Should we be going back to basics?
- Featured, Opinion, Radio Imaging
- Audio branding, Back to Basics, CHR Radio, Opinion, Radio Imaging
- May 20, 2021
Audio Branding over the past twenty years has tried to sound “big” and “bold” and quite in your face. It’s funny that very little has changed in that regard ever since. I get it, though – Radio was aiming to be this “larger than life” and almost Hollywood-esque in its style and overall delivery.
I listen to Youth Radio Stations across the world today and it all seems to centre around the same concept that has been in existence for the last twenty years. It’s all in your face, high compression, and almost over-the-top when compared to the music it is fronting or backing.
I ave been a sucker for overloading my production pieces over the years, but in the last couple of years I have totally rained in that style.
In my current role with SiriusXM, I work with ten different channels at any given time and each of them is unique and has a hyper-focused playlist (think Spotify Genre Playlists). The audio has to be super niche to that genre and relate to the community that know it, much more than I do.
It was once the case that we needed to sound like Hollywood Trailers, I think that boat has sailed and it’s time to start sounding like TikTok and what our audiences are consuming.
When I approach pieces now, I try to immerse myself within the culture and community and get to grass-routes level of understanding what THEY DO and what THEY LIKE. That then aids the piece and really hits him with them.
When I think of CHR now, I am thinking TikTok, Discord, Youtube – their presentation styles are very unique, there is no fancy packaging around the piece. It’s just delivered to you in a personal and realistic way.
Should we learn something from this? I think so. I think a lot of our production pieces need to reflect how 15-35 year olds are consuming media and what they are exposed to – and if we are not in the same realm as their idols, then we are losing. I think we are losing sight of what sounds good and what just sounds over the top.
