Re: [projectvrm] Making Money From Personalization in Radio

[Doc Searls < >]

On Feb 18, 2013, at 4:33 PM, T-Rob < "> > wrote:

Doc,

I notice you didn't include your assessment of said nugget.  

Not time right now.

My take on it is that however good the idea and implementation are, it won't make up for the underlying business model.

Agreed.

The single biggest asset terrestrial radio had was the DJ who was passionate about music and inhabited the regional music scene.  These people were the mavens whose charisma and personality played a big part in leading public tastes and introducing new music.  The biggest mistake radio ever made was to assume that it was airplay and not the DJ that was their most important asset, and then replace the DJ with automation, consultants and focus groups.  This started their death spiral to the bottom and now they have to dig themselves out.

The personalization system described below is essentially crowdsourcing the DJ.

I know. Radio, like most businesses, has always had a herd mentality. What they're pitching here actually has nothing to do with listening to listeners. It's following Pandora's footprints.

The best radio on radio today is off the air and on the Net. Heard <http://radioparadise.com>? Wonderful. Lots of others like that, too. None of them podcast, of course, because clearing rights on a per-song basis, required for podcasting, aborted that business in the womb. Thank you, DMCA.

Wouldn't surprise me if the next iteration constructed a virtual DJ whose avatar responds to audience feedback.  But all the system has is music and audience interaction.  It's more convenient than me making my own playlist but less accurate about my tastes.  And the only new music it'll play is what's first been passed through the consultants and focus groups (or bought and paid with placement).  What it lacks, and apparently will for some time, is the realization in the industry that it is the DJ that was the most important asset and the one thing that will revive terrestrial radio.  The personalization system may make listeners feel engaged, but not as though they have a friend at the station who excites them and interacts directly with them. "Few or no commercials" is the primary metric only because the DJ is missing.  No amount of interaction can make up for that.

(Incidentally, commercial talk radio is NOT the counter example here.  That model thrives on controversy and the ability to make extreme positions appear to be mainstream, coupled with an almost total lack of royalty expense associated with anything you could even remotely call art.)

-- T.Rob

I am a lifelong lover of radio, but I have to say, in respect to the thread on advertising, and what Chris brought up about the limited attention budget each of us has, that I now listen to very little radio. I do most of my listening to podcasts, mostly on the subway and when walking to or from the station. Not much, time-wise. 

Used to be I'd listen when I drove, but I drive very little now; and when I do there is usually somebody else in the car, and conversation sidelines the radio.

But I am a sample of one. :-)

Doc

From:        Doc Searls < "> >
To:        ProjectVRM list < "> >,
Date:        02/18/2013 03:28 PM
Subject:        [projectvrm] Fwd: Making Money From Personalization in Radio

---

Just thought I'd pass along this nugget from Radio Ink, which is about my last connection to the broadcasting industry. (Other than friends in public radio, but I get no automated emails from those folks. Just the actually personal kind.)

Doc

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Radio Ink" < "> >
Subject: Making Money From Personalization
Date: February 18, 2013 3:12:59 PM EST
To: ">

Can Your Station Make Money
From The Personalization Experience?

<Mail Attachment.jpeg>Personalization. Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and radio's other digital competitors all offer it, in different ways. Listeners today want a personalized choice. For listeners, it's not about the broad choices on the local radio dial anymore, it's about narrowing choices to fit their specific needs! Listeners want to be able to station- and genre-hop around the country and around the world, and they expect to have a lot of input on the music they hear. And they want to hear their music with few, or no, commercials.

So what can local radio do to keep these demanding listeners happy? Can your station offer a personalized experience, and can you make money on it? As it turns out, we've found examples you can emulate at your station and create a personalized example -- and you can hear about all of it at Radio Ink's Convergence, set for March 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California's Silicon Valley, where brilliant digital strategist Daniel Anstandig will moderate a panel on "Radio and the Age of Personalization." Radio can meet the demands of today's listeners and keep them engaged and involved. You won't want to miss this important session.

Moderator:
<Mail Attachment.jpeg>As CEO and co-founder of Listener Driven Radio, Daniel Anstandig leads the software company in developing innovative interactive programming tools for broadcasters. LDR's premiere "crowdcasting" product, which integrates real-time audience voting into a radio station's live playlist, is on the air at Citadel Broadcasting, CBS Radio, Virgin Radio in Europe, Harvard Broadcasting, Clear Channel, and several other major broadcasters around the world. During Anstandig's tenure as President of McVay New Media consulting, he advised the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, and Clear Channel R&D, among many others. His research and editorials on radio and interactive media have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Radio Ink, Billboard, Billboard Radio Monitor, Radio World Magazine, FMQB, and Christian Radio Weekly.

Panelists:
<Mail Attachment.jpeg>Jon Erdahl is President of 3D MediaVentures, advising Wall Street venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund partners. A 38-year broadcast veteran, Erdahl has clients across the U.S. and Canada. He regularly contributes articles on digital and broadcasting to Radio Ink, and is a frequent speaker at industry events. At 3D MediaVentures, Erdahl has the vision to leverage all radio platforms, maximizing unique revenue opportunities in the digital space as well as terrestrial broadcasting assets.

<Mail Attachment.jpeg>Scott Fleischer is Sr. Manager/Programming for TuneIn. He's worked with the company since 2008 and has helped make TuneIn one of the world's leading Internet radio platforms. He initially managed the global directory of 70,000 radio stations for TuneIn (then RadioTime) and now builds partnerships with broadcasters, introducing TuneIn's new tools for content providers. Fleischer's radio background includes previous roles with WSCR in Chicago, WTEM in Washington, DC, and XM Satellite Radio.

<Mail Attachment.jpeg>As VP/Business Development of AdsWizz, Rockie Thomas uses her 15 years of digital media experience to help audio publishers measure, target, and monetize their audiences. She has worked with digital audio startups Sonicbox, iM Networks, XACT Radio, Spacial Audio, and Bid4Spots, as well as traditional broadcast companies Chancellor Broadcasting, AMFM, NRC, and Emmis, and also with McVay New Media. Before joining AdsWizz, Thomas was VP/digital sales at Tribune Broadcasting, where she led a 20-person digital sales team.

<Mail Attachment.jpeg>Convergence 2013
March 4-5
Santa Clara Convention Center
Santa Clara, CA
www.radioconvergence.com

The early-bird discount expires Friday! Register today for $595; after February 22, the price goes up to $795.

About Radio Ink's Convergence
Radio Ink's Convergence is the "next generation" of the Radio Ink Internet Conferences held during the dot-com era. Convergence reflects the changes since that time and the next generation of things radio needs to be thinking about. It's more than the Internet; it's about things that are converging and gathering audiences, such as the next generations of the Web, digital media, search, user-generated content, social media, podcasting, mobile, online video, audio, streaming, texting, and so much more. This conference is for everyone who wants to see a future for radio, including owners, CEOs, market managers, sales managers, program directors, advertisers, podcasters, and online broadcasters.

About Radio Ink
Radio Ink is a leading radio broadcast trade publication, providing news, information, and commentary to radio sales and management professionals in the United States and 43 countries worldwide. The magazine, published 20 times per year, focuses on marketing, management, and multi-platform challenges facing radio broadcasters today. Radio Ink also reaches nearly 50,0000 radio executives online with daily e-mail headlines and news at www.radioink.com. The publication has also created several annual "gold standard" lists, including the 40 Most Powerful People in Radio, the Most Influential Women in Radio, and the Radio Wayne Awards.

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