On-Air talent step on vocal post of songs. Why?

[MorningTFXdude]

I know the state of radio isn't great.
I know everybody's scrimpin' and savin'.
I know good talent is hard to come by nowadays.

But I also know that there are some things in radio that you should have learned on your first day, and these things shouldn't be screwed around with.

I still listen to terrestial radio in the car. A lot of younger, modern things - Hot, 104, The Buzz, etc.

May have been going on for a while and my slow ear just never caught it, but recently I hear many On-air "talent" jump the gun at the end of the song, when there are a few words left to it, and start talking. It happens on all of these stations.

But I'll listen to K-Hits, and other stations with more experienced, and older talent, and this thing never happens. (And it shouldn't!)

Is this a young thing? Is this the new way it is taught? To start talking before the vocal part of the song concludes?

This was one of the first things I learned in music radio. Never step on the vocal post at the beginning of the song, and never, ever talk before the song stops 'talking' at the end.

Some help? Or am I just crazy?

 

[radiopropd]

Joe, this is a good question...I'll put it to you this way - the younger the on-air talent, the less overall experience. Conversely, the younger the talent, the less familar they are with the songs - or the post - and at the same time, they get ahead of themselves. As someone who has done this for a very long time, and depending on the format, i.e. oldies, classic rock, classic hits, country, and I, like many others, can already hear the songs in their heads - we're familar with the songs, so we know when to hit the post at the beginning of a song and when to back sell at the end.

Another item with this may have to do with voice-tracking - it depends on how their system is set up to play their recorded breaks - do they start too early, thus walking all over the song? It could be any number of things.

With this said, my young friend, it's something that most of us us have done for years, and we continue to do - that is one of the things that make of consummate professionals.

 

[SEMPERFIRADIO]

That is why, you listen to the songs before you go on the air.
You can tell an On Air Personality from a dj, us OAP we prep listen read & LIVE radio.
We use front sell & back sell segueys, we know when a song ends cold or fades or even when it has an intro for us to talk to the post.
Ooops it is called prep time.

 

[the brakes]

That is why, you listen to the songs before you go on the air.
You can tell an On Air Personality from a dj, us OAP we prep listen read & LIVE radio.
We use front sell & back sell segueys, we know when a song ends cold or fades or even when it has an intro for us to talk to the post.
Ooops it is called prep time.

Well said Semper...even if it's a song I've played HUNDREDS of times....I still drop it in "Q"...being professional mean being prepared. Also, I disagree with Morningtfx dude...with literally hundreds of talented people on the beach...GOOD TALENT IS NOT HARD TO FIND!

 

[duncanalausa]

i have actually talked to a couple of attorneys about this very thing. i think it is a symptom of the herky-jerky world of media in general. songs don't mean anything to these "jocks".

i have heard overlap mistakes in both beginning and end of commercials as well. (automation is not the only cause although i know some of it is).

ADD programming, as i call it, should be eliminated. when we had carts the tert tones were there to kick off the next cart. the first couple i did were thrown at me (literally) because i toned them to kick the next cart before the first one had finished it's spot. hard in's and out's are one thing but laying a spot ontop of the end of another is (or was) a no-no.

i know most stations have all the spots on computer now but the "toning" still uses the same premise. if a spot has a hundred words or a vocal sting at the end, don't tone it till the paid for message is over!

it isn't just radio either. television has gotten so bad about it i am maddened almost every day.

the reason i talked to the lawyers was to feel out whether i could start a class action lawsuit (with the proceeds going to charity) against this practice. a few advertisers have voiced support.

anyone else interested?