 RAIN 5/29: Web radio in cars could spell trouble for FM, says columnist ·May 29, 11:55 AM WASH. POST’S PEGORARO TAKES SLACKER, PANDORA ON THE ROAD“It took a long drive over a holiday weekend — a setting that should have played to all of radio’s traditional strengths,” writes Washington Post tech columnist Rob Pegoraro today, “to show how much trouble commercial FM stations may have in store.” In other words, Rob likes listening to Internet radio in the car. Now that you can get affordable fast data plans, wireless carriers don’t bar streaming services like Internet radio, and the devices allow either browsing or apps for tuning in Net radio, webcasters like Slacker and Pandora can effectively compete with terrestrial and satellite for listeners on the move.
Pegoraro compared the no-charge mobile streaming options from the two services. And his “road focus” brought up another potential weakness for web radio listening while Read Pegoraro’s “Fast Forward” column here. And here is the transcript of a Q&A session Rob had early this afternoon, particularly interesting as there are reader questions regarding Internet radio, devices, and royalties. FORMER RECIVA EXEC TO HEAD NEW RADIOTIME EUROPE/ASIA/UK OFFICEOnline radio tuning technology company RadioTime has opened a U.K. office. The company hired Ian Henderson to lead the office as VP/Sales for Europe and Asia. Henderson had been VP of Worldwide Sales for competitor Reciva Internet Radio.
RadioTime CEO Bill Moore said, “The percentage of users who access the RadioTime Guide on their mobile devices or digital home devices as compared to their computers is much higher in Europe and Asia than it is in North America. Our new U.K. office is tasked with meeting the increasing demand for the RadioTime Guide from European and Asian manufacturers…” IPHONE APP MAKES FOLLOWING DIFFERENT TWEETERS LIKE TUNING IN RADIO STATIONS Instead of receiving tweet messages from everyone you follow all at once (or, for those who use apps like TweetDeck, in separate compartmentalized sections) like conversation at a noisy party, WhereCloud’s new Reportage iPhone app allows you to “tune in” to any one tweeter you follow, as if you were tuning in to their radio talk show. There’s no audio involved here, keep in mind. “Radio” is simply the analogy/theme Reportage uses. When you tune in, you’ll see only the messages posted by that particular tweeter. The horizontal tuner at the bottom, like a stereo radio tuner, helps navigate your options. When you’re ready to “listen” exclusively to someone else’s tweets for awhile, just “switch stations.” You can even create favorite pre-sets (Reportage calls them “stars”). There’s more from ReadWriteWeb here.
share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
He writes, “In practice, Slacker [above right, on a Blackberry] was more enjoyable to listen to, and not just because Pandora [at left, on an iPhone] could only do mono sound on a Verizon Wireless Blackberry I used for much of this test. Slacker, with 2 million or so songs in its catalogue compared with Pandora’s 600,000, offered more variety — a good thing behind the wheel, where I had to ignore (the) customization options (thumbs-up/thumbs-down/skip) to focus on the road.”
driving: unlike traditional FM, there’s usually no air talent to identify song titles and artists for the driver with his or her eyes on more important things. 
