Welcome to RAIN -- a daily compilation of news stories, essays, and other resources to help you keep on top of issues involving the Internet and its potential impact on radio. This week, RAIN is coming to you live from Japan for a series of special reports.

BY KURT HANSON
Here's a sure sign that broadband (i.e., fast-speed) Internet access is really taking off in Japan: Instead of advertising that's aimed at business owners, as you might see here in the U.S., ads for ISDN service in Tokyo feature Masahiro Nakai -- a member of Japan's most popular boy band, SMAP -- and a cute, blue, fuzzy stuffed animal.

Japan is a country of 110 million people with 57 million cell phones, many of which already have one-button wireless Internet access (see Wednesday's story in RAIN here). It's a country where almost all of the pay phones are ISDN lines with RJ-11 jacks for the user's choice of either an analog or digital modem connection (which has been very helpful in uploading RAIN every afternoon). And it's a country where competing pop stars advertise different computer systems. (Nakai's fellow SMAP member Shingo Katori, for example, is the national spokesperson for IBM's Aptiva computers.)

The NTT campaign for ISDN service is a clear example of an ad campaign that's not aimed at business at all, but rather at consumers -- and the younger end of the range of consumers, at that! What I believe this means is that when music licensing issues in Japan get resolved later this year, a huge percentage of consumers are going to be able to listen to streaming audio on exceptionally-good connections.

(It should be noted, however, that use of the five SMAP members in advertising is fairly common. Depending on how ad campaigns happen to overlap, a single Tokyo subway car might include ads for five or more different products, each featuring a different member of SMAP as its spokesperson/endorser. (The so-called "SMAP effect" is a considered a powerful marketing phenomenon in Japan.)









Chicago Tribune Tokyo bureau chief -- and RAIN reader -- Michael Lev is joined by his wife, Carla, for a rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls hit "Slide" at a Roppongi-area "karaoke stage bar" called Smash Hits last Friday night. (Both Levs were active in college radio at Northwestern University's WNUR/Evanston, alongside Arbitron's Pierre Bouvard.) Friday was their final night at Smash Hits; they left Tokyo yesterday to move to Beijing, where Mike will take on a new assignment as the Tribune's new bureau chief there. (Look for a week-long RAIN Special Report from Beijing later this year!)


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Look for an announcement within the next week that former Vice Chairman of Westwood One Bill Hogan will join Vancouver, WA-based BuySellBid.com as its President and 20-year industry veteran and former group head David Martin will come on board as VP/Marketing; Martin was most recently VP/GM at three Infinity/CBS stations and CBS Plus Marketing in Dallas

BuySellBid.com offers NTR (non-traditional revenue) services including classifieds, auctions, personals and e-commerce systems. The company's partners include Clear Channel and NBC. Visit their website here.




From FMBQ News: "New York-based ClickRadio has officially announced their programming team... Former Y107/Los Angeles PD Max Tolkoff will develop music and programming for Alternative formats. WPLJ/New York PD Scott Shannon will oversee ClickRadio's Pop formats, and former WAXQ/New York Production Director Sal D'Aleo has been tapped to head up the company's Entertainment Programming Operations.

"Former MTV Sr. VP/Music & Talent Patti Galluzzi is ClickRadio's overall advisor for music and content. WAXQ air talent Dan Neer will direct Rock and Mainstream Rock formats. WXPN/Philadelphia PD Bruce Warren will assist with Eclectic formats. Gray Communications President/CEO Tony Gray will oversee all R&B formats. Jim Wood Enterprises President Jim Wood will develop music and programming for Country formats. Musician Herbie Hancock, along with industry veterans Chuck Mitchell and John Mrvos, will oversee Jazz formats.

"What exactly is ClickRadio? The company remains cryptic about its service, which launches in late April, describing it as 'a smart radio for everyday music listeners to enjoy the benefits of digital music through free, high fidelity and easy-to-use technology both online and offline.' Read the full story in FMQB News here (registration required).

As previously noted in RAIN, programming veteran Charlie Kendall was named VP/Entertainment Programming earlier this year. In today's print edition, Radio & Records describes ClickRadio as "a computer-based music service." An article on one of one of the early investors in ClickRadio can be found in an Industry Standard article here. The screenshot above was captured a few weeks ago; the current version says "Coming in April."

I believe that ClickRadio is the first Internet-only Webcaster to hire a full slate of respected big-name radio talent. It will be interesting to watch how it does. RAIN will keep a close eye on it for you.

I looked all over Akihabara (Tokyo's famous home electronics shopping district) earlier this week, and I didn't see a more stylish new home electronics item than the Sony Music Clip audio player (see photo).

And now you can win one in the first-ever RAIN Viral Marketing Contest!

To be eligible to win it, all you have to do is tell a few of your friends and/or co-workers about RAIN via e-mail, with a "cc:" to "RAINreply@kurthanson.com." (Need help composing the e-mail? Click here for some suggested language.) (If you've already done this, just send me an e-mail reminding me and I'll throw your name in the hat.)

RAIN is already up to about 800 "subscribers" (i.e., registered readers; see form immediately below) and we've been hearing from about 10 new readers per day. So here's the plan: If RAIN gets 100 new subscribers this week, we'll give away the Sony Music Clip to one lucky winner (chosen randomly from those who sent out the e-mail recommendations). If not, we'll roll over all the entries, add something more to the prize package, and try again next week.

So think of a few people you know who might like to read RAIN -- co-workers, college friends, subordinates, friendly competitors, clients, vendors -- and do them a favor and tell them about this daily, Web-based newsletter about the key issues affecting radio and the Internet. And win!

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