Blogscapes

Here's a really fun spot that was a great collaboration with our friends at Porcaro Communications. Soundscapes' John Crowley provided the sfx sweetening, with voicework by Michael Penn and Jen Sweeny.

Enjoy Rocketman--

Somebody was bound to figure this out sooner or later. If Streaming Radio is great, then IP addressable advertising on that radio is even better.

Subscription-based radio (see Sirius/XM and other models) will not survive. The internet-using populus will reach a point of subscription overload, and decide that commercials aren't really that bad when the entertainment is free (see the last 60 years of radio).

Enter Clear Channel's Katz Media Group. They've struck a deal with Pandora to sell ads. Now, if they'll figure out how to let listeners CHOOSE what kinds of ads they want to hear, and localize those ads via IP address, new life will be breathed into radio.

Read the AdAge article, then think of the possibilities that come with addressable, permission-based advertising. 

--Brent Walker

Here's a great use of 9 minutes.
Randy Nelson explains the creative process at Pixar. This short talk contains a wealth of information regarding creative collaboration, as well as an overview of great hiring practices. Well worth the time!

Here's a great video from the GEL conference in which Ira Glass (master storyteller--This American Life) talks about the art of storytelling.

It's long (32 min) and it's slow to load (thanks Vimeo) but it's well worth the time it takes.

For the past 25 years, I've told voice talent that speech is simply music without measures. For many of them, this lights up a few new synapses, and makes talent direction easier for everyone.

Now, a guy named Charles Spearin--a horn player from Broken Social Scene--has put together an album in which he composes music around the inflections and cadences of interviews he did with neighbors of his in Toronto. The album is called "The Happiness Project." I downloaded it last night and listened twice. It's a remarkable piece of conceptual art.

Here's an excerpt from Vanessa. It's the story, in her own words, of being born deaf, then having cochlear implants. He takes her phrase "...all of a sudden I felt my body moving with sound" and makes music from it.

If you're a fan of the kaleidoscopic beauty of the human voice as well as the human spirit, you'll enjoy this album. Check out all of the cuts here.

--Brent Walker

We knew it was bound to come to this eventually...

One of the places I periodically go for creative inspiration is Coudal Partners. Their website is clean, uncluttered and full o' fun.

One piece of fun is their short film "Copy Goes Here". If you haven't seen it yet, it's well worth the time.

If you're in the mood for a good DIY movie (and who isn't?) "Shift-Option-Rinse" is not to be missed.

Great radio is all about storytelling. Tiny little stories built around a product work so much better than lists of product attributes. I don't know if you listen to This American Life or not...if you don't, you should. It's on your local public radio station.

The guy who does This American Life, Ira Glass, has put together four short videos that talk about storytelling. I just found them, and wanted to share them with you. They're great! He's great! Just watch these, and glean what you will.

There are four videos in this series...look for them in the Related Videos when they pop up!

There's a good reason! We're supposed to nap in the afternoon. Cultures that don't have our habit of immersing themselves in guilt know this. Turns out, there's good reason to nap...especially if you're in the creative business. Check out this article in the Boston Globe about the value of a good nap.

...so he decides to play an entire building. Here's a video in which Xeni Jardin tours the building/instrument with Byrne and gets an explanation.

More about the installation here.

...maybe a little too civilized. Naturally, the first place I headed was Clio's Radio Winners.

Some observations...
1—Most of these are 30's, owing to the unrestrained power of Clear Channel (who can say Antitrust?)
2—The best of the lot (and that's a stretch) are relegated to the Bronze awards.
3—DDB Chicago can't think of a new way to sell Budweiser.
4—That Theater of the Mind thing...anyone remember that?

I try and I try and I try and I try...

Thanks to John at American Copywriter...now I can't get the song out of my head.

We know you've been there.

You've got a creative brief on your desk, a deadline looming and that extra cup of coffee has done nothing but jangle your nerves like a four-hour trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

You're staring at a blank Word document. You've got thirty seconds to fill and enough "unique" selling points from the client to write a sitcom running to the first commercial break.

You try breathing through your eyelids like a lava lizard. You try transcendental meditation. You spend way too much time doing "research" on BuzzFeed. 

Then you try Museware.

Suddenly, the ideas begin to flow. You begin to get in the groove. Your fingers fly across the keys as streams of pure brilliance issue forth, the likes of which the world has not yet seen. Your spot wins a Radio Mercury Award and you pull down a sizable cash prize, which you use to finance your musical career as an R&B artist known simply as "MW" and start a clothing line selling diamond-encrusted belt buckles.

Strapped for a creative concept? Maybe you should try it.

I found this in my aluminum foil covered shoebox...

John and Tug over at American Copywriter had a chat recently with Luke Sullivan about the third edition of the classic advertising how-to guide "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This." Luke gave them the go ahead to leak a few choice tidbits from the updated edition, which they did, including a piece of liberating advice: "Try something naughty." I'm really looking forward to listening to the podcasts of their talk later on next week.