Financial considerations

there are many financial considerations when advertising on the radio.Fees must be paid to the radio station in order for the add to be played on a radio this is determined by the amount of listeners on the radio station and the time of day you wish your advert to be played as well as the length of the advert. The most expecive time to have an advert played is between 5am-10am and 3pm-8pm this is because this is when most people are driving about in there cars which is when radio gets listened to the most. Radio stations offer advertising space based around certain shows or competitions being run on the radio. Other expenses include the paying of voice over artists and music royalty.

These are examples of rate cards they are used to show customers how much advertising will cost and what discount they offer. They also show what times your advert will be played and how many times during that day. 

Music

in a radio commercial the right music can either make the advert a hit or destroy it. There are alot of laws around the use of music in adverts such as copy-write. Without music adverts can be boring and wont grab the listeners attention and the listeners would not feel involved in the ad. choosing the correct music to express the advert can be difficult as the right song can be catchy and the advert wont be forgotten. Even if the radio station has a licencing agreement for a song to be played on the radio that usually wont cover the use of the song in an advert. If a radio station ever used an unlicensed song for an advert they will face being sued in court. When creating a radio add there are a few things that should be checked,

• Fair use. Using copyrighted material when it exceeds fair use is illegal. If the components of fair use are used then it has been exceeded. It is illegal to use music that hasent been authorized and the tune can be recognized. 
• Licensing. Through a licensing agreement it is possible to obtain permission to use copyrighted music. However this requires you to have two licenses, the firs is from a party that owns the copyright for the song. The second is from the party that owns the copyright for the recording. 
• The 7-second rule. Alot of radio advertisers follow the 7 second rule which is where you have to use a song for 7 seconds or less in order to use the song. However there is no legal basis for the 7 second rule bu any unauthorized inclusion of the music from a copyrighted song violates copyright law. 
• Strategies. Even though you cant escape copyright law altogether there are some ways that you can use to minimize the need for expensive licensing. One of the options are to compose your own music and have performed it by a hired musician, The second option is to purchase the copyright of the song but have it preformed by someone else other than the artist. 

Production roles

creative producer - a creative producer is in charge of creating the advert. The job requires a combination of different skills due to the job being demanding and hard work,the creative producer must also have good understanding of how to reach the target audience for the product being sold. Depending on the size of the radio stations commercial producers can work for one station or a national team. in smaller stations the role may be given to the presenters. The role of the commercial producer can vary from station to station. They are all based in recording studios and offices although the job can sometimes call for them to work on location. They work with the clients and interpret the brief to create the advert. 

recording engineer - a recording engineer are based in the recording studio and there job is to produce recording of speech, sounds effects or music to be used in the advert. The job is very specific and requires you to have a good understanding of rhythm and timing in music. Most of the skills for this job can be learnt through college and university although you could be a runner for a recording studio and learn the work while on the job. As a recording engineer you can be expected to plan recording sessions as well as setting up the studio with the correct equipment  and adding effects to recordings.

copywriter -A copy writer is required to write scripts for radio adverts. They must have a good understanding of who the target audience of the advert is and how people listen and respond to adverts. The script for the advert must grab the audiences attention, most writers have experience in radio production which helps with there understanding of what is needed. Writers often oversee the voice recording so there script can sound how they wanted it to.

voice over artists (Voice actors,celebrities) - there job is to be the voice in the advert, most adverts use specialist voice actors or celebrity's, how there voice comes across in the advert can be down to the writer so the script is voiced how the writer wanted it to be. They must make sure they speak precise and clear so the audience can understand what they are saying.  

Production facilities

            

 To create a radio advert you need alot of equipment, This includes a sound proof booth with a microphone, a mixing desk, a computer equiped with software such as audacity, Reaper or Adobe audition. Many big commerical radio stations such as key 103 have there own production facilities to produce adverts for the clients but there are also independent production companies that make adds for clients that use audacity, Reaper or Adobe audition. We use all of that software in college, As well as having some radio jingles. Smaller studios will only need a soundproof booth with microphone and a voice over artist and a computer with basic audio editing software.

Here is an example of a recording studio it contains a professional sound booth along with a fully equipped mixing desk which will contain high end editing software, there is also a comfy chair.