ABSTRACT
THE RADIO BROADCASTER’S BRAND & SIGNATURE The term imaging refers to the niche area of voiceover work that specifically promotes a radio station’s sound or marketing image. The best imaging voice actors come from radio station production departments where they learn first-hand what station imaging is all about. An imaging production is usually fast-paced with lots of rapidfire, short liners, station call letters, station slogan or USP, punchy music cues, catchy sound effects, and processed voice tracks that define a station’s “sound” within its format. An imaging voice talent will be voicing a station’s IDs, promos, sweepers, and liners, and in some cases may even be handling the production. If you don’t know what those are, imaging may not be for you. If imaging is something you are interested in, you’ll need to know how radio stations promote themselves, and how your voice will be used as an identifiable part of that promotion process. You’ll also need to understand the differences between the various radio formats, and you’ll most likely need to produce a separate demo for each format. Imaging formats include: Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR), formerly Top Forty; Adult Contemporary (AC); Hot AC; Urban Contemporary; Alternative; Modern; Jazz; Oldies; Classic Rock; Country; News/Talk, and a few dozen more. Each format has its unique style and associated sound. Radio is a very itinerant type of work, and most of the top radio imaging voice talent have a background of several years working in
many cities and a variety of formats. They also have a solid background in production with an almost uncanny ability to instantly change their attitude and tone of voice to match specific radio formats. Although there are many imaging voice talent who provide only dry voice tracks, there are many more who can also handle the highly specialized production necessary to create the final imaging spots. To sum it up … radio imaging is about promoting the station’s image and attitude through your tone of voice and delivery. Gabby Nistico of VoiceHunter.com is an imaging voice talent, a
coach, a producer, and represents many of the nation’s top imaging voices. For more about radio imaging, scan this response code to read her article from the fourth edition of this book. Gabby’s Imaging demo is in the audio section of AOVA Extras.
