Group items tagged

Radio is starting to have an uphill battle with digital media. The car radio as we know it is losing its monopoly, and this could mean big news for internet radio stations, iPods and hard drives. The new wave seems like its how many itunes playlists can you get in? Radio used to be an 18 billion dollar monopoly, but predictions have it only sitting at 8 billion by 2006.

Radio tagging is supposed to be Radio's next big thing. The only problem is that currently, most consumers aren't widely tagging and downloading songs. I don't even think most consumers are aware that radio has enabled this feature. Most people are too busy surfing the stations trying to find a song that they haven't heard a begillion times. Radio seems to be naive of this fact, and have been moving full steam ahead with their song-tagging project. It works by using HD Radio and the Radio Broadcast Data System signals to tag songs with identifier metadata, called a Unique File Identifier (UFID) code. iPods or Mp3 players docked to the specially equipped radio can store the song metadata and indicate tagged songs available to download from the iTunes or Microsoft library, once the player is synched with a PC.

Radio isn't just for listeners anymore the RAB (http://www.rab.com/) CEO Jeff Haley is calling for a further commitment for radio station to start encoding their broadcasts with Song tagging technology, proving that the radio is no longer just for ears but for the eyeballs as well. The iPod Nano and Zune music players are both FM enabled devices that would provide a perfect opportunity to display the encoded signals, including song names. The overall idea is to drive more song purchases and awareness at the radio level, an even stronger indication that radio is still an effective medium for songwriters.

JamSession provides a fun new way to practice without a physical backing band. Guitarists or other solo instrumentalists looking for a backing band to practice their lead should look into this app. Personally i haven't used the application but it should be an easy way for musicians to practice with the robot you call your iphone.

A new radio study has noted that radio reaches 77% of adults over the age of 18 on a daily basis. Thats more than twice the daily reach of CDs, five times the reach of satellite radio (15%) and six times the reach of iPods and Mp3 players (12%). What they fail to mention is that record labels buy out all of those slots.

First came (the iphone controller i reported on b4) and now Akai has released the 25 key 3 engine virtual analogue iPK25 keyboard controller, sythstation for the iphone and ipod touch. The iPK25 is complete with a mixer, 8 voice polyphany for drum and synth and here's the kicker, can be used as a stand alone midi controller for the software of your choice. .

The Nydailynews says that radio is not supposed to be here right now. First, the TV was supposed to kill the radio by changing it from an audio to a visual medium, that didn't work so much. Then MTV was supposed to be the radio killer back promoting a product that sucked the magic out of songs by pre-empting the listener's imagination - again the radio withstood the test of time. To be fair MTVs claim was that television and radio could work together, promoting and enhancing the other and thats exactly what happened. iPods, and social media are the disruptive technologies now but something tells me many other mediums will kick the bucket before our good ol friend the radio lays its head to rest.

Ways for musicians to make money in their sleep. Place your songs with other recording artists. Let them do the touring and the twittering, while you earn money. Place your songs in films and television shows. Not only does it publicize you as an artist-it generates sync fees and performance income. Place your songs in video games or other products. The licensing rates are pretty low, but the exposure is ridiculously high. And you don't have to travel in a van, tear-down or set-up. Place your songs in advertisements. It's not only about grabbing that Apple iPod spot. There are national, local and international advertising opportunities that could fund your band's next road-trip. Create new music for film/TV libraries, which license "needle-drop" music to a wide variety of media. The sync fees are virtually non-existent, but because these are non-exclusive licenses, the same piece can be used again and again, generating significant performance money....

could apple be creating some form of radio experience that allows users access to any song you want, whenever you want it, from wherever you are using whatever device you choose? could we be headed towards the mass distribution of streaming music services and Internet-delivered radio?