As well as gearing up for the launch of the next set of Heart stations around the UK, our friends at Global Radio have been busy launching a brand new show presented by former Spice Girl Emma Bunton (who I had a major crush on).

Emma has joined Heart to present the Friday drivetime slot in London and a new music-based show on all the Heart stations in the network on Saturday afternoons.  Check out a Q&A with Emma on Heart’s website here.

We were thrilled when given the challenge to create a little extra IQ sparkle for Emma with a quick turnaround of just a few days. The whole team pulled together to create a piece of work we are all very proud of – A brand new theme that has the flavor of Heart with a touch of Spice Girls retro.  Spice up your life!

Check out the main ramp mix below or head to IQ Beats.com and check out all the mix-outs here.

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Our pals over at the always-growing Heart Network have begun to air some new additions to our 2008 Heart Network jingle package.  There are two new cuts for their Chilled Sunday imaging and two for Feelgood Friday.  In addition, we dressed up some of the previous cuts from the package to round out the pieces for Chilled Sunday.  Ch-Ch Check ‘em out…

Chilled Sunday 1

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Chilled Sunday 1

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Feelgood Friday 1

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Feelgood Friday 2

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And here are a couple of short versions of cuts from previous packages to get the Chilled Sunday love and a Club Classics…

Get Down

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Groove

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Chill Out – From the 2006 Heart Network package

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Fitz, Mary and Tony of Seattle’s 100.7 The Wolf have just received two smokin’ new “Fitz in the Morning” themes to go alongside their already smoking jingle package we created for KKWF some time ago.

Each of the two jingles are delivered in ramp, stager and shotgun form with :60 loopable beds in both full instrumentation and thinner form.  Hoooooowwwwl!

Check out the new themes below or hear all the new morning show pieces with the rest of the package ruling Seattle’s airwaves here.

Blast It! ramp

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Knucklehead ramp

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And now for something uplifting and inspiring from the Kansas City Star:

I guarantee you: This will blow your mind and get you to think twice before you judge a person by what they look like.

This week the three judges for “Britain’s Got Talent” TV show – including the crotchety Simon Cowell – were stunned by the audition of a frumpy, unemployed, “never been married, never been kissed” woman named Susan Boyle.

As the 47-year-old Boyle walked onto the stage, you could hear the audience snicker and Simon rolled his eyes as she told him that she wants to be a professional singer.

And then, she opened her mouth and the most angelic sound poured forth. Hear it here.

The audience sprang to its feet as Boyle sang “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables.” Cowell watched in disbelief. His two co-judges choked back tears.

“Without a doubt, that is the biggest surprise I’ve had in three years of the show,” said one of Cowell’s co-judges, Piers Morgan.

Boyle received three perfect scores and is the early favorite to win on the hit reality TV series.

In just three days, the clip of Boyle’s stunning performance is closing in on 3 million views on YouTube.

“I’ve always wanted to play before a large audience,” she said before taking the stage. “I’m going to make that audience watch.”

We’re all watching now, Susan.

After months of planning, writing and recording IQ Beats are extremely proud to announce our latest custom music-imaging package for the world famous 95.8 Capital FM is now on air.

When new owners Global Radio took the reigns of one of the most well know stations in the world, it was their top priority to get the station moving forward once again. After getting a vision from Director of Broadcasting Richard Park, it was onto the plane for Steven, Patrick and Michael and a visit to the legendary studios in London’s Leicester Square to spend the day at Capital and really get a feel for the station.

It was an unusually early start for the boys (not normally seen till lunchtime), but well worth it after the good times sitting in with Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon on the Capital Breakfast Show

The brief was taken from Capital’s Programme Director Paul Jackson and over the course of the project we have been incredibly fortunate to have nearly unlimited access to Richard Park and Group CEO Ashley Tabor, both of which have provided valuable input on this project.  Access to so many experienced and passionate individuals has resulted in what can only be described as a breathtaking array of cuts, beds, logos, talk-overs and IDs with our 95.8 Capital FM package for 2009 being one of our strongest to date.

We are holding on to the package for now, but you can hear a small selection of the cuts now on air at www.capitalfm.com.  All will be revealed soon with a few surprises too. Stay tuned!

This is Arden.  He works for Global Radio but has been residing at IQ Beats headquarters for what amounts to a very long time now.

Sadly we can’t divulge exactly why he is here, but we can tell you is that excitement in these parts is growing for our next major Global Radio project.

Arden is not just here to watch the sausages being made either… This is a client visit with a difference as one by one, each of the studios and personnel at IQ Beats fall under his spell of production wizardry and easy-going charm.

Find out more about Arden’s visit soon.

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Global Radio has just added nine local stations to the Heart Network so we’d like to welcome Norwich, Ipswich, Peterborough, Cambridge, Dunstable, Northampton, Bedford, Colchester and Milton Keynes to the family of stations using our current custom Heart Network package alongside Heart London, Heart Birmingham and Heart Nottingham.

All the stations are sporting super-sexy custom breakfast imaging so check back to hear those cuts online soon and look for more stations to joing the Heart Network in the coming months.

The team at IQ Beats are thrilled to announce the arrival of our new custom music imaging package for Global Radio’s classic hits network ‘Gold‘

Working directly from the brief of Director of Broadcasting Richard Park, our composers have created a set of material that truly reflects the timeless hits that are heard on Gold every day

The package consists of 7 themes anchoring Gold’s playlist and a top of hour news and travel sequence. Our Gold package is just right for imaging the greatest hits from the 60′s, 70′s, 80′s and today with artists like:  The Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Madonna, The Beatles, U2, Aretha Franklin and the Doors.

Head to the main site to hear the package cut by cut here, or check out the demo below.

Download the demo here | 7.1MB

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Thelonius Monk is widely regarded as one of the most important musicians in jazz. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire.  Often considered as a founder of beboop, Monk’s playing style later evolved away from that form.

His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk’s unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations.

Here’s a note that passed our desks entitled “Monk’s Advice” that we thought we’d share… He’s so, so right on so many levels.

Description of Thelonius Monk taken from this entry on Wikipedia.

To coincide with this year’s NAB conference, we have produced our most comprehensive and uber-stylish demo to date.  IQ Beats – Music Imaging 2008 features 3 discs of nearly our entire catalogue of custom music imaging clocking in just under a staggering three hours.

In addition to a tour-de-force through 35 demos of our custom products, there is an accompanying sixteen page booklet touching on the history of IQ Beats, the sound of IQ Beats, the experience of working with IQ Beats, mini-bios for each of the players at IQ Beats, and a brief description for all 35 custom packages featured throughout the three discs.

Here is a rundown of what you will find inside of IQ Beats – Music Imaging 2008:

Disc 1

1. Heart Network 2 – London/UK
2. RMF FM – Poland
3. LBC 2 – London
4. Fun Radio 2 – Paris
5. Heart Network 1 – London/UK
6. WKTU – New York
7. Heart 106.2 – London
8. KISQ – San Francisco
9. Mix 102.7 – New York
10. Heart Breakfast – London/UK
11. Ben FM 1 – Philadelphia
12. Ben FM 2 – Philadelphia

Disc 2

1. Fox FM – UK
2. RTL – Berlin
3. Fun Radio 1 – Paris
4. 96.6 TFM – UK
5. Chiltern FM – UK
6. Power 92
7. Power 92.5
8. Flow 93.5 – Toronto
9. UTV – UK
10. Century FM – UK
11. The Wireless Group – UK
12. Blink 102.7 – New York

Disc 3

1. LBC 1 – London
2. Newstalk 106 – Ireland
3. LBC AM/FM – London
4. SportsTalk 950 – Philadelphia
5. BBC Radio 1 Chart Show – UK
6. BBC Radio Manchester
7. BBC Radio Leeds
8. The Breeze – Australia
9. The Wolf – Seattle
10. KSON – San Diego
11. Kix 106 – Memphis

Due to an overwhelming interest in the demo, we’ve decided to make it available for sale.  Please see the link in the sidebar, or click the button below for your copy.