Ayo Technology – How record companies and radio have embraced or failed to embrace the changes in the game, and where the hell do we go from here?
“We need to be careful here. Social networking is a great, revolutionary tool. But it is just a tool. Remember why people listen to the radio.”
Kelly K
Kelly K APD/MD, WKRZ/Scranton Wilkes-Barre
Ayo Technology – How record companies and radio have embraced or failed to embrace the changes in the game, and where the hell do we go from here?
“Napster wasn’t a failure. I changed the music industry for better and for always. It may not have been good business but it pissed a lot of people off…They’re scared of me, Pal…” Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker in The Social Network.
Many in the music industry would disagree with that line of dialogue. They wouldn’t think the music industry had been changed for the better. Not with massive layoffs and mergers upon mergers, and an era where being the top selling album means moving a measly 44,000 units. That was Cake‘sShowroom Of Compassion, a band, interestingly enough, not on a major label. Happy New Year?
Yes, the music industry has been changed “for always,” and artists at least, are adapting. A recent article in FMQB lauded the efforts of Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne having created some tracks on his iPad, and his plans to release them directly to the fans as they’re completed. Artists have historically embraced new technology. They look upon it as an interesting new medium for creative expression, a new tool to use, something new and fun that can jump-start inspiration.
In contrast, the corporate businessmen seem to see it is a threat to be thwarted. First they tried to use their might and sued that single Mom for millions to make an example out of her (do they really think they’ll see a dime?) They sued Napster, which declared bankruptcy and went away, but I still know plenty of people who file-share. Then they put out copy-protected CDs, which wouldn’t even play in computer CD drives, and more and more people were using those instead of CD Players. But hey, I guess it’s hard to look upon technology as inspiration when everything you’ve ever worked for and thought would be there forever gets wiped out in a nanosecond. I kind of know how they feel. I remember when the GM/owner of my first station came back from the NAB with a digital jukebox automation system.
Adapt or die…Our industries have received an Obama-style shellacking. Big Music more so than Big Radio. Maybe it’s because we in radio were written off in the ’90s with consolidation, voice-tracking and National PD’s. We’ve had nearly two decades to adjust to constant change as a way of life, whereas the labels have only had a few years. Maybe they’ll catch up and survive, like radio seems to be doing. But how are we doing, really?
Better than the record companies, but only because we aren’t trying to sell our product directly to the consumers like they are. Our consumers get radio for free. We just need to sell advertising to survive. The satellites didn’t kill us, neither did the iPod. We are now embracing digital media as an extension of our product, finding non-traditional revenue streams in cyberspace. Half-off deals with advertisers, which listeners can purchase directly from the station website, offer a benefit to the listener (they save money) and a nice chunk of non-trad for the station. We can sell our streaming audio. Individual stations are now getting their own apps for the iPhone and Android. As a busy working Mom, that would be the only way I would ever have time to go to a station website, if it’s on my phone! HD Radio? To me, that seems like a huge waste of time. A nice idea for the two or three audiophiles in the market, none of whom probably listen to Top 40. But I’ll defer to the forward-thinkers who came up with this idea. If HD Radio ends up standard equipment in new cars, they may have something. And for once radio would not have been late to the party!
Jobs have actually been added in radio. We have a whole new department for digital. Some companies are adding Social Media Directors, which is a brilliant idea, because right now a lot of that crucial social communication is being left to overworked programmers (and sometimes it just isn’t getting done) or to jocks themselves (which isn’t always but CAN at times be dangerous).
Let’s talk about social networking for a minute. Radio stations are on Facebook now. Jocks are tweeting. That’s great, we should be. But here’s what I’ve heard too often driving through markets, twisting the dial: “Blah blah blah Facebook! Blah blah blah Twitter! Blah blah blah YouTube!” It’s almost like we’re trying too hard. “See young people? We’re hip! We’re relevant!” The medium has become the message in a most twisted way. If all your content is on Facebook, what’s on the radio?
We need to be careful here. Social networking is a great, revolutionary tool. But it is just a tool. Remember why people listen to the radio. A lot of that hasn’t changed. It’s a free, HANDS-FREE medium. If I’m busy driving, working, cross-country skiing with headphones on, whatever – I don’t want to have to “log on” anywhere to get my entertainment or info. Radio needs to maintain some exclusive content where you actually have to listen to the radio to get it. I don’t want to feel like I’m listening to a four hour infomercial for Facebook.
Technology is a tool. Let’s use it to get closer to our listeners on a very personal level. We can chat with them through our text club and Facebook. They can comment on our blogs where we can go off on a topic that would be a tune-out on a music station. They can see us now, associating the voice with the face. We can entertain them off the air with our videos and extra content. This is a new and exciting art form. It’s also a lot of work to do it right. When does that Social Media Director start work again?
I don’t know how to save the record companies. All I know is artists use technology as a tool to create better art. There are some highly creative people who love music working in (or out of work from) the music industry. They’ll be the ones to save it. To all the “Music Heads” out there in records and radio, the promo reps, the jocks, the programmers who itch in the suits they have to sometimes wear – keep on keepin’ on! Think with that right brain, because this industry NEEDS you. Go forward in the direction of LOVE and not FEAR. Fearing change and new technology got us nowhere. Love of the music and our industries will save us.
