Radio: How much I don't know

It's amazing to me when you begin researching something you find out just how much you don't know.

Take radio for instance: Ashley Messing our Michigan Dairy Ambassador is now doing a radio program called "The Scoop." Since I was the one who came up with the "brilliant" idea to do a radio show, I told her I would be here to assist her in any way that I could. So, when she couldn't come up with a title for it....I helped her out. When she couldn't come up with an intro describing it...I helped her out. When she couldn't come up with music for the intro for it...I took a smoke break....and I'm on my fourteenth pack! (Joke)

Who would've thought picking music would be that difficult. Just pick a song you like and go with it. Oh no, not that easy. Three weeks into this project I'm thinking the radio program has been completed and ready to be listened to by all of America. Then I get an email from the producer, Trent Loos, who by the way is offering his expertise at a considerably low cost...zilch.

In his email he said in no uncertain terms it's time to pick the music. I contact Ashley, she can't come up with anything off hand, so we both decide to let the expert do it. I contact Trent and tell him he can pick the music....whatever he wants is good with us.

Well, between dying his mule pink(see Faces of Ag for a great story) and traversing the country standing up for agriculture, he doesn't have time to pick music and besides he said, it needs to be something Ashley likes.

Okay...I'll go with that. So here we are at square one again. So, I call my radio expert in Kansas, Kyle. Sick in bed he returns my call and starts talking this radio jabber about bumper music and how it can't be more than 7 seconds long or we'll have to pay a fee and you can't do this because of copyright laws and a CD full of bumper music to choose from....ahhhh! I couldn't tell if he was delirious from being sick or trying out his newly learned foreign language.

So I ask him, can't you just call me and play a few of these bumper music selections over the phone and I'll pick one? That idea didn't fly. Maybe he knew we'd be there for an hour while he played 2000 selections of 7 seconds of music before I picked one.

Frustrated and on my second pack of cigarettes I called Trent and said, for heaven's sake, are you sure you don't have some music there you can just use? He said, "No, besides it has to be just right, it has to match Ashley's voice, it has to be good." I decided at this point that if I ever wanted a career in radio I would never make it...I'm not picky enough.

So, are you tired of this story yet? Okay, then I'll keep going....I decided to check with Chewing the Cud radio host Amanda Nolz, I asked her what she did for her show. She said she and her roommates sat around one day and listened to selections on itunes and finally voted on one. Ah ha! Now, I'm getting somewhere! Why didn't the men who were making a living come up with this brainy idea? Why did it take a farm girl from South Dakota to enlighten me? We speak the same language...farmgirl talk.

I urged Ashley to start scouring iTunes and see what she could find. She did and emailed me asking for an opinion. I almost didn't take the time to listen. I wanted to just say, "Oh, that first one sounds great...go with it!" Afterall, it would've saved me from smoking another pack of cigarettes.

But...I lit up another and listened to her selections. Wondering if every bluegrass song had the same intro, I sat and listened to about 10 million songs and came up with the conclusion...except for the funny titles of the songs....they all sound the same.

With that, I emailed Ash and told her what I thought and haven't heard a word yet. So the question still remains....do we have bumper music yet? Or is the bumper crushed from a head on collision? I'll let you know when I know something. In the mean time hopefully I've whet your whistle and you are on the edge of your seat for the debut of "The Scoop"

And, now you know, I know nothing about radio and I've quit smoking!