Earshot podcast: Adam Burgess and Tom Cross

Earshot with Steve Martin

Tom Cross and Adam Burgess of Contraband Media

The Earshot podcast is all about great radio production, shared by the people who make it.

In this edition Steve Martin meets Adam Burgess and Tom Cross: two thirds of the production house Contraband Media.

Together with music director Small Paul, Adam and Tom have built Contraband into one of the UK’s leading independent radio imaging companies with clients here, in the US, New Zealand and Australia. They were nominated in the 2017 Audible Audio Production Awards for their CHR imaging work.

In the Earshot podcast you’ll hear how they made the transition from technical operators on Southern England’s 103.2 Power FM to station imaging producers and then directors of their own business.

Tom and Adam share production secrets from their branded song intros from the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show with Nick Grimshaw and their Imaging Blueprint CHR imaging service and play some great examples of this work.

They also explain how their work for Radio 1 is puzzle of micro-editing, pitch-shifting, tuned voices, soft synths and the cheekiest individual syllables smuggled from song lyrics.

Generously, Tom and Adam share business advice for you if you’re thinking you might leave a salaried job and set-up your own production company or enter the freelance world.

…and we enjoy a simple, beautiful radio ad from one of the longest-running FMCG campaigns in Britain. It’s a monthly winner from the Aerial Awards scheme which honours the most creative and effective radio advertising in the UK.

Play the podcast

Tom Cross and Adam Burgess from Contraband Media.

(duration 38’48”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 54.8 MB)
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Credits

Research by Hayley Hayes. Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons.

Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review.

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From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin