 RAIN 7/31: Motley Fool asks: Will listeners ever accept subscription models? ·Jul 31, 11:55 AM SIRIUS XM iPHONE APP, PANDORA OFFER INSIGHT INTO RADIO LISTENERS’ EXPECTATION OF “FREE”An advertising-supported business model does not provide large webcasters with enough revenue to turn a profit, writes Rick Aristotle Munarriz of The Motley Fool. But is a subscription model a realistic alternative? Users’ reactions to Sirius XM’s iPhone app are discouraging (“Definitely not worth the $12.99 monthly premium to non-subscribers…I’ll stick with free Yahoo! Internet radio,” said one user).
Then there’s Pandora, which had little success with subscriptions: “We originally thought it was a subscription business and did that for all of three weeks before we realized that it had to be an advertiser-supported free service,” said Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren. Basically, as long as there’s a webcaster streaming for free, users have an alternative to paying monthly fees. “Until everyone erects a tollbooth, you can’t blame music fans for going the legally free route,” writes Munarriz (here). “This should keep pricing honest, forcing Internet radio to evolve its model.” MEDIAPOST OFFERS SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR “SINGLE-REVENUE-STREAM” MEDIA COMPANIESMedia companies with single revenue streams need not turn to different business models to survive diminishing ad revenue, writes Dave Morgan of Media Post, but they do need to make some key changes. That includes leveraging technology to compete with the ever-threatening new media companies online.
“Technology can help companies do more with less, and do it more predictably…It will not be possible to compete with Internet-driven low-cost producers of content, context, audience and advertising (like Google, Facebook, Craigslist, et al) without taking this step,” Morgan writes (here). Other key changes include measuring everything against ad revenue and managing costs to “harvest” value. “Yes, it’s easy to bemoan the whipsawing that broadcasters endure when their single revenue stream hits one of those terrifying, roller-coaster-like plunges in ad expenditures, like what we’re seeing in this current recession. However, I do not believe that all is lost, or that days are numbered for media companies with single revenue streams.” STITCHER PARTNERS WITH CNBC, BBC; ADDS SUPPORT FOR MORE BLACKBERRY MODELSStitcher, a talk and news radio aggregator application for the iPhone and Blackberry mobile devices, now includes content from CNBC, BBC World Service, National Geographic, Public Radio International, Revision3, and Dictionary.com thanks to a series of new partnerships. Additionally, the Stitcher application is now available to BlackBerry Curve 8800 and 8820 users. The application streams web radio from content providers like Fox News Radio, NPR and the Wall Street Journal. Stitcher won the “People’s Voice Webby” award for Mobile News in 2009.
BROADCASTERS AT MORNING SHOW BOOT CAMP URGED TO USE SOCIAL MEDIASocial networking sites like Facebook and Twitter should be essential components in the toolboxes of broadcasters, KZOK’s Bob Rivers told a session at the Morning Show Boot Camp in Nashville’s Renaissance Hotel. In fact, Rivers said he now uses Facebook more than e-mail because the former offers easy instant communication with listeners, according to Radio-Info.com’s Tom Taylor. “Group heads and investors may talk about ‘monetizing digital’ – but for the producers and show hosts and PDs and consultants here in Nashville, it’s street-level practical stuff about bonding with the audience and improving the ratings,” Taylor writes.PANDORA AMONG 10 BEST BLACKBERRY APPS FOR SUMMER VACATIONSure, that little Blackberry in your pocket is an e-mail, conference call and otherwise business productivity workhorse, but what about when it comes to relaxing on the beach? Can your mobile device be more than a temptation to check your work e-mail on vacation? Of course it can, says PC World, which lists the top 10 Blackberry applications “guaranteed to enhance any getaway.” Pandora is the first in the list, followed by such selections as TweetGenius, Netflix and Shazam. Find all of PC World‘s recommendations here.
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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 |
