BY PAUL MALONEY
Rarely do we see Internet radio so nicely presented -- so nicely packaged. The channels at The Iceberg really do look like the result of...uhh...end-to-end thinking. Here's what we mean...

Pick an Internet radio site. Maybe your own. Visit the site as if you have never seen it before, and as if you don't work in the industry. A lot of sites don't look like they have a plan, a vision behind them that provided a "guiding spirit" for their design and implementation.

Some webcasters have done a great job in programming the music. They've taken the time and expense to get gifted, experienced programmers on board to make the music selection and the channel design just right. Thrilled with this product, they hit the Web. As if the quality of their streams will brightly shine and attract listeners like lost ships through the murkiness of a lack of marketing, shoddy looking design on the page, poor quality streams, or less-than-reliable hosting. "The music's good, nobody pays attention to the rest of the stuff," the thinking seems to go.

Or there's any combination of these variables in which one or two of the individual elements were brilliant, yet the execution of the whole suffered because other facets didn't maintain the spirit of the good parts. The Iceberg channels seem to be "the whole package! -- the result of thinking that

Toronto-based Iceberg Media claims to be an all-in-one developer of audio and video programming and production, design house, and streaming provider. Their "The Iceberg" site features a host for scheduled and archived concert video and audio (PrimeTicket.net -- an image from the navigation page is above -- it looks like a wall covered with subway posters), an online magazine (called Deeper), and three round-the-clock live streaming stations.

1Groove.com is The Iceberg's electronic dance offering, 2Kool4Radio.com is for indie/alt-rock fans, and Illnoiz.com covers rap and hip-hop. All three do a nice job in delivering the music their format partisans want, presenting the music with a sense of style and attitude appropriate for the audience, and cranking out a very listenable stream. These elements give a sense that these folks are all on the same page here, and share one unified view for the product, top to bottom.

Listen live 24/7 to a roster of djs on any of the three stations (archived shows, with playlists, are also available on all three channels). The sites (and their contents, like archived shows and interviews) are "searchable," should you want to go hunting for a particular artist or piece of music. And there are some interesting lifestyle features, like the Samhain Halloween ritual promised on 2Kool4Radio (we weren't brave enough to check it out). Being a streaming company, Iceberg does it right with nice broadband audio and video in the RealAudio format that came out over our cable modems with a minimum of problems.

And all three channels have cool little navigational gimmicks. Nothing overdone (spinning records and slideable mixer controls on 1Groove, spiffy transitions on Illnoiz, etc.), just little things that make it look like Iceberg really thought of everything to make the "experience" of visiting the sites cool -- beyond just the one or two things on which other sites concentrate.

About all that waits to be seen (and what else is there, when it comes down to it?) is if Iceberg Media can monetize this whole thing. Like a lot of the industry, it doesn't look like they're out of the red yet, much less profitable. And aside from Canadian clothing store Canoe's Jamcaster, we don't even know of any outside business that they've managed to drum up.

Yet maybe that's the plan. It sounds so crazy that it just might work: Get your product up and running exactly the way you envision it -- then work on selling it hard.

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From the press release: "Listen.com and Scour, Inc., a leading Internet search destination for digital entertainment, announced today that Listen.com has entered into an agreement for the purchase of Scour's assets. Listen.com integrates and distributes online music products and services across a network of sites.

"With the full support of the management of both companies, Scour and Listen.com's boards of directors approved the asset sale. The agreement was filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles for court approval...

"The sale offer will give Listen.com control of Scour's assets but will not make the company responsible for Scour's legal liabilities, (Listen.com's founder and chief executive officer Rob) Reid noted...

"In July, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) sued Scour over allegations of copyright infringement.

"Scour filed its voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles on October 12, 2000. The filing automatically stays all pending litigation against the company."

 

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Kurt Hanson is working from the Strategic Media Research offices today. To reach him, please call 312 726-8300 x. 4401, or e-mail him here.

The following refers to "RAIN Reader Feedback" from Bob Bellin (here) on why he feels some webcasters aren't reporting their number of listeners...

"The services are still fine-tuning their systems..."

Reporting is not the issue, it's how that information get interpreted and presented in public forums [in an improper manner] that is detrimental.

The systems currently in place to gauge the "listeners" are still going through changes. That means that the information presented as a "monthly report" in the past may not have been correct or properly measured. The services are still fine tuning their systems. When you throw in analysis on flawed data that then get presented in a public forum you wind up with a thoroughly misinformed group of people reading incorrect "expert" analysis [based on "not so correct data] and that is the detriment. While we believe Measurecast has the best system and Arbitron is moving forward they're all still tuning their systems to accurately report numbers.

Another issue is compatibility. Not everyone serves audio the same way and with that in mind - somewhere between the two, is us. We were reporting. We changed the way we serve audio and that affected the ability to receive data from us.

When we change our serving method we will gladly report.

Salvatore Lepore CyberRadio2000.com

"Rating streams in the same way terrestrial stations are rated is moot..."

Although a good exercise, one could argue that rating streams in the same way terrestrial stations are rated is moot. Why? Terra-Stations are rated for one reason- to help advertisers determine what stations they should buy for how much.

With that in mind, rating streams is unnecessary, since you 'should' be able to determine exactly how many times an ad was heard, allowing the advertiser to purchase a specified number of impressions. Joe Client get's exactly what he purchased rather than an estimate of an audience size.

That said, I do believe that subjecting streams to the rating standards of Terra-Radio IS important in helping radio broadcasters separate hype and reality.

Larry Downes

This piece refers to an article by RAIN's Ralph Sledge on new wireless broadband technologies, here...

"This is much further down the line..."

I think the reports of broadband wireless being on the horizon are greatly exaggerated. Here are some of the sobering issues:

1) Towers. New protocol won't change the fact that people don't want those big ugly towers staring down on their houses. Unless and until some other system (something like small transmitters on every telephone pole) is conceived, embraced, zoned and built out, last mile issues will preclude widespread adoption. No tower, no signal.

2) Spectrum. Much of the spectrum needed for G3 is now being used by TV stations to transmit analog signals. The current law says that they don't have to give up that spectrum until 2006 or 85% of America is set up to receive digital signals, whichever is later. Given that the current set top box runs around $750 per TV, it's unlikely that we'll hit the 85% number anytime soon. No spectrum, no G3.

3) Bandwidth costs. Bandwidth is still relatively expensive, despite efficient conduits like cable lines. The $40/month cable modem price that's become relatively standard doesn't assume the bandwidth needs that widespread streaming/downloading movies or wireless webcasting applications would require. Only the well to do gadget freaks would be willing to absorb the minimum bandwidth costs that would accompany broadband wireless. Remember, the price for the current, lousy quality voice only wireless app is still at $.10/minute. At that rate, the bandwidth costs to watch a streamed 90 minute movie would be $9.00 and then you'd have to pay Blockbuster.com or whoever originated the stream.

Any of these issues are enough to keep wireless broadband from becoming a near term reality. All of them together probably mean that this is much further down the line than many of the people who write articles on the digital space would have you to believe.

Bob Bellin mp3player.com

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For some time now, RAIN has had a "Who's Who" section of the site. We're looking to really beef it up, and in the process introduce you to some of the people who shape our industry.

Please let us know who you are, so we can add you. Please e-mail your short bio and a clear photo (if possible) here. Look for more featured "Who's Who" entries coming in RAIN...

Adam Guild Interep Interactive, Managing Partner Adam is the founder of Interep Interactive. He joined Interep in 1996 as Director of New Media. Previously, he was Director of Marketing for Woods Entertainment; founded Sports Radio 1390 in Charleston, SC; and was a Sales Representative for WXTC-FM in Charleston. He also consulted for Academy Toys and Interep. Adam earned an MBA from New York University's Stern School and a Bachelor's Degree from Boston College.

Graham Keenan Interep Interactive, Managing Partner Keenan was one of the original radio marketing specialists for Interep's Radio 2000 new business initiative, which developed more than $565 million new dollars for radio over the past 8 years. Graham first joined the company in 1983 as a Network Account Coordinator in Interep's Networks Department. He left in 1988 to join DIR Broadcasting as an Affiliate Relations Executive. He returned to Interep the following year as an Account Executive for D&R Radio. In 1993 he was promoted to Vice President/Sales for Interep's new business development division.

November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
November 12-14	Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) "Broadcasting 2000: On-air / On-line," Calgary
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA, featuring a brand-new national study on Internet radio usage presented by Eric Rhoads & Kurt Hanson
February 1-4, 2001	RAB 2001. Details coming soon.