Making Radio Station Jingles 20 years ago

So what's changed since we made this analysis of the Jingles industry during Media Network in 1994? 

Device of the week - jingle machines

Doing a keynote about broadcast automation. And, as usual, YouTube comes up with the goods that stations have designated to the dump.



In the old days, announcers would play their own jingles. Remember WEAF in New York? Er no, neither do I. Then the American network NBC automated the chimes in what was called the Rangertone Chimeless Chimes. Only a handful of these left on the planet.



And then came the cart machine with its endless loop of tape and a self cueing device. Plug in and play....



Used to use these at Radio Netherlands in the 1980's. The carillon bells at the start of the broadcast would wow all over the place....

YouTube - Where Jingle companies now perform!

If you're busy working out how your radio station should redesign its on-air sound, then the place to go is YouTube. Hats off to Amsterdam based SOB for being able to sing the SydhavsØerne jingles in Denmark. I guess they brought their own singers to get their tongues around that one.

JingleMad Radio Launches Quietly

Live, round the clock and slightly round the bend. Your continuous source of radio station jingles. Livbe from Salford - the media end of Manchester in the UK. My advice - Best tried in small doses. Thanks to James Cridland for the tip.

JingleMad Radio, launching early 2013, will play non-stop jingles created for radio stations around the world.

JingleMad Radio is launching 10 years after the original JingleMad.com site and forums started, bringing together fans of the short songs all around the world. The website and now radio station were both founded by audio producer Roy Martin, who is keen to spread the love of jingles even further.

“We have 15,000 registered users on JingleMad.com, so it’s not entirely limited to radio geeks. I’ve used my contacts from working in the radio industry to obtain permission to use thousands of jingles created by the top jingle companies in the world to make JingleMad Radio a possibility.”

The station has been testing for the last 12 months, ever since the idea was conceived. Now with almost 10,000 jingles on the Myriad Playout System, the special station is almost ready to launch.

“It took some persuading but world leading companies such as Reelworld, JAM Creative Productions, Music4and TM Studios are all on board. We’ve managed to convince newer companies such as Ignite and Brandy, and we’ve got hundreds of classics from the likes of Alfasound, David Arnold and PAMS.”

Jingles from stations such as Z100, KIIS FM, PLJ, CBS FM, JACK FM and BBC Radio. Even the large amount of jingles from the Chris Moyles show on BBC Radio 1 are on rotation.

JingleMad Radio will be the only stream playing non-stop radio jingles, and is sponsored by UK-based P Squared who are kindly providing their flagship software Myriad and Autotrack, along with streaming byPlanetWideRadio.com.

Liam Burke, co-founder of P Squared is excited by the new station: “As self-confessed radio geeks, we at P Squared are delighted to support JingleMad Radio and wish them every success with the launch.”

Listen to “test transmissions” for the new station at JingleMadRadio.com or search for JingleMad on TuneIn.

Summer Jingle Comparisons in the UK

Definitely interesting to compare how BBC Radio 1 is planning to revamp its Breakfast Show jingles at the end of September when Nick Grimshaw takes over the slot, and the approach taken by the sister station, BBC Radio Two. 

In the case of BBC Radio 1, it looks like the era of sung jingles is definitely out for the time being. But that doesn't come as a surprise to me. I agree with comments on the UK Jingles website JingleMad that the challenge will be for whoever wins the bid to make the package distinctive. And they don't have much time to compose anything complicated. It looks like there's not much money put aside for station imaging.

Contrast that with BBC Radio 2.

Steve Martin (of the fantastic monthly show Earshot Creative Review) did an in depth interview with Chris Reay who is in charge of BBC Radio 2's imaging and sound design. He tells the story of how they are building on an established theme but using fresh arrangements. And that includes full orchestras (while they are still around). A great listen. Highly recommended - and nice of Chris to share not only the music but the reasoning behind it.

Reminds me of two radio programmes I made about creating jingles in 1983 and again ten years later 1993. Unashamedly for enthusiasts of station imaging and jingles, we looked at how they were made then and what programmers in the early 1980's thought they were for. There were enthusiasts like Tom Konard who made vast collections of station idents and sweepers. Some are still on line - check this reference. 

This show was broadcast on December 29th 1983 and I remember the recording well. Technican Pim Wijmer thought it would be a simple mix and wondered why I had booked four hours of studio time. Today, you can make the same show on a laptop using free multitrack software. In those days you had to cut and splice audio tape and cue everything with yellow leader. There was more yellow leader on those montages than tape. Fun, nonetheless. 

Notice how Jonathan Wolfert of JAMS explains that jingles always go in phases, what's hot now is out in 5 years time and then everything old becomes new again. Sometimes stations overused them and there were periods when stations hardly used them at all. Disney understands that like no other (look at how they recycle old content to new generations in a 7 year cycle. But I digress. 

Finally I recall making a short video during the recording of the Europarade jingles used in the Radio Netherlands show of the same name. Recently put that back on the Interwebs, though it's rather crude by today's standards.

Making Jingles in 2002 from Jonathan Marks on Vimeo.

More Jingles from the mid-nineties

Eleven years after the first show on jingles (republished last week) I revisited the subject of jingle production in the 1990's, this time talking with makers on both sides of the Atlantic. This edition was originally broadcast on the last Thursday of 1994. I've posted it following nice comments on the first one!

Found a Media Network devoted to jingles in 1983

When I was hosting the communications magazine, Media Network, we made several visits to the topic of radio jingles, how they are made and what programmers in the early 1980's thought they were for. Their use seemed to go in waves, sometimes stations overused them and there were periods when stations hardly used them at all. There were enthusiasts like Tom Konard who made vast collections of station idents and sweepers. Some are still on line - check this reference. This show was broadcast on December 29th 1983 and I remember the recording well. Technican Pim Wijmer thought it would be a simple mix and wondered why I had booked four hours of studio time. Today, you can make the same show on a laptop using free multitrack software. In those days you had to cut and splice audio tape and cue everthing with yellow leader. There was more yellow leader on those montages than tape. Fun making it nonetheless. We finished about 1 am in the morning before transmission.