Research – On Air ‘Image’ of Youths Choice

Youths Choice on air currently only uses two voices for their on-air brand as well as random other old voices for production that’s not been updated. This makes the on-air image confusing when listening to it. They do however do a good job on anyone who is a presenter who doesn’t do voice-over work for the station meaning the presenters won’t be talking then hearing their voice on an advert or into break sweeper. This is definitely a good aspect that should continue though the rebrand.

As part of my research I’ve identified the importance of researching not just into what the brand is currently doing but also what it’s competitors are doing.

I was going to spend my time listening to similar radio stations however this proved time-consuming to hear production, I instead decided on using Soundcloud to listen just to the production. This is normally uploaded by the sound designers for these radio stations as their portfolio.

Here is their SoundCloud embeds and the notes I made on each one. These notes will be passed onto the sound designer working on the rebrand project

00:00 – Love the switch from ‘Radio to Capital’
00:15 – The whole intro is kept on beat. This really works making the whole piece sound like one
00:49 – I really like the use of the stuttered ‘B’
01:10 – I like the effects on the impossible six and six and the integration of Roman, Siân and Sonny singing along
01:41 – Love the upbeat bed in the background. It makes it sound much less like an advert. I really like the reasons to use the app too
02:25 – Great use of the sonic logo. Best bits are really important to keep people listening

00:00 – The use of ‘Short’ and ‘Long’ voices is excellent. The way the male voice only says ‘Capital and ‘Give me the Cash’ in the whole 40 second promo is great
00:42 – Great use of the filter FX
00:56 – The SFX made with the filter effects adds the extra bit of excitement but uniformity still to the promo
01:10 – The promo of the songs get’s people hyped
01:42 – Great use of the slogan, Hit Music
01:47 – Lots of station branding, reminding the listener they are on Capital
02:00 – Lots of cash dropping sounds. The bed keeps the lister hyped and then brings the tension. The way the cash drops after they say the phase is great too
03:04 – Keeps listeners up to date on the stations big giveaway
03:49 – The use of the sparkle sfx helps enforce the xmas part to the listener
04:20 – Love the fact the presenter is introducing their new college. And when rio introduces herself. Then the official VO person says it to reinforce to the listner