Your Useful Guide to Radio Ad Production

Insights and tips to elevate your audio ad campaigns, from making sure the script fits for time, to casting and navigating the complexities of post-production, consider this your roadmap to smoother, and hopefully more successful audio ad productions.

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Linear vs Digital

Broadly speaking, there are two main categories of audio advertising:

Linear: which are spots running on traditional commercial radio stations such as Capital FM, Heart FM, Radio X etc.

Digital: spots that run on the likes of Spotify, Acast, DAX and Amazon Music etc.

Main differences between the two:

• Specifications: uniform on linear/vary on digital

• Distribution: linear is via one distribution partner/with digital, you might have to supply directly to media owners

• Talent usage: linear is usually based on a station list and paid for in 3 month chunks/digital is based on impressions

Nurturing Good Relationships

In audio ad production, like all production, nurturing good relationships with your suppliers is invaluable.

Honesty and transparency will stand you in good stead in the future, when you need a favour….and as we all know, we all need favours from time to time.

Here are some of the most important relationships you need to nurture:

Studios

Try out different facilities and get an understanding of the strengths of the various engineers/studios (e.g. some engineers are better at music edits or sound design). Get to know the producers and bookings teams – it will put you in a strong position for those 11th hour requests or last-minute re-records.

Agents

Love them or hate them, remember they’ve got a job to do, and that’s to safeguard the interests of their actors. Be honest and open with agents. When you get one of their actors in for a test, don’t tell them that it’s for a job that is guaranteed to go to air. If for whatever reason the client/agency decide not to go with a particular voice, then let the agent know and give them the reason in a constructive way. They understand their actors can’t win every job, but they value the communication.

Distribution

There will be times when you’ll get late approval from the client and you’ll be in danger of missing playout deadlines, but if you’ve got a good relationship with people like Audiotrack (the 3rd party distributors that we use), they’ll pull out the stops for you...they’ve got us (and our clients) out of a few scrapes over the years!

The Script

Read it out loud

When a script lands on your desk, your first move should be to time it. Perform it. Read it aloud (don’t just mutter it to yourself under your breath!).

Better still, have your creatives present it to you. This way, you'll understand their vision for how they want it to sound. If the script is too long, notify the creatives right away. Better to discover this now instead of when you’re in the recording session paying for studio time.

Allow time for SFX

Familiarise yourself with the script's ‘geography’. Allocate time for elements that might not be explicitly scripted but need space in the commercial—like the sound of a door opening.

A note for you and your creatives: Be careful not to rely too heavily on sound effects. Remember, some SFX can be misleading; for instance, sizzling bacon might sound like rain on a tin roof!

How many voices are required?

Determine how many voices the script requires. If budget is tight, can one actor handle multiple roles? Discuss voice specifics with the creatives (age, accents, gender, personality etc.).

Is music required?

Ask the creatives if they want music. If so, ascertain the type of track they're looking for and whether they have any reference tracks to share.

Identify Potential Issues

Spot any potential script issues, such as music clearance for a popular track. Or exaggerated claims (e.g. "This is the fastest working face cream on the market", "Best price guaranteed", "Works in just 30 minutes"). If the script contains these types of claims, ask the client/account team to get the necessary evidence to support them as soon as possible because you’ll need that substantiation to get the script cleared by the Radiocentre.

Tip

If you don’t fully understand the idea, don’t be afraid to ask the creatives for clarity. You don’t want to go into production without a strong grasp on how you see the commercial sounding.

Remember, if you don’t ‘get it’, the likelihood is half of the listeners won’t either.

Pre-Production

Production Schedule

Drafting a production schedule early is key. Before finalising it, consult with the account team to understand the client approval process and integrate that into the timeline. Always allocate time for a pickup recording session a few days after the initial recording session to accommodate any client/agency feedback.

Production Estimate

When drafting a production estimate, as well as including costs for the initial recording session, you should always allow for a pickup session. Although some of the details of the project may change as it develops, always request third party quotes from:

• The studio (remembering to allow for a pickup session)
• The voice agent (if you’re unsure who your voice over will be, ask for usage quotes from a couple of different agents)
• The distributors (e.g. Audiotrack)
• Music library (even if not initially scripted, include music costs in the estimate for flexibility)

Copy Clearance

The Radiocentre is the audio equivalent to Clearcast – i.e. they ensure compliance with the ASA). It can take up to 24 hours from the Radiocentre to respond to submissions. Make sure whoever’s responsible for copy clearance sends them the script as soon as possible, even if it’s still work in progress, so that you have enough time to address any comments they have. You don’t want to sell in an idea to your client, that your client LOVES, that won’t be approved by the Radiocentre.

Casting/Artist Usage

Allow enough time for casting! Depending on how complex the casting brief is, and what your client/agency approval process is, you should allow at least one week for this.

When negotiating the usage with the agent, make sure you fully understand the terms of the agreement, and always get confirmation in writing!

Once you’ve found the preferred cast, pencil them in for a session to secure their availability.

The Studio

Send the script to the studio and ask them to give you an estimate on how long it will take to produce and pencil that amount of time with them. At this point, it’s also a good idea to pencil some time a few days later for a pickup session.

Ask the studio to dig out appropriate SFX and to do a music library search in advance of the session – it will give the recording session more focus. Be sure to check if there is a charge for this service, though!

Music Clearance

You should always allow at least two weeks for clearance and quotations for non-library music tracks.

Pre-Production Meeting

Try and have a pre-prod meeting with the creatives, the client and account team, ideally at least 3 days before the recording session. In this meeting you’ll confirm things like the chosen cast, which music tracks are to be used and you’ll discuss the direction the commercial’s going to take (including the tone of the characters). Doing this ahead of the session ensures everyone is on the same page and will help to manage future expectations.

BUT, it’s also important that the client understands that once you get into the session, you may want to try different things as well… after all, no matter how well prepared you are, sometimes creativity strikes when you least expect and there should be enough flex in the production to accommodate it!

Nominate the Studio Director

If you have a production company on board they will provide a director – i.e. the person who will instruct the VO talent and studio engineer – but if you don’t, someone needs to be nominated director and this should be agreed before the session.

Call Sheet

Prepare a call sheet with estimated timings on how long each part of the session should take – this will help to keep the session on track so that you avoid running into overtime.

In The Studio

The Meet & Greet

Arrive early at the studio (or on Zoom/Google Meet/MS Teams) and be ready to warmly welcome the actors. Introduce them to everyone in the room. Keep in mind that actors might be nervous, especially if they're not accustomed to doing voiceovers. Take a moment to chat with them. If you’re familiar with some of their work, compliment them on it before bombarding them with scripts and direction notes!

Structuring The Session

Structuring a recording session varies based on the script's requirements. There are no set rules—every session is different. It all depends on the creative concept of the script. For instance, if the announcer (i.e. the brand voice) needs to respond to the preceding scenario that features characters talking to each other, it makes sense to record that scenario first so that the announcer has something to bounce off.

Alternatively, if the script has a relatively long caveat (i.e. the legal line at the end) it makes sense to record that first so you know how much time you’ve got let for the rest of the script.

Direction

When in the recording studio, all comments should go through the director. When there are lots of people in the control room, and everyone’s trying to tell the actor what to do, it will lead to mixed messages, especially if there’s a difference of opinion. So having one person, who is the conduit that all comments go through, will lead to a smoother session.

Remember, it’s lonely in the booth…

Keep the actor in the loop when you’re discussing takes. It’s lonely in the booth, and if they’re sat in silence, watching a long discussion through the glass, it can unnerve them, which will affect their performance. So let them know when you’re going to listen back to takes.

Make sure you’re in control of the talkback, or that the engineer knows when you want it open or not. A good trick is to say you want to listen back to the last take, then if you want to have a conversation about the actor that you don’t want them to hear, that gives you an opportunity to do so.

Don’t be afraid to ask the engineer to playback some of the recorded takes a few times in a row. It gives you and the team time to collate your thoughts and make good notes.

Keeping Notes

Make good notes of the takes you liked and why and how long they were (i.e. make sure they fit for time)–the last thing you want is for you all to love a take, only for the actor to leave and then you find out the take you all love won’t fit in the commercial!). Making good notes of takes as you go will save you time when it comes to mixing the commercial.

When you’re done

Once you’ve finished mixing and the commercials have been approved, ident your commercials–either with clock numbers or with unique ident numbers/codes. This helps to avoid the wrong commercial being broadcast in the wrong place (especially when there are multiple versions going to different regions and/or stations/platforms).

Before the sound engineer exports the commercial, give them the necessary specs required because some of them might require the engineer to mix the commercial with different volume levels.

Instruct the studio to send all of the necessary files to you.

Post Production

We use a company called Audiotrack. They can supply ads to both the linear radio stations and digital audio platforms such as DAX, Spotify, Acast etc.

If you use Audiotrack, complete the online consignment note which they will send to the radio stations/audio platforms on your behalf along with the commercials that you upload to their portal.

If you have to send the commercials directly to the media owners yourself, you should draft your own consignment note.

The consignment note should include:

• Radio stations/platforms that are to broadcast the commercials
• Commercials that are to be played (with their ident numbers)
• Radiocentre copy clearance numbers
• Playout rotation of the commercials (is it equal or is one commercial to be played more than others?)
• Campaign airdates
• Music details
• The names of the actors featured

If necessary, send MP3s of the final commercials to music publishers and notify voice artist agents that the commercial has gone to air.

Admin

• Complete your fact sheets and artist records.
• Request all 3rd party invoices (i.e. from studios, VO agents and distributors).
• Reconcile final costs.

And Finally...

Why asking ‘Could there be audio?’ is ALWAYS a Good Idea!

When you’re told about a visual project (be that TVC or social video content), always ask if there’s a chance that radio/audio will be added to the media mix, because if it is, you can factor that into your music licence and talent usage negotiations upfront. If you negotiate a price for visual use, and then go back and add audio use to the terms, you’ll undoubtedly end up paying more for it than you would have if you had factored it into your negotiations at the same time as discussing the visual usage.

And don’t forget…

…the ‘good / quick / cheap’ matrix. You can never have all three. In most cases you can only ever have two. So if you give yourself as much time as possible, you’ll give yourself the best chance of getting something really good even if the budget available is less than ideal…!

Connect With Us!

If you're wrestling with a tricky audio ad project, we're here to help!

You can either email me directly at sean@radioville.co.uk to arrange a time to chat. Or if you’d rather jump straight on a Zoom call, then click on the ‘book a call’ link below.

Thanks for reading our useful Guide To Audio Ad Production.

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