How to Use Awesome Audio Branding for your Live Shows

Have you thought about branding when it comes to your live video shows? How do you get the right look and feel? And how about "audio branding"? If you've ever watched my show or listened to the podcast, you'll have noticed my cool intro and outro with music and voice-overs.

In today's show, I am joined by Izabela Russell, who is the Managing Director of Music Radio Creative. Over the past 10 years, she's recruited over 150 voice artists, producers and musicians. And Music Radio Creative delivers over 500 orders every month to clients in 130 different countries. You'll recognise many of the clients they've worked with - some of the biggest names in the podcasting and live video world.

In this show, we're talking about how you can enhance your live show's branding - visually but specifically when it comes to your audio. I can't wait!

What You'll Learn

[6:34] More about Music Radio Creative
[12:36] About Izabela's first live experience
[15:50] Why is branding so important when it comes to live video?
[18:08] More about audio branding
[21:36] The importance of injecting your personality into your audio branding
[28:56] How you can get started with audio branding
[47:33] How to choose your voiceover

The Origins of Music Radio Creative
Listen at [06:34]

Music Radio Creative was established in 2006 by Izabela's husband, Mike whose background was in radio. Izabela joined the business in 2011 when she was expecting their first child and dipped her toe into the business. Her background was in business and banking but she soon fell in love with the creative world she now found herself involved in.

Within a year the company was able to sustain both Mike and Izabela full time and they now work with podcasters, radio stations, DJs and bigger companies such as the London Eye, and even consult on audio for the likes of NASA.

Music Radio Creative now has an international audio family of over 150 voice over artists, a team of producers, singers, musicians.

Izabela's First Live Video Experience
Listen at [12:36]

The first time Izabela went live she was with her husband, Mike so admits it did feel a little less daunting than going solo.

The first time she went live solo was when she had her YouTube channel, Audio Unicorn.

Mike and Izabela now do a live stream every week which has really helped Izabella with her confidence on live video.

Although Izabela describes herself as a perfectionist and does self-judge (English is her second language and she admits she judges herself on grammatical errors) but agrees that live video is a great antidote to perfectionism and a great way to get content done!

Why is Branding Important for Live Video?
Listen at [15:50]

Branding gives you and what you do an identity and as humans we relate things much more easily to things when there's a firm identity in place. A strong identity stamp people can relate to and remember is so important. You want to be remembered and known. @izabelarussellClick To Tweet

What is Audio Branding?
Listen at [18:08]

Audio branding is essentially another arm of branding in the more general sense.

Humans see, hear and feel. All three elements are important in branding in general. Audio is part of the bigger picture and can't be viewed in isolation. All elements of your brand have to be consistent.

We all react to different elements of branding in different ways, some prefer to listen, some to watch or read. The sound will be more important for some people than others.

Of course, some people can only hear and not see you so audio branding is so important for this reason alone.

The Importance of Injecting Your Personality Into Your Audio Branding
Listen at [21:36]

It's really important to inject your personality into your audio branding, just as all the other elements of your branding.

It's really important to be clear on your niche when it comes to audio branding too.

Niching can be scary, but when it comes to branding, it's really important to be specific. It's hugely important in audio branding because you need to know who it is you're talking to and who you're trying to appeal to. This then allows you to niche down on all the different elements audio brings, the music the voice, what you say, etc.

People always buy people and if you are at the centre of the show you're doing, then people are there because of you so putting your personality into your audio branding makes you much more memorable. @izabelarussellClick To Tweet

How to Get Started With Audio Branding
Listen at [28:56]

Begin by thinking about your intro, your outro and the transitions between different segments in your show to smoothly finish one thing and start another without any awkward pauses in between.

On your website, audio can be featured in explainer videos and in intro videos. Even in 'on hold' message recordings, commercials online or on the radio.

If you're not ready to start working with a branding company, perhaps because you don't quite know what you need yet, start by finding a piece of royalty-free music that represents your personality, character and what you do. You can always shape and refine this further down the line.

When you're ready to start working with a company, you may have a clear idea of what you want in which case a company like Music Radio Creative can help with their input and then take you through a simple process of getting that audio created.

Sometimes you may want a more in-depth branding analysis. Music Radio Creative has between 15 and 20 branding questions to help understand who their clients are targeting, what they offer and how they want to be perceived.

Based on that they write the scripts, create the intro and outro and all the bits in-between, suggest the music, and the voice artist too.

Think carefully about your music choices too. Of course, music is very subjective and it brings very specific emotions. Put aside the genre of music and instead focus on the emotion you're trying to evoke and how you want people to feel.

How to Choose Your Voiceover
Listen at [47:33]

Ultimately, this will be a personal choice.

You can either use a voiceover artist who is the same nationality as you, the host, or if your audience is mainly in another country, then perhaps choosing an artist with the same accent as your audience would make the most sense.

Izabela suggests that those in the UK, for example, could highlight diversity by using a non-native English speaker for their voiceovers.

Gender plays a part too. Although Izabela feels uncomfortable with this, there has been research which shows that people are more likely to buy from a male than a female. This may be something to take into consideration when you're talking sales.

Resources

• Music Radio Creative
• Download my live video confidence guide