 RAIN 9/28: RAIN hosts discussion with SoundExchange during NAB in Philly ·Sep 28, 11:39 AM LANE: SOUNDEXCHANGE “OFFERS AN OLIVE BRANCH, OF SORTS” AT RAIN SUMMIT EASTOne of the highlights of last week’s RAIN Summit East in Philadelphia was a presentation from Jon Simson and Bryan Calhoun of SoundExchange. “After battling with streaming stations for years over performance copyright issues centered on rate, reporting, and compliance, they came to offer an olive branch, of sorts,” writes Audio4Cast’s Jennifer Lane, who also spoke and helped organize the Summit.
Despite “[warning] the crowd that now that rates are settled SoundExchange expects compliance and payments,” which Lane found “both antagonistic and counterproductive,” SoundExchange’s appearance at the RAIN Summit East was “the friendliest gesture I’ve seen from the record label side of things, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it.” Find Lane’s full thoughts at her Audio4Cast blog here. WEBSTER: RADIO SHOULD FOCUS ON ATTRACTING TECH-LITERATE YOUNG TALENT; DIGITAL SUCCESS WILL FOLLOWWhile attending the NAB Radio Show, Edison Research’s Tom Webster was struck by how little time was spent discussing recruiting new talent into the radio industry, especially when compared to the intense focus on digital and new media. When attracting young talent was discussed, panel members said the “farm system” of small and medium markets was still in place, through which the talented can work their way up.
Meanwhile though, asserts Webster, “today’s talented young creative professional…[has] the tools to create their own future, and they are using them, not waiting around for their ‘shot.’ Attracting young talent has to be the primary focus for the radio industry today—there simply are not enough young people in the business for it to be sustainably competitive in the medium term.” Young talent is an asset in transitioning to a digital world as well, writes Webster, because such “web-savvy young creatives already know how to use the tools…hire the best young creatives now and tap into the knowledge they already have.” He continues this thought in response to a comment, “This—not getting FM radios on phones—is the REAL root crisis for the industry. Smart, talented and fulfilled employees will get FM radios on phones, trust me.” You can read his full thoughts at The Infinite Dial here. CELL CARRIERS TO FCC: WE NEED MORE SPECTRUM BECAUSE OF SMARTPHONE DATA USAGEThe uptick in smartphone popularity and data usage is straining the spectrum granted to cell phone use, mobile carriers have been telling the FCC. “450MHz of total spectrum just isn’t enough to keep up with consumer demand for wireless services,” reports Ars Technica. “They want the government to make more spectrum available to solve the problem.”
Smartphone data use is the primary culprit, providers said. T-Mobile points out that a G1 smartphone owner uses 50 times more data than the average T-Mobile customer, while AT&T says the iPhone helped cause a 5000% growth in data usage over the past 3 years. Mobile providers want more spectrum opened to them, but public interest groups say the existing spectrum should just be used more efficiently. Ars Technica has much more here. REDLASSO REACHES AGREEMENTS WITH STATIONS & PROGRAMS FOR “CUSTOM MEDIA CENTERS”Redlasso, a web service that lets users “search, clip and share nearly-live TV and radio broadcasts,” has reached agreements to create custom media centers for a number of radio stations and syndicated programs. Stations from Citadel, Clear Channel, Bonneville, Peak Broadcasting and Hearst-Argyle will soon have media portals online from Redlasso, as will Mike Huckabee’s syndicated program, “Huckabee Report.” Find Redlasso’s press release here.
EMMIS, NOBEX TEAM UP FOR BLACKBERRY APPEmmis and Nobex Technologies have partnered to bring Emmis stations to Blackberry devices, via the Nobex Radio Companion app. “Custom versions” of the app will be offered, with each pre-set to an Emmis station. Rhythmic WQHT/New York already has a Nobex custom app available, reports Radio Ink here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
Comment Other stories RAIN 9/2: Apple makes iTunes experience more social, more "radio-like" RAIN 9/1: FilterMusic.net excels at helping you discover new streams RAIN 8/31: Pandora's Les Hollander to speak at RAIN Summit East RAIN 8/30: Former Forrester analyst to deliver second keynote of RAIN Summit East RAIN 8/27: Radio vet Bill Gamble to consult AccuRadio's country stations RAIN 8/26: Clear Channel's digital chief Evan Harrison to leave at end of year RAIN 8/25: Pandora spotlights improved "genre-based" listening options RAIN 8/24: NAB presents details of proposed royalty settlement to members RAIN 8/23: Mobile media growth will even outpace Internet, predicts Nielsen RAIN 8/20: New deadline for Internet Radio Awards is August 31 |
