 RAIN 7/17: Verizon to "push" Slacker app to Blackberry Storms ·Jul 17, 11:24 AM NO TRIP TO APP STORE NEEDED FOR STORM USERSNormally, to add Pandora, Last.fm, Slacker or other Internet radio services to a mobile device, a user must navigate to their respective phone’s application store (such as the App Store for iPhones), then find and download the sought-after app. Not so for Verizon customers who use the Blackberry Storm. Verizon will be “pushing” Slacker’s Blackberry application to devices over the next several days. That means Storm users will simply see the button for the Slacker application appear on their devices. No trip to an application store required.
Slacker’s Blackberry application also connects to Verizon’s V CAST Music store so users can purchase music on the go. The application boasts music caching, a “peak ahead” feature for previewing upcoming music and an optimized interface for vertical and horizontal orientations—a useful feature for the Storm’s full touch-screen. Find out more about the application at App Scout here. WOXY TO MOVE TO AUSTINLeading alternative and indie music webcaster WOXY will be leaving the Cincinnati area to set up shop in Austin, TX starting September 8. “Our new digs in Austin will allow us to take things to the next level and bring you even more live Lounge Act sessions. You’ll not only get to hear the sessions, but you’ll be able to see them as well. We’ll have our own sound stage that will allow us to shoot video of all of our Lounge Acts and bring them to you in HD video,” said the station in an online posting to its forum members (here). “As hard as it is for us to leave Cincinnati, we’re all pretty excited about what is to come.”
PANDORA LEADS ONLINE MUSIC SERVICES IN USAGE, SAYS NEW STUDYAccording to new data from The NPD Group, Pandora had the highest usage rate among online music services in Q1 with 41% of consumers aware of Pandora using the service. AOL Music had the highest awareness, however, with 30%. MySpace Music (25%) and Yahoo! LaunchCAST (21%) followed, with Pandora (20%) in fourth. Interestingly, AOL Music’s usage rate was relatively low at 13%, suggesting that either “consumers tried it and aren’t satisfied with the offering, or that AOL simply needs to do a more compelling job getting consumers to their music pages.” Find out more about The NPD Group’s findings at RBR here.RAMSEY: BROADCAST RADIO SHOULD LOOK TO NON-MUSIC CONTENT AS THE FUTURE“The ‘next big thing’ in radio is the gradual disappearance of music stations to be replaced by non-music stations,” writes industry analyst Mark Ramsey at his Hear 2.0 blog. Internet music services put radio at a “competitive disadvantage,” says Ramsey, and most — though probably not all — music stations may disappear. But “non-music” formats should not be limited to sports and talk. “If you think that the appetite for non-music content begins and ends with Sports and Political Talk and whatever slim recipes we have beyond that you will miss the boat completely,” he writes.
“Want ideas for new formats that are non-music? Just turn on your cable TV…In the long run, radio’s advantage – whether it be on-air or online – will be related to the compelling power and distinctiveness of our content. And the sheer clutter of competition will make compelling and distinctive music brands with loyal audiences far fewer and farther between.” WI-FI RADIO’S DESIGN WILL “GRAB YOUR ATTENTION”Satechi’s INSP3 Wi-Fi tabletop radio has an interesting barrel-like design that should help it “grab your attention,” says SlashGear (here). The device sports twin 8W stereo speakers, line in/out connections and the ability to stream network-connected music files. Of course, its primary function is to tune in to Internet radio stations, which it does through a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. The radio is available for $100.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 |
Read Ramsey’s full post 
“Want ideas for new formats that are non-music? Just turn on your cable TV…”
Perhaps Mr. Ramsey has forgotten that radio WAS in the non music business, until TV came along and swept it up – forcing radio to adopt a largely music based platform.
The premise here is almost silly. Radio isn’t TV and cable’s most poplar shows probably would fall flat without visuals.
If radio’s music position is destined to be overtaken by Webcasters (although I think the latest SoundExchange deal leaves that prediction in the dust), its future prospects are vastly diminished. You can only take non-visual programming so far, and its inconceivable that radio could maintain anything like its current audience with non music programming.
— Bob Bellin · Jul 17, 01:08 PM · #