BY VAL STARR
Remember the days when television was free entertainment.
Okay, we only had seven or eight channels, but
it was enough. Advertisers paid premium prices to expose their
products to consumers on network TV. Heck, there were lots of
commercials, but no one seemed to care. That’s just the way it
was.
Then came cable TV with 57 channels and nothing on. Consumers
docilely dished out dollars for television that was once free
entertainment. And still, there were commercials. In fact, more
commercials than ever, as the expanding independent networks struggled
to stay alive while competing with the major networks. During
a TNT movie I watched the other day, they were running eight-minute
commercial stop-sets every 12 to 15 minutes. That was my price
to pay for watching a movie on their network, while paying my
local cable company to air it on top of the commercials. But I
watched nonetheless, put up with the commercials nonetheless,
and continue to pay my cable subscription fee nonetheless.
Now, a new breed of media entertainment is struggling
to emerge on the Internet -- radio streamcasters. Streamcasters
came alive with a dream of providing a freer, more varied selection
of programming to compete with the ever-increasing staleness of
terrestrial broadcasting. Streamcasters are dedicated to exposing
new music and undiscovered talent, with the added value of interactivity
with their audience.
The streamcasters’ business model is not unlike any other
potentially consumer/advertising-driven medium. Its model is to
entertain consumers while being supported by advertisers.
Historically any medium that attracts consumer eyeballs
or eardrums has been an excellent vehicle to sell products. Why,
then, are streamcasters in danger of extinction before they even
have a chance to come alive?
The slow adaptation and acceptance of advertisers is only
one part of the equation. Consumers have gotten spoiled. Because
advertisers have been slow to embrace this new medium
and its viability to sell product, streamcasters have, up until
now, provided their entertainment virtually commercial-free to
consumers. That, coupled with companies such as Napster who have
played a part in bringing the value of music down to nothing on
the Internet, has made consumers forget that the Internet is no
different than the traditional TV and radio media that they have
enjoyed for decades. Streamcasters need to make money in order
to survive and cover their high bandwidth, production and overhead
costs. And the only way to do that is to insert advertising or
charge the consumer a subscription rate for commercial-free entertainment
-- or both.
Recently, we have seen an increase in advertising activity
on the web for streamcasters by way of targeted audio buys and
pop-up campaigns. However, now that we are finally running some
ad campaigns on our site, Choice
Radio, we are getting increasingly high numbers of "angry"
e-mails from our listeners. Many of these listeners threaten to
move over to competitors that do not run advertising; and as a
result, we are forced to rethink our advertising strategy for
fear of losing customers who still have the option of listening
to commercial-free music on competitive sites.
Because of the ease of communication by way of e-mails,
consumers are sounding out their dissatisfaction instantly to
streamcasters. It makes me wonder how Turner Broadcasting would
react if people were able to instantly send an e-mail relating
their extreme dissatisfaction at the glut of commercial breaks.
Further, when responding to these e-mails, I often ask
the consumer if they would rather pay a subscription fee for commercial-free
music. The answer (if one is given at all) is almost always an
emphatic "no!" Therefore, a streamcaster’s option of switching
over to a subscription model is a foolhardy idea.
We are at a critical stage in our industry's growth. We
need to continue to build our audience while garnering
advertising dollars, and keep the advertising at an acceptable
but profitable level. Further, due to the relatively low barriers
to entry on the Internet, there will always be somebody who finds
a way to provide a no-cost, commercial-free music service. But
remember, you almost always "get what you pay for." The quality
of these music sites will most likely not be as good as the professionally
run music services, nor will their life span be very long, as
they will find exactly what we have found -- any success will
ultimately kill those sites that are not advertisement-supported.
In addition, we also need to continuously enlighten Internet
consumers to understand and accept that nothing in this world
of any value is free, including music entertainment on the Internet.
Even MTV, which started out virtually commercial-free, eventually
had to succumb to the almighty advertising dollar to stay in business.
Consumers, beware! What has started out to be a beautiful
utopian existence on the Internet is in danger of extinction.
And you in part are to blame if you continue to expect to have
your cake and eat it too. If the current streamcasters fold tomorrow,
major networks on the web will only replace them, and you can
bet that advertising will heavily support these sites. And thus
the vicious cycle continues.
Val Starr is CEO and founder of ChoiceRadio. She has 20
years of experience in the record promotion industry at the leading
independent promotion firms in top level executive positions, including
West Coast Director of Crossover Promotions at Jeff McClusky & Associates,
Vice President of Promotions at Modern Music Marketing, and Sr.
Vice President of Promotions at Rotations, Inc. This essay originally
appeared in NewMediaMusic.com.
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"No
one else seems to care to get their hands dirty..."
|
The RadioWave MSN piece 
(in
RAIN here)
is excellent.
RAIN really pours it on and is at its best with this kind of
provocative analysis of the numbers behind Internet radio.
No one else seems to care to get their hands this dirty,
thanks to you and your "crack team of interns" for digging deeply.
| |
Michael Joly, Director of Internet Strategies Greater
Media
|
This feedback also concerns the RadioWave/MSN story...
|
"Perhaps
MSN is multicasting..."
|
Hypothesis 3a: Perhaps MSN is multicasting inside
their network as we suspect AOL is.
MSN announced years ago that they were going to support multicast.
If so, Arb and Measurecast numbers are all out the window.
| |
Tracy Barnes, President
Asgaard Interactive Multimedia LLC
|
|
"When
are these companies going to start supporting Mac?..."
|
Regarding the Earthlink and Radio Central announcement
(in
RAIN here)...
I noticed that Radio Central's player only works on Windows 95 or
higher.
When are these companies going to start supporting MAC OS
users?
|
"Uncle
Sam has sold us out to the highest bidder..."
|
The best thing that could happen to the broadcast
industry is for the government to totally disband Clear Channel
and AM/FM Inc. (among others). The day the FCC deregulated the broadcast
industry it invited failure.
Having been a broadcaster for over 37 years in the Houston
and Denver markets, I've seen radio programming go to hell along
with salaries and quality of product since such people as the Hicks
family (AM/FM) and Randall and Lowery Mays (CC) placed their greed
in front of the public's interest.
At no time has Congress changed the "Act as a public trust
in the public's best interest" portion of the rules that govern
licensees of broadcasting facilities. We the people own the airways!
CC, AM/FM, Infinity, etc., etc., were only intended to use the airways
in OUR (the public's) best interest! Where has that gone? Sadly,
down the toilet like everything else the government sticks it's
nose into! What's next from our noble leaders in Washington? Destruction
of the Internet by forcing control over OUR First Amendment freedom
of free speech! Napster is only the beginning! Uncle Sam has sold
us out to the highest bidder!
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