A great opportunity to both (A) socialize with the movers and shakers of the terrestrial radio industry and (B) support a worthy cause is next week’s “Radio Roast” of longtime Jefferson-Pilot Communication CEO Clarke Brown. The black-tie dinner in support of the Bayliss Radio Scholarship Fund will be held at Cipriani in Manhattan next Wednesday night (3/16). Details at http://www.baylissfoundation.org. xx

From The Motley Fool: "First of all, I'd like to thank all the many people who wrote to me about a recent Take of mine, 'The Death of Radio,' [covered in RAIN here] which pondered the future of terrestrial radio after a Washington, D.C.-based casualty: WHFS...

"Several weeks later, more e-mails came in, and one type in particular made me pause. 'Hey!' these messages exclaimed. 'WHFS is not dead yet!' Apparently, it lives on -- and, in all places I wouldn't have suspected, it's on AOL.com...

"I've also thought that at this point in the game, AOL has to ramp up its content and services to give its subscribers good reason to pay up. Otherwise, the search giants like Google and hubs like Yahoo! and Microsoft's MSN are plenty eager to steer Internet surfers to content in the Internet wilds, free of charge.

Internet radio and AOL's future
"If there's any kind of content that people feel passionate about, it's music...

"Given this very truth, people are signing up for satellite radio from XM Satellite Radio and Sirius for myriad reasons...

"With all the options available, AOL may be poised to capitalize on another trend surfacing in the often deep-seated disappointment in terrestrial radio, by creating a virtual hub for Internet radio that far exceeds choices on the FM dial.

"I would say about a third of the sizable stack of e-mails I received were from people who proclaimed that radio's not quite dead -- 'here's a radio station streaming on the Internet that's great,' many of them said, suggesting their favorite. And more than one person surmised that even though the current environment that I described in the Take exists, maybe the power of Internet radio is underestimated at the moment...

"Next to the link for the WHFS.com stream were other related streaming music channels: Punk U, for example, or '90s Indie, or Alternative Mix, and more. (Hey, I think I might be in heaven!)..

"Evolution is obviously in the works, as I suggested in my Take when I discussed the concept that our society is decreasingly a 'hits-based' culture. And that, of course, makes services like Sirius and XM Satellite Radio increasingly coveted -- as well as, apparently, Internet radio.

"Indeed, this seems a great example of the kind of content that may just help AOL save its skin. With the 200-plus 'stations' that it touts on its site... it seems that AOL may have discovered niches of musical content that people feel passionate about and is giving them an avenue with which to enjoy it...

"For now, it's a members-only content offering; a non-members' version is expected to debut in the spring.

It's how AOL can "break the rules"
"I stick by my thesis in my original 'Death of Radio' piece about the slow, painful fadeout of traditional radio. It's unable to see what its listeners really want, and it sticks with formulaic fare that, given the changing tastes of the average consumer, will no longer work, sooner or later.

"However, maybe this goes to show that disruptive shifts are taking place in the industry; one of the tenets of a 'Rule Breaker' company, according to David Gardner, is to create a new solution to an old problem. Whether you jam out to 'your' music using your iPod, fire up your satellite radio, or stream music through your Internet connection, whether through AOL or one of many other sources, you're enjoying the options that technology -- and Rule Breaking companies -- have afforded you. It's enough to make you say: Radio is dead. Long live radio."

Read this entire Motley Fool article online here.

From USA Today: "With infinite capacity and far-flung communication links, the Internet has opened a universe of options to music enthusiasts.

"At first glance, it's a small world. The same ubiquitous hits that define pop radio also top the rankings of online tracks purchased at legitimate networks and those downloaded from unauthorized sites.

"But peer into the depths of cyberspace and a big-bang picture unfolds. The stockpile is boundless, a boom in availability that could change buyer habits. Fan forums are spontaneously sprouting around artists and trends...

"It's a phenomenon the music business has yet to capitalize on, though some legitimate services are starting to court these cyber junkies...

"New sounds and new bands are emerging from Web cabals, a blow to radio and labels used to setting the agenda...

"Community above commerce"
"Caleb Cattivera, 21, of Harrisburg, Ill., finds all the new music he craves on purevolume.com, where struggling bands post free files for sampling...

"'I'll browse that Web site all day looking for interesting bands to promote. There's a whole underground of great music, and 95% of it's better than what's on MTV, where bands play for money because they don't have anything left to prove. The kids underground or starting on indie labels are sleeping on floors, touring in vans and playing their butts off.'

"He's one of 24 reviewers for AbsolutePunk.net, which draws 6 million hits daily and more than casual glances from record companies...

"'A big record executive told me, "You have the power to make and break bands on that site." And I think it's true, because kids trust our opinions.'

"Unlike iTunes or Napster, enthusiast sites place community above commerce, earning credibility and loyalty that are crucial to luring youth dollars. That's one of the sticky challenges facing an industry that alienated downloaders with steep CD prices and piracy lawsuits...

"The industry's traditional structure has all but lost such consumers as Matt Brown, a Pasadena, Calif., ninth-grader who shuns the airwaves, seldom frequents record stores and distrusts directives from mainstream sources.

"'I listen to friends,' he says. 'Or I pick up tips on the Internet. I go to purevolume.com and find out what other people listen to. I found a lot of cool bands that way. Then I list my favorites on MySpace.com.'..

"Ethan Mantel, 16, of Los Angeles, relies on friends and online forums for guidance on techno, rock and rap acts... He sees little need to visit record stores except 'to check out used CDs or if someone gives me a gift certificate,' he says. 'It's definitely easier to find music online.'

Inheriting radio's mantle
"'One of the major challenges the labels have now is trying to figure out how to expose people to new music,' says Inside Digital Media president Phil Leigh. 'Obviously the Internet does that. The Internet is the most logical successor to support new music now that radio is losing clout,' Leigh says. 'The industry has to figure out how to harness it.'..

"As for labels, 'they're used to people adapting to them, and now they have to adjust to users' behavior. They just don't understand the user,' (former Grokster CEO Wayne) Rosso says. 'The industry is fairly myopic and still thinks in terms of units. We look at traffic, and there's a big difference."

Read this entire article in today's USA Today, online here.

From today's Washington Post: "Children and teenagers are multitasking their way through more electronic media daily, juggling iPods and instant messaging with TV and cell phones, and spending more time plugged in than they do in the classroom, according to a study released yesterday.

"America's children are such savvy multitaskers that they pack 8 1/2 hours of media exposure into 6 1/2 hours of each day, seven days a week, reports the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation study...

"Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman brought home the message yesterday by showing a picture of his 16-year-old daughter Jessica... In the photo [at right], the Menlo Park, Calif., high school junior sits at a desk in her bedroom with one foot propped on a computer. She's talking on the phone, writing a paper on her PC, a math book in her lap, IM-ing and e-mailing while Internet radio blares. A boombox sits at the ready, and the television is on...

"Since the foundation's original study in 1999, the time kids spend on video games and computers has more than doubled, but television time remains the same. Nearly 9 in 10 children live in a home with a computer, and 7 in 8 have a video game console of some kind...

"Television and music dominate children's media time -- nearly four hours a day are spent with TV, including videos and DVDs, and 1¾ hours a day are spent listening to music. After television, kids spend more time with music than with any other medium...

"In this area, the biggest change from the 1999 study is how teenagers access music, with many more downloading and streaming music and using digital music players such as iPods."

Read this Washington Post article online here.