Group items tagged

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.

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.

Are The Record Labels Biting the Hand that Feeds Them Radio broadcasters around the country are growing increasingly concerned about the long-standing relationship with the music industry. The record labels are demanding an additional "tax" (not including the hundreds of millions of dollars paid annually to groups like BMI, ASCAP and SESAC, which goes to compensate songwriters and music publishers) on local radio stations for every song played. The music industry must be in panic mode to intentionally put a strain on the over 80 year mutually beneficial relationship that previously had radio promote record labels and artists and generate millions of dollars in music, hospitality, small-business and merchandise sales. Free local radio reaches 236 million listeners/week but record labels seem to not really give a hoot about free promo, pay up or shut down.

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.

The techdirt blog goes for the jugular of John Conyers, not the same dude from the terminator movies, but one of the RIAAs biggest backers of forcing radio stations to pay to help promote music. It all started with John delivered a speech at an event put on by the recording industry lobbyists, Conyers made the analogy that the lack of a performance right mandatory fee for radio stations was comparable to slavery and indentured servitude. Techdirt sheds some light on the old practices of shady labels paying off radio stations to spin records fully knowing the momentum that radio promotion can lend to a project. But that was years ago when (the only way to steal music was to run out of best buy with a stack of cds in hand and hope you didn't get spotted by the surveillance)you actually went to jail for stealing music. Techdirt goes on to say that the argument of the lobbyist groups are completely made up and ridiculous, just an excuse for the labels that are unwilling to actually do something to properly capitalize on free promo. As artists who's arguments are more valid the RIAAs or the Radio stations?

The Greatful Dead knew a thing or two about business. "A group of stoners who somehow got more things right than the suits running the record industry, radio and even some high powered new media businesses." Some great business lessons that could be learned from this group are sprinkled through an article on indisdemusicmedia comparing their biz model to that of the Radio Industry's. Some of these points should be laser sketched into your brain (if you simply can't remember). According to the Atlantic Magazine article your fans are key to your ultimate success. But not all your fans. As with every musician you have different levels of fans, cater to only your most loyalist fans because their the ones that are going to purchase your music. Get a team together consisting of the band the road crew and and other organization members and periodically rotate the final decision makers. Your not the only one with good ideas on how to run things. Give it away until they buy it. Some things in life are uncontrollable (death, natural disasters and file sharing fall into this category) Don't try to fight against it. Rather embrace it and exploit it for your own benefit. The greatful dead exemplified this by not having an hernia upon the realization that their fans were taping their shows. Instead they used it to increase demand and drive the sales of other revenue streams. The same way that humanity doesn't fight against death but instead uses it to make the quality of life better the same way a musician should approach the death of the CD. Just because the CD has to die, doesn't mean that your career has to go to.

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.

Internet Radio Stations Rejoice.

Is Radio now synonymous with Gas Station. Jerry Del Colliano seems to think so. Big. National. Impersonal. That being said to bring positive results to radio is for the stations to remember the 80/20 rule. 80% live and local, 20% national or voice tracked (if at all). The number one way to start turning radio around right now is to abide by the 80/20 rule. It's not really that costly to do. Brings immediate live and local results. Returning to live and local rights a lot of wrongs.

In a panel discussion at the CMJ Music Marathon the Path of a Hit Song seemed to be highlight of the event. Those panelists who have had Hit Song success say that radio is key. Mass hits come from mass exposure. READ MORE.

Applying the Record Label Model to the Indie Artist You may already be familiar with the online world of myspace music and facebook pages, and the offiline world of shows and radio play, but as George Howard puts it "Err too far online, you fail. Too far offline, you fail". In order to be successful today you need to achieve the perfect balance between online and offline marketing. Eleetmusic's Kevin English outlines how to use the four R's (Radio, Road, Reviews and Retail) of the "Not so new record label model" to capture the audience statistically proven to be more receptive to trying to new things. College students.

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?

Rolce-Royce and Mecedes-Benz extend commitment to HD Radio Get your autotune ready to cover up any imperfections in your voice. Rolce-Royce and Meredes-Benz USA are extending availability of its premium HD Radio feature packages to more of its newest automobiles, with the goal to bring superior sound quality and clarity to all of their 210 models. That includes the E & the E-Class coupe, the CL, CLS, S and the SLK. If your particular about sound quality this may be a blessing and a curse.

Money owed that noone knowed. Are you a member of SoundExchange? Actually, let me rephrase, do you have songs on myspace? If you do then head over to SoundExchange and grab yourself a free membership. SoundExchange is a non-profit performance rights organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), internet radio and other streaming platforms. Myspace recently teamed up with SoundExchange to help identify the more than 25,000 major, indie and unsigned artists who are registered with myspace but not with SoundExchange. Collectively there's $14 mill in royalties sitting in a SoundExchange bank account, waiting to be paid to you.

Are you ready for Myspaces audio ads? Regardless if your ready or not they're on the way. Myspace has teamed up wth TargetSpot to find the right balance between music and advertising that will keep listeners and attract investors. Basically the strategy -Short audio ads, increase overall value. As the exclusive audio sales rep for Myspace Music, Target spot, which represents a network of both internet radio providers and some of the largest radio groups has doubled in reach from 20 million unique monthly listeners to as many as 40 million. Target Spots plan for us listeners who still find ourselves on myspace from time to time is to have a "sensitivity to the space" and ensure a good user experience. I hope this solves all of Myspaces problems, so that they can focus on their next task, helping the musicians of it's myspace music service.

As a songwriter it it important to learn where the next big shift is going to be in the industry, that way when it hits you'll be fully prepared to take full advantage of the future of radio.

Country Music Hall of Famer Carl Smith Passed Away Master honky-tonk stylist Carl Smith, the dashing "Country Gentleman" who was among the most successful Nashville-based artists of the 1950s, died Saturday, Jan. 16 at his home in Franklin. The Country Music Hall of Famer was 82. Radio exposure on WSM and on the Opry helped Mr. Smith to gain notoriety, as did his tours with Hank Williams and others he will be missed.

Pt. 2 of the path of a hit song with references.

Britney Spears: Baby one more time,