From the press release: "A
first-of-its-kind customized radio service developed by the
XACT
Radio Network gives radio stations a new opportunity
to increase listener loyalty and generate revenue from a unique
form of audio streaming.
Created
by radio industry leaders, XACT Radio Network provides broadcast
radio stations a turnkey Custom Radio service on the station's
own Web site under their own brand..."
Greater Media's WBOS-FM/Boston
will introduced the service on their site today.
XACT partners and advisors include former Chancellor CEO
and current NextMedia CEO Steven Dinetz, former AMFM and ABC Radio
Networks chief David Kantor, and Bill Moyes and Terry Robinson
of Moyes Research and Strategy.
"Once the station-branded player has been downloaded
to the user's desktop, listeners can create their
own radio station by rating individual songs and artists that
stream across the player, based originally on the station's playlist.
Users can also influence their own custom mix by adding various
genres of music and indicating how much new music they want to
hear...
"At no cost to the station, the service pays all royalty/license
fees and bandwidth costs. The XACT Radio Network sells ads that
run on the player and shares a portion of the revenue with its
affiliates...Stations can also earn from subscription fees paid
by listeners who prefer no audio ads."
...
 |
...
Note in the top screenshot that a user can "proportionally"
select their own music mix from 16 different formats, plus
the amount of "new music" he or she desires.
On the pro side: this can be a useful tool for
Internet radio that stations like WBOS provide their listeners.
However, is it possible that by offering so many
different types of music, a station might hurt its own brand
image? Is it in WBOS's best interests to be associated with
music (such as Pop Hits or Country) that is not only so
far removed from their own on-air programming, but is also
staple for 'BOS competitiors?
... |
From the Washington Post: "Last month, hundreds
of radio stations around the country pulled the plug on their
webcasts. Now a handful of inventive radio people are employing
some clever gadgets to get this baby technology back online...
"KFOG, a San Francisco adult alternative station, has
one of the nation's more popular webcasts, according
to MeasureCast, a firm that monitors radio Web listening. If you
listen to KFOG.com, you'll hear the station's deejays and music
– just like always. But when it comes time for commercials, you'll
hear the start of some instrumental, jam-type tunes, and then
a voice:
"'Hello, and thanks for listening to KFOG. KFOG is no longer
allowed to transmit commercials over the Internet without permission.
We'll continue with regular KFOG programming soon. In the meantime,
check out some of the features of KFOG.com.'
"KFOG is a digital studio, and the music and commercials
are programmed down to the second. The entire day's
schedule appears on a computer screen, and each song or commercial
has a digital 'marker' that signals when it starts. When a commercial's
marker comes up, the recorded announcement cuts in, telling Web
listeners why they're not hearing an ad. KFOG implemented this
fix easily and never had to stop webcasts. Interestingly, some
Web listeners actually miss the commercials, says Dwight Walker,
KFOG's general manager."
Read the entire article
here.
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Radio and Records and RadioInk.com are both reporting that
following 3Com's decision to cease production
of the Kerbango Internet radio appliance last month, the Kerbango
development team has been officially disbanded.
The Kerbango developers sold their invention to 3Com last
June for a reported $80 million. But when the soft economy caught
up with 3Com, it announced the cost-cutting measure of dropping
its appliance line, which included the Kerbango and the household
web tool Audrey.
The two news sources report that until now the development
team had been holding on to hope that another financially capable
backer would come to rescue the project.
See yesterday's issue of RAIN (
here)
for analysis of why Internet appliances aren't catching on.
BY PAUL MALONEY
The newly-appointed president of DotClick
thinks the critical mass of usage for a company with a product
like his is one million users. Hit that point, and you're a success.
And Gene Fein's company will announce an alliance with an unnamed
"major music community site" in the next couple weeks
that he thinks will put DotClick over the line.
DotClick works with artists, radio stations, and record
labels to create a branded software "add on"
for media players like RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, and Nullsoft's
Winamp. Based upon the user's listening habits, the software provides
content about the music to the user, like artist biographies,
discographies, concert information, and new record releases.
Additionally, the user can connect with other fans of
the same music, exchange recommendations, and make instant purchases.
On the other side, the software provides the client (station,
label, etc.) with detailed research information about users listening
information and habits, like age, sex, location, and music and
media preferences. This information can then be used to design
targeted marketing campaigns, research music, and even plan concert
tours.
Fein says the value of DotClick for radio is that it "allows
individual radio stations to expand their existing brands."
With the resources for community building (instant messaging,
peer recommendations), stations can enable their fans to participate
in the "shared experience" that Fein says is at the
heart of enjoying music.
He also says that with DotClick, "large radio groups
can achieve an easy consolidation of resources."
For instance, stations could test music via DotClick,
gather information into detailed reports on listener gender, age,
and location, possibly even sell this information to the record
labels. And what makes DotClick more powerful than other
research tools, says Fein, is that the client can now reach people
when they're actually listening to the music.
We put the DotClick system through some tests of our own.
The song recognition database is strong, though not yet perfect.
If your MP3's are not encoded correctly, or your music is fairly
obscure, not only will the system not recognize songs, it may
"recognize" them as other titles. This of course would
"skew" your preferences profile, leading you to incorrect
community links, etc. The system is also, as of yet, not able
to recognize songs in streaming format (which may be a feature
many radio stations will be looking for).
Nonetheless, if it's possible for a company to provide
a tool that allows stations to truly consolidate useful resources
for their listeners and obtain
useful database information, success would seem most likely.
