 RAIN 8/20: iLike sale illustrates online media's need for unique "real value," columnists say ·Aug 20, 11:21 AM GO BEYOND TRACTION, EXPERTS SAY; BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERSiLike was sold to MySpace “for peanuts,” writes Business Insider columnist David Pakman, and is a reminder of “the need to build real value” rather than just traction in Internet start-ups. He compares iLike to Last.fm, arguing that both were sold (Last.fm to CBS, RAIN coverage here) because of high traffic but neither has found proper ways to create real value from that traction. Last.fm, he says, has suffered a loss in traffic while recent layoffs (RAIN coverage here) point to an “unproven” business model. Instead, he reasons, web companies should pursue creating real relationships with users and monetizing that audience. To read Pakman’s full analysis, read his column in Business Insider here.
Meanwhile, PaidContent’s Rafat Ali sees the iLike sale as “a perfect example of what will continue to shape all of the online and mobile music startups,” that is, challenges faced by low margins, inflexible record labels, a shrinking ad market and ultimately an unloyal audience. “For me as a user, it doesn’t matter if I hear a song on one or any other of the services,” Ali writes (here). “There are only so many ways in which startups can differentiate themselves…if you think music and artist discovery is the holy grail for differentiation, then be ready for new-music-service discovery as a fact of life as well.” TRITON MEDIA BUYS ENTICENT, WILL FORM NEW AUDIENCE LOYALTY UNITTriton Media has acquired loyalty marketing company Enticent. The company will form a new unit, Triton Loyalty, out of Triton’s own Mass2One Media and Enticent. Mike Becker, Enticent’s COO, will serve as the EVP of operations for the new unit, while Mass2One’s Tracy Johnson will take the post of EVP of audience engagement. For more, check out Radio Ink’s coverage here.
AMERICANS LISTEN TO MUSIC ON CELLS LESS THAN REST OF WORLDA study from Forrester Research found that 10% of mobile device owners use their phones to listen to music. As reported in RAIN last week (here), that’s double the amount of people who said they listened to music on their cell phones last year. But compared to 27% of British adults and 70% of Chinese mobile users that have said they listen to music on their cell phones, the figure doesn’t look so rosy. Forrester points to U.S. cell companies’ “overpriced” and restrictive music plans and foreign cell users’ lack of a separate dedicated music device as reasons for the difference. The study does expect growth in music listening on mobile devices, however. For more, check out InformationWeek’s coverage here.
SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYST OFFERS TIPS FOR BROADCASTERSSocial media analyst Jessica Northey has provided a sizable list of tips and suggestions to radio broadcasters to help in tackling the daunting world of social media. Among her suggestions: re-tweet constantly, always follow listeners that follow you, engage listeners on a personal level and schedule face-to-face “Tweetups.” You can read through Northey’s full list of social media ideas at the Full Throttle Country blog here.
NAB RADIO SHOW PANEL TO FEATURE “DIGITAL THINK TANK”The “Digital Think Tank Super Session” at this year’s NAB Radio Show will include CBS Interactive Music Group President David Goodman, Ando Media COO Paul Krasinski and Triton Media Group CEO Mike Agovino. Emmis Interactive founder and co-president Deborah Esayian, Intervox Communications president Peggy Miles and ICBC Broadcast Holdings president and COO Charles Warfield will also be present to discuss generating revenue online, creating an effective social media presence and building “an effective and affordable integrated digital strategy.” Find out more about the session, and the NAB Radio Show set to take place September 23-25 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 |
