If you’re not in the radio industry, the term ‘radio sweeper’ would probably make you think of a janitor who comes at the end of a day to tidy up the studio. If that is what you thought of, not to worry, you’re not alone! There is so much jargon used in the radio industry, it’s hard for someone outside the industry or anyone looking to start a career in radio to understand what it all means. Today I’ll give you some valuable insight into what a radio sweeper is and why it’s important.
A radio sweeper is a recorded statement by a voice over artist identifying the name of a radio station along with a tagline or short phrase. It usually comes to less than 20 words in total and can be mixed with sound effects and effects on the voice (such as stereo phasing, echo or pitch shift to name a few).
An example of a radio sweeper is as follows: “You’re listening to 101.1 LOVE – we play the best music of the 90s – visit us at 1011love dot com.”
Why Do You Need Radio Sweepers?
When you’re playing a set of songs back to back you should aim to identify the name of your radio station in between each track so the listener knows they’re not listening to just any station. Radio sweepers are perfect for this purpose. They do the job quickly and allow you to get back to the music as fast as possible. You can have radio sweepers designed in such a way that it’s possible to lay them over the top of the intro to the next music track (before the vocals kick in). Some clever radio automation software packages can even play radio sweepers that mix seamlessly from song to song right up to the vocals of the next track.
Radio sweepers can also be effective if they include some sort of a call to action. Some examples of potential call-to-actions are as follows:
- Ask the listener to visit your website.
- Get the listener to follow your social media profiles.
- Ask the listener to call in to the radio station.
- Word of mouth – get the listener to tell a friend.
Longtrain has a way of creating radio sweepers that perk up the ears of listeners and drive messages home. Listen to one of its sweepers and you’ll see why!
