[cma-l] Writers contacting community radio stations

[Associated Broadcast Consultants]

Hi Adam,

Sounds interesting - I am sure lots of stations would be interested by the
prospect of free or low cost and high quality material - especially to
spice-up their automated periods.  From my experience there are several
things it would be important to get right - here's a random and most
probably incomplete list in no particular order

   1. Royalties - if it's original work will they be waived or will
   stations need to buy another licence?
   2. Advertising - if it includes some kind of promotion to encourage
   people to buy books or whatever it would need to comply with Ofcom and ASA
   guidelines.  I'm thinking here particularly the requirement for a clear
   distinction between advertising and content
   3. Broadcasting code - all the stuff about protecting minors,
   defamation, swearing etc.
   4. Length - in my opinion (others will disagree), talk and drama works
   best in small bites - especially on music radio (2-5 minutes I'm thinking
   for the latter).  Maybe talk format stations can take longer segments, but
   they still need to fit between advert breaks and news.  20 minutes might be
   maximum.
   5. Audio quality - if you have not done stuff for broadcast before, get
   advice and read lots of forums and websites. If you are starting from a
   blank canvas I'd say a Zoom H4 portable audio recorder is the cheapest
   entrance into broadcast-quality audio recording.  BUT it is essential it is
   used in the right acoustic environment - ideally a studio, if not a room
   with lots of soft furnishings and the minimum of hard surfaces that reflect
   the audio and make it sound horrible on-air!  Record minimum 192kbps mp3,
   ideally .wav format.
   6. Submitting recordings - don't clutter their inboxes.  Host the files
   on a website (where they could also be available for stations searching for
   such material) and send them links.
   7. I'm sure there are many other things to think about!

Regards,

Glyn

-- 
Glyn Roylance - Principal Consultant
Associated Broadcast Consultants <http://www.a-bc.co.uk/>







On 7 November 2014 12:02, CMA-L <cma-l at commedia.org.uk> wrote:

> ---- Forwarded message -----
>
> Hi there,
>
> I am a presenter with CHBN Radio in Truro and I am writing an article
> for a magazine called Writers' Forum
> (http://writers-forum.com/contact.html) about how best for writers to
> go about making contact with their local community radio station to
> get their work out there - whether it be short stories, novels that
> they are happy to be serialised, radio plays or non-fiction works.
>
> The idea being that it is not just a way to promote their work but it
> is also to the benefit of the stations involved as it is a good way
> for them to have speech content to broadcast (in the case of CHBN, our
> live content needs to be 30% speech to meet our community radio quota)
>
> Obviously I have ideas of my own but I was hoping to gather thoughts
> from members of other community radio stations and I wondered if CMA
> members would like to put forward any suggestions or thoughts that I
> could use - not just actual ideas but ways that potential contributors
> could make it easier when approaching stations, such as the best way
> to submit MP3 recordings.
>
> My article will include links to find community radio stations so that
> readers can find their local station easily and hopefully be inspired
> to produce material that listeners will enjoy hearing.
>
> Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Adam Carpenter
> e: adam.carpenter123 at btinternet.com
> _______________________________________________
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