This is Daniel, on Majic".....


"the owner of the tavern where the Kinks used to play want to turn it into a restaurant. Ray Davies and his brother want him to keep it as it was when they played there. I hope they win. Lola is our song of the day,log on and earn points at majic."

This is major market radio?!?!?

Anyone learn anything?
did you find this post entertaining, interesting, Compelling? It wan't any better hearing it!

So in that hour I heard some good tunes, found out that Chuck Collier wasn't doing his show, Rod Stewart didn't sing on Itchykoo Park, and Oprah, apparently, was the only known celebrity at Elton's birthday, and some guy in England wants to make a restaurant out of and old club......

No offense meant to VTERS who put some thought and effort into doing a SHOW, but the above example is all to common, it SUCKS, and any company practicing this brand of radio should be ashamed to put out a product like this in ANY market. Safe and sane, boring and bland, and every reason to put on the ipod or cd and forgo this lack of interesting content.

NEWS FLASH. They can't hear the commercial if they are not listening. PEOPLE WANT MORE FROM THEIR RADIO THAN THE MOST FUN MUSIC. They can get that from other sources. You can't give me more music than I can get from a CD or IPOD... Your between the music has to be your VALUE ADDED!

But, I must be wrong. There is too much of the above. Then again, I'm not the one with flat or declining revenues, and a dwindling listener base.

Out of curiosity Roger, just because this is a repeat complaint of yours...what is your idea for a good, compelling break?

You should write one down here for us. In fact, everyone should throw their hat in the ring. Since this board complains about the lack of creativity in radio so much, we should all strive to show those anonymous eyeballs what they're missing!

Who's to say this jock was voicetracked? I've heard plenty of live jocks, in all sized markets, do breaks just like those. They're the jocks who surf the net, or talk to the receptionist, or read the comics during songs...then throw their headphones on with seconds to spare and do a quick down and dirty break off the top of their head.

Voicetracking doesn't mean bad radio. Bad content, live or memorex, is bad radio.

I will say this, the best bloopers I've heard over the years have been on live radio (some in the production room while voicing a spot). Anyone have any airchecks of voice tracked bloopers (ie. a jock voice tracks, makes a big mistake & it goes on the air)?

Here's a problem with voice tracking-"Boy there's quite a storm out there tonight."

Problem was is there was no storm. The Voice Trak was based on the weather report that was suppose to happen.

Traffic is just fine on 205. Well then why are we all at a dead stand still?

This is where voice trak fails, but it appears as if nearly all stations are racing to the bottom, except during rush hour.

Advertising to be heard must be done during rush hour as station management appears to not care what they put on the air the rest of the day.

what is your idea for a good, compelling break?

Obviously every break can't be a Jay Leno Monologue, and yes, there are things that need doing and saying. but in the above example, this is the first hour... no transition from morn show.
It was lifeless.

A good break? Connect with me on some level. make me laugh, make me think, make me want to hear more, make me smile, What's going on? Why should I be there? Say something that makes me pay attention so I don't miss the next thing you say. If your facts are wrong, and you are VTing, all I can do is leave a message on the "FUN PHONE", or call the receptionist. No immediacy!

What I find a good break, you might think sucks, but I tried to do something unexpected at least once an hour... again, not EVERY BREAK... I read my liners, teased the contest, the remote, the weather... but maybe I threw in a couple of appropriate drops at the right time, Aired caller 11 when the prize was going to caller 12, just to get the reaction...... Sure not everyones cup of tea, but I gave them something to listen to...
Had PDs who love the stuff.... most current ones hate it "clutter you know"... You have to talk with them, not to them. make them your friend, I'm not their teacher, I'm the guy sitting in the living room talking about stuff... We laugh we complain, we listen to our favorite songs I like this one and tell you, I hate that one and tell you... you do the same as a listener, and we have connected.......

Who's to say this jock was voicetracked?...
Guaranteed mid day CC VT....was live at one time, but most of the jox pull a live on one station and VT on the other... some are "ON" 8 hours a day
some of the talkers do splits to cover vacations... right about bad content though...You find most voicetracks falling into the bad content category..... rush in cut them and get out.. most people do not prep... IT's a show My brief stint at VTing I got 2 hours to VT a 6 hour show, AND cut 1-3 spec spots...... Even fully prepped It wasn't doable, so they got a decent show, and 3 hours of my time free.

a jock voice tracks, makes a big mistake & it goes on the air)?

No copy of it but the morning AM guy was showing the new guy how to record the weather for the weekend and how and where to put in Maestro....

Unfortunately his test weather was put on the usual number, while the real weather went to a new location... the master was never changed, they cut three reads, and every third hour you heard Your WO-HI weather calls for BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA, wocka wocka wocka choo. And no one went in to change it until Sunday afternoon

Steve says will say this, the best bloopers I've heard over the years have been on live radio (some in the production room while voicing a spot). Anyone have any airchecks of voice tracked bloopers (ie. a jock voice tracks, makes a big mistake & it goes on the air)?


Jocks should leave small bloopers in their breaks when they voice track, because IT IS HUMAN TO MAKE MISTAKES!!!!! Nobody is that perfect, NOBODY! Which is why voice tracking sucks and the voicetracksers sound like robots. 99%of the time I can tell when a show is voicetracked because of poor audio quality, music overpowering the song or the contesnt of the talk breaks. VOICETRACKING SUCKS!!!!! I have yet to hear an excellent voicetracked show!!! It always sounds like crap, always! These companies need to spend more money on getting live and local talent or RADIO will be obsolete.

Here's what I have learned over the 6 yrs my wife and I have been voice tracking our morning show in Coos Bay. No one hangs on to every word. Smile. Keep it local.

Ted Rogers who was my PD at KPDQ for the 5 years I was there always broke it down into simple nuggets. Inform and entertain.

My wife and I take more of a magazine show type feel for our morning program. Keeping in mind our target demo is a woman 35-45 yrs old, professional or mom or both. This past month we have been celebrating "Women in history month." We'll do a little tease about the woman we'll be talking about and then give the payoff later in the hour. It's not always going to be rib splitting laughter but informative and something our listeners can continue to talk about at work.

Thankfully at the station in Coos Bay somebody else does the weather so we can promote it.

But our format is all about the music. I have several web sites that I use and some have sound bites by the artists that we'll use so it really ties the music and breaks together.

Beano my wife and I do leave mistakes in our breaks because sometimes it does gives us that human quality. However working off each other is the best part of the show. The listeners we have met often comment that they feel we are right at their breakfast table with them. Best compliment you can get in this business live or voice tracked.

Steve Naganuma-I a few Schonely out takes I might send to you. Also a few years ago I had the Schonz do a short voice over for a friend of mines birthday that I turned into a rap song. If you want it I can email it to you.

^^ like clockwork ^^

Hello, Chris.

I don't mean to sound like an a-hole, but you are one of the problems with radio. VTing a morning show is NOT serving the local community.
Alot of us have lost sight of WHAT radio is supposed to be- a service of the community. Entertaining, informative, and immediate. What happens if a MAJOR emergency happens during your VT'd show? Sure MAYBE someone from the station will break in- but how tacky
is that? All of the sudden your FAKE morning show ( I say fake, because you probably recorded it the night before) is interrupted by a probably unfamilar voice, thus confusing the listener. What if a listener wants to call in and say hi. Once again- they can't do it.
I got into the business back in 1968, worked my way into several major markets, and programmed every format- except Gospel. One thing that made radio great was the live DJ MAKING it happen. Somewhere along the way, Corporate radio heads
( most of whom probably never been in radio) decided that
dj's were largely unnecessary. What do we have now? Cookie cutter stations, and a general poor product. McDonalds theoretically could have AUTOMATED stores, but if you go into one, you will find 10 people working behind the scenes- and they have made BILLIONS of doallars. That's how stations USED to be- several employees skilled at doing
something, putting out a great prodcut that is consumed by the masses. Now, there will be 7 stations in a cluster, and three people ( IF even that) are running everything. The radio biz needs to understand that we need to change our ways, or comemrcial radio will turn into a hobbyists past time. Live radio, with LIVE dj's, and radio stations that think for themselves are the only way it's gonna survive.

well said, bob.

BTW...Chuck Collier has been at WGAR 30+ years.
now live on wgar and VTing majic....still professional as he is, his VTs don't have the energy and immediacy as the live show!

Great guy too. Ouch I listened to him in high school.

OK, so most of you know I work in programming in the Christian AC format. Earlier in this thread there was a "challenge" put forth for what a good break really sounds like. To meet that incredibly excellent idea I'll share with you two files that, I believe, showcase what makes an air talent great. Those elements are relevance, compelling content, an emotional connection with the target listener, and a complete transparency of self.

Keep in mind these are all from Christian stations that rank fifth or higher with Women 25-49 in their respective markets. Some even rank number one with certain demos. Because they are christian stations some may be offended, but the examples of good radio still hold true.

First a sample of various morning shows from places like WRCM/Charlotte, WLFJ/Greenville, KTSY/Boise, WFSH/Atlanta, WMHK/Columbia, KTIS/Minneapolis, and finally WLFJ again! It's sixteen minutes long, but well worth it!

http://www.divshare.com/download/296607-8ad

Also, a few breaks from who I believe is the best air talent in America right now, any format. Lisa Williams does afternoons on WPOZ in Orlando and just dominates in the rankings there. The first break on this montage is SIX MINUTES long, but is amazingly powerful!

http://www.divshare.com/download/296703-cdc

Enjoy!

Dexter- Yeppers good content good bits. Engaging.

Eugenebob- I will not argue with any of the points you stated. I have posted many times, and it looks I am posting it again...live is best. But I still get to play radio without all the radio crap. This is the longest gig at any station I have been at in all my radio years.

I have had to defend myself many times about the voice tracking I am currently doing with my wife. But it's not the only gig I have ever done. My resume includes many live gigs. Mornings, mid-day, afternoons, graveyard. Done it all. Production Director, PD...it's all there. (nearly 30 yrs)

I take all that experience with me into my sound booth and re-create radio. Theatre of the mind. I have visited Coos Bay on several occasions and have gone and emceed several concerts with well over a thousand people in attendance. (not bad for that area I might add) I have met listeners who have won tickets to big concerts here in Portland and sat with them at those concerts and gotten my picture taken with them. NOT ONE of them ever asked either of us " are you voice tracked?" NOT ONE of them even knows we voice track. WHY? Because we have found a way to relate to them.

We have narrowed our focus in the morning show into a positive news and information program. Finding good news stories and letting people know that there are some very good things happening in and around Coos Bay and the NW. I produce a NW Spotlight that features NW bands, some from the Coos Bay area, as long as it sounds professional and fits the format.

I was asked to do this job I did not go looking for it. I don't have to rise up at 3:30am. I am not getting rich off this gig either I do it because I LOVE RADIO!! I still have a passion for it. And I get to do it with my wife!! Sure it's a small market but I still take time to do show prep like I used too.

Slam me all you want but I am simply doing what the business is offering.

We do serve the local community. Our sister stations live morning show team has commented about how we find stuff they didn't know about. Because we take the time to look. We talk loads about happenings at the library, the parks, concerts....Coos Bay was home to Steve Prefontaine...so there are many fun run races throughout the year and we talk about them all. We know where the big park is located, the animal shelter and other landmarks. So we can talk about them. They even call themselves “The Bay Area.” Apologies to those from San Fran.

We know certain key business people on a first name basis and they email us information for our show.

But I will not argue any of your valid points Eugenebob. And you are not an a-hole, just someone concerned about our industry. I can respect that.

IT's the content. Most don't provide any. THAT IS A MANAGEMENT DECISION. The VTing is only the symptom of the problem. It is seen as a way to shave expenses. If management feels that some one can walk in, sit down, knock out a 4 hour show for an hours pay, then the CONTENT WILL SUFFER.
Chris has stated time and again hom much emphasis he puts on Prep time. Again, most don't put any.

Personally, VTING a shift allows one to really PRODUCE a show. The downside is that MANAGEMENT will not pay for the time involved to do it. The result is in many cases.... "this is, that was, coming next, and here's a linercard." Quick, streamlined, disconnected, and McRADIO..................

You get what you pay for, and if the budget pays for an hour and a half for the 6 hour weekend or overnight VT, then bet you get the basics only.

Let me throw in a different view. Look at Roger's example up top. Kat is doing what 99% of all DJs have done for years and years, even long before voicetracking hit the scene.

It's all that most DJs are capable of.

Not that VT'ing doesn't have its issues, but are you saying that the meaningless crap from mom-n'-pop radio days is better than the meaningless crap from today's corporate radio? It's basically the same, isn't it? Aren't we letting our feelings about disappearing radio jobs rule the discussion?

If not, what was holding those people back in the 70s and 80s and 90s, when radio was live?

With all due respect, the problem is not voicetracking; voicetracking is an economical way of getting the same meaningless unentertaining crap. Very, very few people are really entertainers, and (just me thinking out loud) one could make an argument that radio would be more entertaining if we let those really entertaining folks use technology to go on a slew of different radio stations in different markets.

Yes! Let's further consolidate! Let's not try and find new talent!

Let's not search out for new people...let's just keep the ones that you can hear in every market now anyways dominate!

What happens when those people die? Get sick? Have babies? Retire?

Every end of entertainment has to experience duds in order to find a diamond in the rough. I hate to use this as an example, but for instance, American Idol. Look at how many bad singers come into there compared to talented people.

Look at how many bad actors, actresses, various entertainers and performers have their chance in the spotlight...only to fizzle out later on.

That's how you find talent. That's how you encourage talent to grow. You deal with the good, the bad, the ugly.

Sometimes when a talent isn't entertaining, just sometimes (not sure if that's the case at majic) but sometimes it's the coach.


It's part of the creative process to deal with duds. Welcome to entertainment.

I would never judge others or expect them to believe the same things I do, and I mean that.
However, I've been asked many times to voicetrack for stations around the country and I always refuse. Call me old fashioned, but I won't be a party to the downsizing and elimination of jock jobs...especially for just a few hundred dollars per station per month.
For 5 or 6 hundred per month, I'd be helping
put one of my DJ brothers or sisters out of work.
I personally won't do that. While I find my voicetrax acceptable, they have never sounded as good as my live schtick.

What's a harder issue is that when starting at a new station, I've run into "oh, by the way, you're also voicetracking middays on our sister station
in Idaho. No extra money, but I'm sure you're a team player."

No matter how bad you are, with proper guidance and a good PD air checking you, you can go from a mediocre talent to an awesome air talent. All it takes is a good PD who is willing to work with the unexperienced jock. How do you think the pros got be good on air?? Trust me they were not good when they first started! Everyone sucks when they first break the mic.
Unless you have an awful voice, and yes, some just don't have the voice for radio, But most do!
VOICETRACKING BLOWS! i refuse to listen to stations that heavily voice track! Its a pathetic excuse to save money, and the product ALWAYS SUFFERS BIG TIME! That is part of the reason why I refuse to listen to Movin! It is absolutely UNEXCUSABLE that they have a mid day voice tracked woman! VERY POOR RADIO! That station needs some live talent VERY BADLEY!

AND OF COURSE... you have to have management who will allow a bit of creative freedom. It's getting tougher... Not long back I sent out a demo to a SW Washington station. I thought it was a damn good demo that showed what I could do both in presenting the music as well as entertaining the listener between the music. I got an email back the same day asking if I had a demo without the bits and drops. I sent them a 12 in a row linercard artist intros demo, and never heard another word. So, either way nothing, which left me scratching my head.... What did they want to hear, and what do they want their listeners to hear? Some of you have heard some of my stuff..... Alway good comments from "the pack", but obviously NOT what the decision makers want to hear....

Talent is subjective at best, what I want to hear from a jock might not be what Dexter wants. Jeffery might love my stuff, but the PD he works for might hate it. The PD makes the decision on what he wants the station to sound like. Some guys are locked to the format clock and your talk set falls on the song with the 4 second intro, while the sweeper runs before the 18 second intro.
change it and die!!!
Some guys go out of their way to schedule it that way (don't you F.B.) Other PDs are looser when it comes to the when and wheres...

No right or wrong answer, only what people have had success with. My presentation might sound lousy to a 20 something PD because it is different from what he is used to hearing.

Personal choice. I don't think a rigidly structured live show is any better than a VT with the exception that with live you can get IMMEDIATE input from the listener. I say it, and they call....
instant connection. with VT I say it, they might call and I never hear about it unless someone passes along the info. If I VT a weekend, then do I monitor emails on my own time to respond like I am live? Sorry there is a necessity for VTs Cheaper and faster but not a better presentation in most cases

Maybe this is another thread, but I had a PD who threw away any mail addressed to an air talent...
I would tell my listeners to write or email the station if they had something to say liked a song, hated a song, enjoyed the weekend guys, what ever was on their mind. I was told to stop because they didn't want calls and letters from listeners... the quote was .... "well, we do, but don't encourage them.....

Well I have been inspired by the recent posts. One thought that came to mind is even though we don't have the immediacy of people phoning us, we must make sure that the content we do use can be useful to our listeners as entertainment or information.

Not every break or bit needs to have listener response. Our audience has proven pretty passive. However last year we did run an on line survey that asked some general questions to our listeners. All those that filled it out and gave us a mailing address received a free CD as a thank you. The response was more than I thought we would get, and it gave us some actual data we could extrapolate for our on air presentation.

On the other side of this board there has been a thread on whether young children should be brought to a fine restaurants and what do when their behavoir becomes a nusance. There has been some very emotional posts and I will be using that thread as a bit in our next show.

Good.

That kind of stuff will appeal to a very broad set of people. Let us know if you get any feedback on those!

Sho'nuff.

Like it or not, VT is here to stay. I've done both VT and live. Frankly, there are some very fun, creative things you can do with VT and I'm surprised more talent doesn't employ them. Nothing can replace the good old live feel, and perhaps trends will cycle back to that someday, but right now economics and technology are driving forces that make VT attractive. TV was once mostly live, too. Anyone remember a REAL live audience with REAL, not canned laughter? Imagine "Scrubs" going live. We'd miss all those subtle visual puns inserted by technology. It doesn't even try to pretend that it's live. The challenge here is to make voicetracking better and take advantage of the technology.

Thanks Cathode for your comments and welcome to pdxradio.com. This if the first time I've read one of your posts.

I said earlier VTs allow a person to really PRODUCE A SHOW.....

now find management that will pay for the time and effort... Shouldn't you as a VTing DJ get paid for your prep time? If not then punch the clock cut the trax and punch out.... don't expect to deliver your best, only the best that the hour and a half pays for.............

And, it's the listener who gets cheated.

Roger- It's not always about money.

My wife and I both know that we are not being paid what our time and talent is worth. But we are having so much fun and being allowed to be creative. I guess we're a throw back in many ways.

I believe I am doing some of my best radio now.

Hell, why not just have text to speech technology
like the NOAA weather radio stations use? You wouldn't even have to hire people to VT? LOL!

"Afterall, it's not the DJ that matters. Listeners only care about music. You, the DJ, are an annoyance. Our numbers show that they aren't switching to Satelite, or IPOD. " ( my friend was told this by a PD not too long ago. That PD is a F*cking idito, however, THAT above statement, is the state of the industry!)

.....You, the DJ, are an annoyance........

Screw the first jackass who ever uttered those words, and everyone else who follows that line of thinking!

Amen to that! Amen to many of the sentiments here about keeping the art live, or at least, alive.

We all know that reports from overseas, news from home, music, virtually everything was live through most of World War Two. We also know that within a decade, most music was on record and many programs were on transcription discs or a new Maggie.

The slow disappearance of live music gave rise to the disc jockey. I think virtually every good deejay knows this, and tries to not only act as a live emcee once did, but impart the spirit of a live performance to his audience.

Taking most live music out of the equation happened at a lousy time in history, but it did open the door for a little while to people who lived, loved and breathed music. These folks, for a short time, had a profound, direct and usually positive influence on popular culture. Now, Rodney Bingenheimer hosts the last gasp of those days in about five minutes on KROQ.

Disc jockeys who present contemporary music are leashed tighter than an untrusted dancing bear. What they find is a list to be followed to the letter, whether it is any good or not. So, the best who still remain, are often very good entertainers who keep their own matters of taste to themselves unless a band or artist has fallen from favor. Then, unleashed from the rules, they attack without mercy.

Unless the format is a throwback to better times, hosts have about as much control of the music as a listener does. The companies buy, sell and promote whatever is available from the company store. The market drives the marketing which drives the market, and eventually we hope, the snake chokes to death on carbon paper, but it hasn't yet.

I think that the question of "live or not" is irrelevant when the bigger question these days is "human or not." While I would love all live and local, I am, at the very least, all for a human element. It is very important, regardless of how the voice is put on the air, to keep talented people on our airwaves.

Craig Adams put together one of the greatest live shifts I have heard in a while on Saturday afternoon. It was obvious that he had at least a hand in the selection of records, if not the whole stack. He was funny, he stayed on top of changing weather while I did yard work, and thoroughly reinforced why a live host is the best medium to present recorded music. I still believe that if you love radio, and you can impart that passion, the listeners will love it too.

Gonna tune in Rodney. They have him programmed in a worse slot than the veterinarian show on KISN.

Amen Little Songs and Craig Adams for understanding the importance of LIVE DISK JOCKEYS ON THE AIR!

AND THAT is my whole point!

Good stuff Littlesongs. Now if you'll excuse me we need to record our voice tracks for Tuesday mornings show.

Sounds like I missed something good from Craig. Anyone have a recording?

Hey, I like live too. But the greater point, IMHO, is allowing people to be people and make the connectinos they can make. This done live is clearly the best. Record this and air it, and it's still really great.

A very high percentage of what you enjoyed was Craig being able to actually do his thing! That's the core problem way more than the actual delivery is.

Good GOD everybody, Chris and his wife are doing a service by filling a niche. I have never listened nor have I met them. From what I have read they are decent people. For the guy who says he would never listen to a heavily VT station, must not listen to radio....EVER. Leave Chris Taylor and his Wife alone. They are just honest people making a honest living.

Seriously!

Well thanks Radiogiant. People can call it what they want but I'm still the one cracking the mic, doing the bits and having fun. Beats working for a living.

Nobody is Ripping on Chris Taylor GIANT! Sheesh! I think Chris Taylor is a great guy and I enjoy his posts. Do I agree with his posts about Voice tracking, NO! But thats ok, thats why this board is awesome, people have different opinions. If we all thought the same this site would BE BORING! Again I have NOTHING personal against Chris Taylor, I just don't like listening to a station that is heavily voicetracked! I think it is Crappy Radio! Its destroying the industry, putting great jocks out of work and has taken the creativity out of radio. There is nothing more satisfying to me, as a listener, hearing a great bit between a caller and a jock. Live Radio is a beautiful artform, it is like a flower. Sadly the flower is now turning into a weed!

Notice he said......

"still the one cracking the mic, doing the bits and having fun".

Not

cracking the mic, reading the cards and kiling time until the next big gig comes along....

It's the prep, effort and execution that he puts into it that makes the difference. Again, most can't, won't, or don't, for whatever reason. That is why VTs suck. I did what Chris did when I had to VT. Management wanted nothing more than the linercards, old weather and song intros... No bits, no pre-recorded phoners, nothing to "personalize" the show, no time to equalise the record level to the audio of the intro... sometimes the jock talk was buried under a too hot intro, sometimes the song was too light and the vt sounded overmodulated.... technical quality that management was not concerned about.

At the end, before they went full simulcasting on 5 stations, the VTs were expected to be done while the weekender was doing his live shift...
down the hall cut a track or two, back to the studio, read the card live, intro the next 12 in a row and back again......... Both shows sucked!
Live or VTed? at that point who cared...management certainly didn't. No respect for the listeners, the community or, the people who worked for them .

I am in a great situation where I am a contracted talent along with my wife. We don't work for a large radio group who says we have to VT several stations. So we can put forth some creative thought towards our bits.

And with todays technology we can talk to our listeners on the air. Having a digital phone hybrid helps. We usually do it for our bigger contests when we call the winner to get their reaction then edit it down for broadcast. Which by the way, is what I did when I worked at Z100. The playback was of course within a few minutes, but many times I would save my phone conversations for another show sometimes days after I recorded the listener because I wanted to add some production value to the bit.

When I was the producer for the morning zoo we had all sorts of saved pre-recorded phoners that we used days later all the time.