Contributing 101. Again. So Maybe It’s Contributing 102.

As always, we encourage contributions to extend the reach of Toppy, but to keep the site the best it can be, there are some guidelines we’ve set up. Before you start recording, peep these out to make everyone’s life easier:

It’s not only what the legal ID sounds like, but also the context in which it’s presented. With that in mind, here’s what we look for in an ID tape:

• Legal IDs should come from actual off-air airchecks. We won’t post production pieces out of the automation or recordings off a webstream.

• The actual legal ID of the stations, even if it’s a mumbled mess buried in the :50 stopset.

• At least 10 seconds of programming on both sides of the ID (not including dead air around the ID). Because context is so important, we will no longer post IDs without surrounding programming.

• If it’s in a jingle, the whole jingle (including jock talk, SFX, etc), plus the 10 sec. of programming on either side.

• If it’s done in a jock talk break, the entire break (or approximately 30 sec. of it if it’s terribly long), plus the 10 sec. of programming on either side.

• On high quality cassette, CD, or high quality MP3 (no less than 128 kpbs/44 khz). We very strongly prefer stereo files to mono.

• We suggest just rolling tape for a few minutes to catch the ID.

• Please provide the month and year the recording was made. IDs without month and year won’t be posted.

• E-mail ID audio to [email protected]. While e-mail is the preferred method of submission, FTP or a snail mail address is available. E-mail me for the scoop.

• For the lawyers (and yes, it’s an issue): We encourage submissions to tophour.com and tophour.net under the above conditions. Tophour management reserves the right to select what materials will be used on-site. There is no financial compensation for contributions. All submissions retain original copyright by the radio stations who produced the broadcast(s) and their ownership. Files will be removed upon written request by station ownership. All submissions become the property of tophour.net and tophour.com.

E-mail questions here; e-mail audio here.