 RAIN 7/24: RAIN Editorial: Radio needs to be more than a jukebox to attract young listeners; Twitter offers business guide ·Jul 24, 11:12 AM GO BEYOND WHAT YOUNG MUSIC FANS CAN FIND ON PANDORA, TORRENT SITES TO ATTRACT THEM TO RADIOThis essay by RAIN associate editor Michael Schmitt first appeared here in Jennifer Lane’s Audio4Cast blog.In reading and covering radio and Internet news for RAIN: The Radio and Internet Newsletter, I’ve come WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT Whether it’s through the Internet, friends, magazines, or whatever, we’ve discovered what genres and artists we like. Music discovery has shifted from radio to the Internet. I can find new artists on my own online. I know when new albums are coming out and I know what songs I like on that album. I don’t need singles to tell me what songs to like and I don’t need radio to inform me about new music. Perhaps most importantly, I’ll take music advice from my friend Elizabeth (or even from Twitter pal @christinajacobs) over some DJ any day, thank you very much. WE KNOW WHERE TO FIND BETTER JUKEBOXES If all a radio station offers is a continuous line of songs, broken here and there by commercial breaks or DJ chatter, I’m not interested. I have at least half a dozen other choices for jukebox-like playback, all of which cater specifically to me. I’m referring of course to Pandora, Last.fm, Imeem, iTunes’ Genius playlist creator and more. Heck, there’s even just the “Random” button on my iPod. Many of these allow me to continually shape my radio station as well, helping it adapt to my ever-changing likes and dislikes. WE WANT MORE, PLEASE This doesn’t mean that all we want out of music is a jukebox though. Far from it. Frankly, WHAT RADIO CAN OFFER Use your contacts and talent to create content I can’t get elsewhere. Interviews, in-studio performances, unreleased B-sides. Anything that goes beyond the album and gives fans of artists more of what they crave. I’ll tune in. And if you do it well, I’ll come back for more. AN EXAMPLE I was driving home late one night and — as I had forgotten to bring a CD along — was seeing what the radio had to offer. I came across an interesting interview with an artist, discussing how she had customized her Gibson guitar since getting it ten years ago. I was hooked. She turned out to be a blues artist – a genre I frankly can’t stand – but I listened to the whole interview and her in-studio performance. I actually sat in the car in my driveway until the segment concluded. Content like that is unique, interesting and attractive to music fans—no matter what generation they belong to. TWITTER POSTS 101 GUIDE FOR BUSINESSESAs Twitter grows in popularity among consumers, businesses and especially radio are looking to take advantage of the networking possibilities on the social media site. Now, Twitter has published a guide for businesses called “Twitter 101.” The guide, which includes a website (here) and downloadable slides, offers a crash-course on what exactly Twitter is, how businesses can best use the service and some case studies from a range of small and large businesses.
“Instead of approaching Twitter as a place to broadcast information about your company, think of it as a place to build relationships,” the guide states. It recommends businesses use Twitter to respond to customers’ questions, become an active member in their industry’s community, provide followers with “real value” (sneak peaks, exclusive deals, etc.) and do it all in a casual and conversational manner. The real-time aspect of Twitter is especially useful for businesses, the guide points out, as they can receive instant feedback on new ideas and products. For more on Twitter’s new business guide, read The New York Times’ coverage here. POLL SHOWS ADVERTISERS USING INTERNET AT TWICE THE RATE OF RADIOAccording to a new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll, 92% of advertisers typically incorporate Internet advertising in media campaigns, while 46% use radio. 14% said they rely solely on the Internet for ad campaigns, while 74% of those that use the Internet indicated that they use it more than a year ago. For more on the poll, read Radio Ink’s coverage here.
PERFORMANCE RIGHTS ACT ENTERS SENATEThe Performance Rights Act, legislation that would impose a performance royalty on broadcast radio, will be heard before the Senate Judiciary Committee on August 4. The companion bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 848) passed committee in May (RAIN coverage here). Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced the bill. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who will preside over the committee, is a co-sponsor.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 |
across a lot of frustration over my generation. Generation Y, The Millenials, the Echo Boomers, whatever you want to call us, we’re radio-less, meaning, we never grew up with a cherished radio station, never rushed home from school to hear a radio program or hear what new hits are playing. But as I have a foot in both camps, and spend my days writing about radio’s transition into the digital medium, maybe I can offer some youthful perspective on how to best target the new generation. Here’s how one 20-something sees it:
I’m tired of my Pandora channels. I want more. Remember how I said we know what we want? We also want more of it. Satisfy us. Give us something we can’t get from our iPods, our Torrent sites, our Pandora jukeboxes.
