Reviewing

 

MUSIC REVIEW PROCESS

The process is pretty easy but there are a couple steps to get through before you’ll be awarded any credits.

 

Picking CDs

Before you can get started, you’ll need to pick up some CDs to review. These albums are inside the station’s EB office, which is usually open during the day (unless there isn’t an EB member around); should the door be locked, shoot me or any of the other EB members a quick email and we can let you know when to come in. The CDs that are in need of being reviewed are located on the top of the wooden bookshelf in the corner of the room, right next to the desk. When you pick up CDs, please make sure to write down your name on the white board (also in the office) and whatever you picked up.

 

The WordPress Review

First things first, the review; there are two parts to this. The first is the actual review, which you’ll POST on the review website over at wruv.wordpress.com. I’ll have to set you up with an invite, which will prompt you to set up an account and allow you to start posting on the site. So send me an email right now if you do not have access. Once that’s set up, you can submit your reviews – when you do so, I’d love if you followed a consistent format. That is, your post should look identical to this, besides the content of course.

https://wruv.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/iron-wine-beast-epic-sub-pop/

The body of your review should only be a single paragraph long. This paragraph should describe what the album sounds like, so that DJs who haven’t listened to the CD will know what they’ll be playing, or if they’d even want to play it. I’d recommend looking through the review site and just checking out a couple posts to get a feel for what I’m looking for.

Make sure you also post the songs you recommend be played, along with any FCC songs (songs with swears, which we can’t play), as well as any artists you think sound similar to the record.

 

The Sticker Review

After that, you’ll need to grab a STICKER from above the mail box by the office, otherwise known as Bill. This is the second part to the review. Throw that on the front of the CD you reviewed and write up a quick summary of your review. The format of this sticker is very important as well, it should look like this:

By RIYL, I mean “Recommended If You Like”, as in you recommend this particular record because it sounds Beach Fossils, or the Beach Boys, etc. If you’re confused as to what I’m asking for on the sticker, head into the on-air booth and grab a CD from the new stacks. Give a look over what the sticker says.

Also, make sure to grab an extra white label; you’ll want to cut off a tiny strip, which you’ll stick on the binding of the CD case. On this small strip, you should write the name of the artist/band in bold letters. This makes it easier for organizing the new music shelf, as well as for DJs to find a particular album while they’re in the booth.

 

Labeling the CD

Once you’ve posted your review online, and finished writing up the sticker and throwing it on, the last thing to do is LABEL the CD and CD case. With a sharpie, you’ll write down the first four letters of the artist name, the first four letters of the record label (or, SR, if self-released), and then the date you’ve submitted your review. It should look something like this:

on the back of Jen Cloher – Jen Cloher [Milk Records]: JENCMILK_080617

DO NOT FORGET TO ALSO WRITE THE LABEL (ex. AVALASTR_072116) THAT YOU PUT ON THE BACK OF THE CD CASE ONTO THE CD ITSELF, IN ADDITION TO WRITING “WRUV” IN LARGE BOLD LETTERS

 

Drop It Off

Once you’ve completed all THREE of these tasks (website review, sticker review, and label), you can finally drop off your CDs by walking straight into the on-air booth and filing the CD away in the top shelf of the ROCK section – make sure you file it in alphabetical order.

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂