Introduction:

Before creating an audio product, we analyzed various audio products. I did this by following seven headings, these were purpose, form, content and meaning, frequency, audience, genre and production process. In total I looked into 7 products, these were 3 podcasts, an audiobook, a radio drama, a radio show and a jingle.

The names of these products are:

CBeebie’s story time– Podcast

Charlie Sloth’s sloth pad – Podcast

Test Match Cricket – podcast

The Archer’s – Radio drama

Big John @ Breakfast – Music and talk show

Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the ring – Audiobook

MTV - Jingles

Purpose:

The purpose of the CBeebies podcast is to entertain and inform the young viewers. We know this because the show has different games on it that are educational and fun for the viewers, the podcast also promotes the CBeebies brand, so it will be recognizable on TV, this is different compared to Charlie Sloth Sloth pad podcast that has the purpose of entertaining the listener and inform them of the latest music news.

This podcast is fit for purpose as it plays music and has conversation on it about music, also by the guests on the show. Charlie Sloth’s Sloth pad has a similar purpose to Test match cricket which has the purpose of entertaining the listener by informing them of the latest music news.

The podcast is fit for purpose as it plays music and has conversation on it about music, also by the guests on the show. Both the cricket and Charlie Sloth’s podcast are informative, this is because the listener of the show are older when compared to the listeners of the CBeebies podcast who are much younger children around the ages of 2-6 years old.

The purpose of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is to entertain the listener with the narrative, we know this because normal paper books have the purpose of entertaining, this is similar to the purpose of the podcasts, however the audiobook isn’t informative as it doesn’t contain news.

The MTV jingle has a completely different purpose in comparison to the purpose of the other audio products. This jingle is to remind or show the audience what station is on. This jingle was designed to inform the audience, but it can also entertain as it is catchy and easy to remember, fulfilling its purpose.

Form:

In the audio book, the conversation seems formal, however the calm and clear voice makes it sound informal and friendly, this is similar to the Big John @ breakfast show that employs a conversational style in which presenter Big John and his crew talk in a friendly tone so they appeal to the audience and seem polite. The show has the conventions of a normal breakfast show, these are music, competitions, dialogue and interviews, in comparison to the podcasts I analyzed, the form is the same.

The CBeebies podcast employs informal dialogue in the form of a friendly voice talking to young children who are responding to it. The show is dominated by dialogue and conversation that include games such as ‘I spy’. The listeners can participate in these games. There is a relaxed style to the show, this is set by the sound effects and background music that are designed to calm the young children down.

The Charlie Sloth Slothpad podcast contains conversations and interviews with well known artists such as Nas, the language used on the show is colloquial, this is so the audience can relate the host (Charlie Sloth) and the guests, making them feel more involved in the podcast. This is parallel to the radio show Big John at Breakfast.

The Test match cricket podcast also utilizes an informal conversation between two cricket pundits who use colloquial language to reach out to their audience and make them feel welcomed, the presenters names are Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott, the form of this podcast is much the same as the other audio products.

The Archer’ is informal as the characters don’t necessarily talk to each other formally. The conversations in the drama use a Yorkshire accent that denotes the place where they are from and gives a sense of similarity to the listener as they may have the same accent, this is the same follows the same concept as the other audio products, in particular the Charlie Sloth podcast, who utilizes his accent to relate closely with his young audience however the Archers does this to its older audience.

The jingle is the only audio product that doesn’t have a similar form and style to the others, it is a formal reminder to the listener of the station that is on. The jingle is a short tune that has a party feel to it, this correlates with the MTV music channel that plays party music.

Content and meaning:

The jingle sound is repeated for a short time, after repeated a number of times, the jingle becomes easily recognisable to the listener, so the next time they hear it they can quickly identify the station.

The jingle connotes a sense of energy and this connotation can relate to the viewers who are mostly under the age of 30. There is no dialogue in the jingle as it is easier to recognise with out.

The jingle portrays partying or connotations surrounding it, such as dancing or the bouncy sounds connote fun and excitement. The jingle seeks to influence the listener as it prepares them for the music or content on the station. The jingle is similar to the radio drama as it engages the listener, however this is the only similarity.

The radio drama audio product engages the listener in thought to entertain them, this is done by the narrative. The accents in the dialogue are from Yorkshire, this denotes where they are from and connotes similarities to the viewer as they may be from Yorkshire. The wild sound denotes where the characters are and connotes a sense of atmosphere, for example when you hear horses, you instantly think they are outside.

The radio drama contains an opening soundtrack that is in the genre of classical, this connotes that the show will be based in older times or have older themes. The background noises or wild sounds set an atmosphere and denote the location of the people who are talking. The accents denote where the characters are from and what class they are, the poor people talk with a rough accent that connotes the working class. The jingle has a much longer length to it and a more content compared to the jingle and other audio books. However, the radio drama and audiobook share many similarities.

The content of the audiobook is the voice of an old man narrating The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Volume 1. There are no sound effects in the audiobook, however the voice of the man is very engaging due to its clearness and deepness. The voice sounds informative. The audiobook gives meaning as the narrator emphasises words and sentences depending on what is happening in the story, creating atmosphere.

When comparing meaning and content of the audiobook and radio drama together, it is clear that they are equal, however they contrast with the podcast and radio show (that are similar).

In the CBeebies podcast, there are many jingles and sound effects that are specially placed to entertain the children listening. The educational theme of the podcast is reinforced by the motivational background music and presenter who tells stories using ‘I spy’, these stories are based around letters that the children listening become familiar with and start to understand.

The jingles, sound effects and music denote a sense of education, they also connote an impression of adventure and exploration as they are mysterious. The stories in the show try to capture the attention of the viewer, this is similar to the other podcasts who capture the attention of the listener through interviews and music.

The radio show Big John @ breakfast employs the same tactics as it engages the listener via music and interviews.

Big John at breakfast consists of music, new updates, traffic updates specifically concerning South Yorkshire. The music played on the show is chart music such as Katy Perry and Beyoncé. The presenters talk about topics such as what is on the television. The show has many jingles and sound effects, these denote that the show is on and connote a sense of presence to the viewer, making them feel more involved. There are many adverts in the show that advertise large companies but also small local businesses.

The meaning of the show is created through the topics spoke and the music played on the show, this is to entertain and inform. The South Yorkshire dialect and accents denote solidarity and connote how big the community of South Yorkshire is.

South Yorkshire adverts are featured in the adverts on the show, as the adverts are local, this connotes a large community feel amongst the viewers.

All of the audio products have different contents and therefore different meanings, but when comparing the audiobook and radio drama it is clear that they have similar content and meanings, this is because they have a similar purpose, this also relates and the podcast and the radio show.

Frequency:

Audiobook is never updated as it is a book that was wrote a lot time ago and has no need to change. The product is available to purchase whenever the listener wants to, this is done on the internet, this is the opposite of the radio drama The Archers, that is being updated daily and is available to download on the internet as a podcast. The drama is on daily.

The MTV jingles are updated weekly. New jingles take the place of the old ones and change depending on seasons or occasions such as Christmas.

The Jingle will be played after every show or when adverts are being played, this is unlike Big John @ Breakfast the show is updated daily and is on air 6am – 10am.

There is a reasonably large audience of this show as it is the most popular show in South Yorkshire.

The show is significant as there aren’t other shows who have presenters as recognizable in the South Yorkshire area.

The podcasts, Test match cricket, Charlie Sloth’s Slothpad and the CBeebies story time podcast are all updated daily and are significant as there aren’t many podcasts like it.

The CBeebies brand is highly recognisable and has a high listenership.

The podcasts, Charlie Sloth's Sloth pad and the CBeebies story time last for around 20 minutes which is a lot shorter than the audio book and radio dramas that last from 1 hour to 2 hours.

Audience:

The target audience of all the audio products apart from the CBeebies podcast are people who have disposable income, these are ABC1s. The average age of a person who would buy this book is around 30 years old.

RAJAR tells us that ABC1s are the highest earning people in the RAJAR stats.

The audience of the CBeebies podcast are young children or parents of the young children, this contrasts to the audience of the test match cricket podcast and the Archers radio drama who have the listenership of older people around the ages of 40 onwards. Hallam FM has a 51% female audience, who are aged between 25 - 45 years old, the topics and music on the show are directed at this audience, for example when Big John talks about what men have bought at Christmas time, he says this with a sly tone, implying they have done something wrong, appealing to the female audience, this audience consists of ABC1s, these people have some disposable income, and the adverts on the show are aimed at these people. In contrast to Big John at Breakfast, Charlie Sloth's Slothpad on BBC 1 extra, has a much younger and less wealthy audience, these are C2,D,Es and are around the age of 18 - 25, this is why there are no adverts in the show.

Genre:

The CBeebies podcast is educational, this is clear as the segments on the show are all designed to engage the young audience in a state of thought and teach them new words whilst broadening their imagination, for example the stories rotate around a letter and words will be repeated that begin with this letter, implementing them into the mind of the viewer, this is different to the Big John @ breakfast, Big John at Breakfast is a normal Breakfast show that is informative and entertaining.

The show advertises local and national companies. It is easy to tell that the show is informative and entertaining due to the news and music/topics on there.

This is similar to the Test Match Cricket and Charlie Sloth’s Sloth pad,

The genre of this podcast is entertainment and urban music.

We can tell this by the music played and the guests who are on the show, this is the opposite to the jingle,

The genre of the jingle is informative and the music genre is techno/dance. This is because of the sounds and tempo of the tune, it is fast and has flamboyant sounds. When comparing the audiobook and radio drama to the other audio products, you can see they are slightly different to them as they don’t inform, but are very equal to each other as they are for entertainment.

This audio product is a audiobook that is for entertainment.
The paper book is for entertainment purposes so it is clear to tell that the audiobook version is also. The genre of product is a radio drama, that is for entertainment purposes, this is due to the voice acting and the narrative.

Production Process:

The audiobook will be pre recorded in a studio, the narrator will read the book whilst being recorded, this will take a while to record as the book is very large. Once the recording is finished using a non linear software package such as Cubase or Audacity, the recording goes on the internet where it can be sold. This is similar to the radio drama.

The radio drama would be pre recorded in a studio with the cast present.

The wild sound would then be layered over the conversations using a non linear software package such as Cubase or Adobe audition.

When the radio drama is complete, it is available for consumption via radio or download as a podcast.

The radio show and the podcasts are created in the same way, however music is put onto them. All the audio products have pre planned material in them. This range from the sound effects on the CBeebies podcast, to the wild noises in the Archers. The script would be created weeks or even months before the recordings of the voices would take place, this is relevant to the audiobook, podcasts and the radio drama. All the audio products will follow a running order on the show or radio station they are on. On community radio stations ,this is the main consideration when planning for a segment. The production team would have to make sure they don’t have any legal and ethical issues, such as offensive topics, they must also make sure they use any copyright music. The production team must also make sure they hold meetings to discuss ideas and the progress of the product, the people attending this meeting would be, the presenters (the people who present/host the show), the DJs (the people who change the music), the music director(the people who choose the music), the producer (the person who coordinates the show), panel operators(they play the jingles and sound effects), segment contributors (they generate the concepts in the show in terms of segments) and the sales coordinator.

Before the audio product is released or finalized, OFCOM regulations state that a meeting must be held to ensure the product contains appropriate content suitable for showing before watershed. The audio product is not allowed to include profanity, racism, sexism or anything offensive. In shows such as Big John at Breakfast, a PRS license will have been bought, this costs £300 a year and allows them to play music on the show. The team must also get permission from the artists or representatives, so they don't breach copyright laws.