The "At Cost" Music Test

You know how to negotiate a service for your radio station. Don't pay others to do that. Pay only for the hard stuff: data entry, tabulation and analysis. And make sure you don't settle for less than the best in the industry.

If you've never done a music library (AMT) test, it can be intimidating. But you will succeed with the guidance you receive from Steve Casey.

But then, you'll know what is involved in the "data gathering" part of your research. Or maybe you've been doing music library testing for years, and you have the procedure down pat. Are you still paying a research company to do something that you can easily do yourself?

"At Cost" Music Test Faq

What is my advantage with the "at-cost" music test?

It’s simple. We combine our talents. You take care of the data gathering phase of your music test, and we will do the data entry, tabulation and analysis. As partners, you will receive the best quality music research in the industry from radio’s most experienced and respected programmer-researcher. Pay for what you should pay a research company for, not for marking up what should be pass-along charges. We call it the "At-Cost" music test because the test itself is conducted at your hard costs, while we charge only for the data and analysis services.

What’s involved?

It’s easy. You take care of the data-gathering phase of the music test. We’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide including proven forms and a checklist written so that any station employee can follow it.

Our comprehensive guide will show you how to secure the hotel, negotiate the recruit and moderate the test. Steve Casey will help you determine your screen. We’ll provide you with survey form masters to copy and use the night of the test.

How much does it cost to get the people to show up for my test?

Most library music tests are conducted with a sample size of 100 people. Depending on your market and the difficulty of your screen, you’ll pay a field service $50-$80 per respondent to show up the night of the test. You may want them to provide a hostess at a negotiable fee. Add to that the respondent incentive payment, usually $50 per person. You’ll make the best possible deal, with no extra money going to a research company.

How about getting the hook tapes made?

You can do it yourself if you have a really good production department. We’ll provide guidelines. Professional companies will charge between $1.00 and $1.50 per hook.

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How much can I save on the hotel?

You may be able to trade for not only the room but also the food for the dinner break. A light deli buffet for 100-110 respondents typically runs between $1,200 to $1,500. The room and parking should be free when you host an event with food.

How much will it cost to process my data and provide me with customized analysis?

We offer a totally individualized service. The core idea of the "At Cost" Music Test is to keep your costs as low as possible. At the same time, we will be as involved as you want. So any attempt to accurately state costs on an introductory Web page are doomed from the start! But I can share with you what our experience has been. A typical project fee (the part paid to Steve Casey Research) as been $5,000.

And we absolutely won't let you pay us more than you would pay elsewhere for the same quality of research design, analysis and application to your programming success.

How should I budget for the data gathering?

*Most research companies do not include these costs in their estimates. You will eliminate the high expense of moderating by hosting your own test using our proven techniques. These costs are estimates only.

Your custom total: _____________

What if I only want Variety Control ?

Many of our clients are experienced broadcasters who have established procedures for gathering their data. Some even own their own research companies. They need our leading edge analysis and application of the results. In such cases, we are happy to adjust pricing appropriately. We can add Variety Control and all our analysis to any research company’s test.

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