From yesterday's Salon.com: "Driving in my car, I turn on the radio, and like Bruce Springsteen (who penned that line), I'm on fire. Sure, it's 4AM and the Wyoming grasslands lolling by my window make me want to sleep but my Internet radio is tuned to a samba station in Rio de Janeiro and I feel like I could drive forever. OK, this is still just a dream, but before long you will be able to tune in your hometown station from a car on the other side of the globe or sit through your daily rush hour while listening to an Argentine tango station or the jazz of WWOZ in New Orleans from wherever you live.

"By next year, a few American cars, including some Lincolns, will roll out of the factory with Web-radio devices already installed. And Motorola expects to install its 'iRadio,' a wireless Web connection for cars, in some European autos in 2001.

"Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio are developing in-car devices that by next year should offer up to 100 radio channels each, and Aram Sinnreich, an analyst with Jupiter Communications, expects several other companies, like the General Motors subsidiary OnStar and the wireless audio on-demand service Command Audio, to add Internet radio capabilities to their dashboard devices...

"What do these devices mean for traditional broadcasters? Will Internet radio -- a term that refers to traditional radio stations that stream their programming online, as well as stations programmed by amateurs or even yourself at sites like SonicNet or Shoutcast -- give independent and alternative stations a leg up? With Internet radio on the brink of having the freedom to travel wherever you do, broadcasters big and small are looking pretty closely at '"the future....'"

Read the full Salon.com article here. It includes some chioce quotes from CBS VP of communications Dana McClintock. (Follow each of the links associated with the logos above, and you'll have a solid hour of interesting web surfing!)

From a featured essay in Gavin.com: "To stand out from the increasing number of sites, web-based businesses must have a solid strategy for building and maintaining their brands. This challenge is intensified for music-oriented, Internet stand-alones that don’t have access to the automatic co-branding power of a sister radio station or cable network...

"[A key] branding issue for Internet start-ups is the URL itself. Sites that are affiliated with a radio station can build upon the station’s established brand, such as Hot95.com or WXYZ.com, while Internet pure-plays do not have this luxury. The URL, therefore, becomes one of the most crucial elements for making a lasting impression in the minds of consumers.

"Val Starr, President and CEO of ChoiceRadio.com—an Internet radio site that focuses on customizing playlists and introducing new music to its listeners—believes that poor URL choice is one of the biggest branding mistakes new sites can make..."

Read the full essay in Gavin.com by Darlene Fiscus here.

Yesterday's lead story (here) was about a Chicago Sun-Times article (here) on WXCD/WMVP stealing away Q101's webmaster. (The RAIN reader quoted below took advantage of the "Kurt, this is deep background -- don't quote me" checkbox in the form above.)

"Keep it simple!"

The most important elements for a station website? Keep it SIMPLE!

This story of the Q101 webmaster just reminds me that the Q101 site is awful. It's way too busy, hard to navigate, and all that Flash is distracting!

I know radio folks think Flash is "cool", but there is a reason why top sites (Yahoo.com, and KPIG.com in radio) do not use Flash: it's too busy, and too thick to download.

Please don't quote me, and keep me anonymous, as I work for a Radio/Internet company. But you may be hearing more from me later on.

PickTheHits.com clairifies board members
From R&R Online: "Gerry DeFrancesco, the former Gannett Radio President joins WNVZ & WWDE/Norfolk PD Don London and consultant Dan Vallie on the radio board for the website, which works with record labels to expose their new music to Internet listeners. PickTheHits also clarified that KMXV/Kansas City PD Jon Zellner and WXYV/Baltimore VP/Programming Bill Pasha are not members of the board, as was stated in a PickTheHits press release and reported by R&R Online yesterday." (PickTheHits is an Internet venture developed by consultant Alan Burns.)

June 12-14	Streaming Media East 2000, New York City
June 14-17	R&R Convention 2000, Los Angeles
June 14-17	PROMAX & BDA, New Orleans
July 13-16	Upper Midwest Conclave, Minneapolis
August 3-5	Morning Show Bootcamp, New Orleans
September 20-23	NAB Radio Show, San Francisco
October 5-7	Billboard/Airplay Monitor Seminar, New York
November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA

xxx

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If you're hiring for a position that's radio- and Internet-related this week, we'll post it -- free! Simply e-mail the job description here. If you're looking for new opportunities that involve the Internet, you can take a look at the first three available positions here.