'Mix Radio' on the Nokia Lumia

I think it's widely accepted that increasingly radio stations need to offer more than just a music service with a nice brand behind it, if they are to continue to engage with listeners.

More and more streaming music services are available to consumers every single month, and this extends to handset manufactuers getting in on the action.

So to ensure they are keeping up with the pace, Nokia yesterday announced that as part of the new Windows phone... Nokia Lumia, you'll get something called 'Mix Radio'. It's a bit like a cross between iTunes, Spotify and Pandora... and a radio station!

It's nice that Nokia have chosen to use the word 'radio' as part of the offer... even if it's not how I'd traditionally define radio i.e. there's no human involved from the 'other side'. But let's leave that debate for now!!

So, now there's a little bit more competition for 'share of ear' and and even more choice for the consumer, which has got to be seen as a good thing. Whether this is a success for Nokia... we will see!

Worldwide Radio Summit 2011 - Los Angeles

This update is brought to you with “Valley View Casino & Hotel and their all you can eat Lobster Buffet”.

OK – it isn’t... but the new morning show from Rick Dees starting this week on LA's Hot 92.3 actually is!!

You’ve guessed it. I’m in Los Angeles where I was speaking at the Worldwide Radio Summit that’s just taken place in Hollywood. So, what did we glean from this newest of conferences and what’s the current vibe in US radio?

It would be fair to say that a few themes and topics dominated the conference and also the chatter in the halls and lobbies of the hotel.

They were;

1. Social media, mobile and radio
2. The threat of streaming music services
3. The lack of personality in US radio
4. The economics of radio business

A lot has been said and written about Social Media and its intersect with radio over the last few years. If you thought that traditional UK or European media is obsessed with it, then spend a day here! It’s fair to say that it is THE topic that everyone discusses and everyone has an opinion on. There were plenty of sessions where a variety of angles were looked at, from how you develop a deeper relationship with your audience via Social Media platforms... through to building and sustaining your numbers.

There were some great quotes from the panel sessions, such as “Facebook is the new Elvis” so it’s easy to see how the importance of having a decent Social Media strategy is now essential. There were lots of ideas and suggestions that all had value, but let me point you to one person who I thought made the most sense and had a great understanding of the key issues. Lori Lewis is Jacobs Media ‘Digital and Social Strategist’ and she also writes a column for All Access. Here you’ll see some great tips on having a brand conversation with your consumers / listeners. If you’re looking for a specialist to help you develop your radio brand conversation, Lori would be a great starting point.

Regarding the threat of streaming music services, there is no doubt that the US radio industry is in a bit of a spin about Pandora, and what to do about it. There was the now pre-requisite debate on whether Pandora is actually ‘radio’ or not, which had a new and very ‘market driven’ argument applied to it; “If it takes ad revenues from radio... it’s radio”. Not sure I agree with that one, and my opinion on what Pandora / Spotify etc are remains. Streaming music services are great... but they’re not radio. The human element is what defines radio for me, and I while listening to Pandora last night in my hotel room, it did not inform me or discuss the death of Bin Laden.

There was the suggestion that engagement with ‘jukebox services’ diminishes over time but on the other hand, no-one can deny their growth and increasing significance, especially in the mobile arena. Fred Jacobs did a great presentation about the influence that mobile has on the lives of the US consumer Mobile is where it’s at... radio just needs to work out how we now fit in with this.

There was a great session on ‘personality radio’ and the organisers put together a fantastic panel of talent and agents including Rick Dees, Big Boy from Power 106, Dr Drew, Phil Hendrie and Tony Novia from Ryan Seacreast Productions amongst others. It was superbly hosted by former Xfm PD, Andrew Phillips, who now works from the ABC Network in Australia. The messages? Personality should be allowed to flourish. Don’t over research everything... allow your instinct as a programmer to have a say. Talent needs time to develop and if you’re fired from somewhere, that means you’re probably really good!!

The session reminded me of the ‘power of the personality’ and I written before here about the need to make sure we’re not diluting this on our stations, but encouraging it and nurturing it. The answer in trying to combat services like Pandora is not behaving just like them.

On talent development, the old philosophy still holds true: “It’s far easier to teach someone with a personality, radio skills... than to teach someone with radio skills to have a personality!”

Lastly, we had regular reminders of the fact that radio is still a business, and often the desire for ratings success forces stations to take the obvious path, and that which will receive least resistance. The problem is that this often is not the most creative path, and rarely differentiates your station. US radio is for some only about money, and the art and magic of radio has disappeared. I hope that the rise of Social Media and the perceived threats that now exist to the radio business will act as a catalyst to force groups to have a re-assessment of the role of creativity in radio.

In a great discussion over lunch, the aforementioned Andrew Phillips reminded me that if the fear of ‘losing’ is greater than the desire to win, then this leads to a proliferation of mediocrity. That’s what we have with SOME radio stations and groups both in Europe and the US. Those that are willing to be brave, will reap the benefits!

So all in all, an excellent conference and congratulations should go to Joel Denver and Sat Bisla whose companies combined to put this together. Radio needs events like this to ‘stop and chat’ and share some best practise and opinions. We won’t always agree, but it’s important to have the dialogue.

And on the differences between radio in the US and the rest of the world. Yes- there are some... but there more that unites us that divides us.

Now, remind me of where can I get an “All you can eat Lobster buffet” in this town?

"Barcelona... And shake the foundations from the skies"

And as another conference fades away into the distance, what did we all glean from our time at NAB Europe in Barcelona? (Apart from the fact that the Arts Hotel is a jolly nice place to stay!)

There is no question that listening via digital, the convergence of online and radio, and the fact that radio is now a multi-platform, multi channel medium, dominated the topics in the conference sessions and discussions outside them too.

There was a whole extra day devoted to podcasting, and sessions about the topic in the main schedule of events... and the issue of 'time shift listening' and 'radio on demand' is something I'll return to time and time again over the next 12 months, I'm certain.

Ensuring radio stations are still create engaging and stimulating content was never far from the lips of the programming fraternity, however for the first time I've begun to notice a real sense of fragmentation in radio world.

The Futurists: These are the people who believe that for radio to survive, it needs to fully embrace the opportunities that the digital future has to offer. Radio on demand, multi channel offerings on multiple platforms, placing content where the listeners are... not expecting them to always come to you etc etc... The tone was set by Natalie Schwartz from Channel 4 Radio in her opening remarks to conference and there is little question that Channel 4 and it's services will be pushing this as much as they can once fully launched. These futurists tend to be from countries with large populations and mature radio markets.

The 'Non-Content' Collective: It was great to see someone from Pandora (Paul Brown, their 'International' MD) at the NAB Conference. I like Pandora. I think it's a very clever service and I use it at least once a week. But is it 'radio' in the classic sense of the word? Likewise there were other 'music only' streaming services represented and they, like Pandora have found a particular place in the radio world that is separate and distinct to what we know as conventional radio... but obviously very closely related. Again, in a multi-channel environment where decent on-air talent is at a premium, we can expect more and more of these kind of services to flourish. I feel a separate blog about Pandora coming soon!

The Luddites: I was surprised at how many 'old school-ers' there were around. I had several conversations with people who didn't quite grasp the impact that digital technology and the Internet will have on the traditional radio business. I'm frightened for them to be honest with you! I know different countries and different markets are at different stages in the development of radio... but pretty soon, geographical boundaries won't mean anything to a whole generation of people growing up with a sense that the world is on their doorstep, and they can access any media they want, at any time.

Larry Rosin from Edison Media Research spoke eloquently on the topic of The Infinite Dial. It's "radio's take" on that great book by Chris Anderson called 'The Long Tail', which is getting more relevant to radio day by day. Larry 'et al', are firmly in the "...let's march forward boldly into this brave new world..." camp. I confess that I will be marching with them.

Do nothing, and the danger is that your radio business will be left behind forever.

The Future of Radio...revealed!

So what is the 'Future of Radio' then?

That was the question posed to a panel of the finest minds at the cutting edge of broadcasting last week, as part of a Radio Academy sponsored session at the music industry conference 'London Calling'.

After persuading the technical guy that "Yes - it is pretty important that we have the sound working" (!) Chris Kimber, who is Managing Editor of BBC Audio and Music Interactive gave an excellent demonstration of what the BBC is currently very good. Namely, producing content that may start in the radio sphere... but morphs seamlessly onto other platforms.

Radio One's 'One Big Weekend', Glastonbury coverage and 6Music sessions were all paraded in front of a salivating audience who started to realise what their licence fee got spent on!

Chris believed that the future of radio would involve producing content that sat on lots of platforms and virtual places, like MySpace and Facebook... and that creating more engaging content with visuals was an integral part of how radio needed to progress.

James Cridland, the Director of Digital at Virgin Radio and soon to be the BBC's Head of Future Media and Technology, Audio and Music, tended to agree. He eloquently delivered a record 46 slides in 7 minutes explaining that the visual element of radio needed to develop further and that 'glanceability' to a screen whether online, on a mobile device, or a fixed point radio was essential to the future of the medium. Just displaying the frequency is no longer an option. Consumers want, expect and can deal with more visual content. James also delivered a passionate defence of FM radio, rubbishing suggestions by some sections of commercial radio that there should be an analogue switch off by 2015. FM works well and consumers still like it. Commercial radio are trying to tip the scales in their favour and using it as a ploy to gain the upper hand in the ratings battle. And he's got a point...!

Finally, the soothing tones of Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora took to the podium to tell us that online bespoke music services were the future. Well he would say that wouldn't he! He shared some great stats about the growth of Pandora and how he really viewed it as a 'music discovery' service, which helped disenfranchised music lovers in their late 20's and 30's still discover new bands and purchase products. He saw the movement of these services into the mobile environment as offering the consumer more choice, but did realise the distinction between a content rich, information led, 'DJ' radio station... and a wall to wall music offering. Yet it's all radio really. Well... just about!

I've listened more and more to Pandora recently and creating about a dozen custom stations (with my Marvin Gaye / Bananarama hybrid being a particular favourite!) and to me it is radio, but radio that is driven by your mood. If you want no interruptions, but a few musical surprises along the way, give it a go. It's like Magic without the DJ's... or ads... or repetition... or news... or weather... or Michael Bolton. Actually, it's nothing like Magic. Scrub that!

So what can we glean from staring into our crystal ball then? I believe traditional radio, web, TV and mobile will all converge (as they currently are) at a greater rate. The consumer will dictate what technologies they want and the responsibility of programmers worldwide will be keep pace with the technology and create cross platform content that works in these different arenas. A 2 tiered system will be created based on the level of content. Those who opt out of the content game will have a harder job to compete, but can do so providing they have a USP top their product (e.g. Last.fm / Pandora).

One final thing. If you can start a company that can do 'conference sound' that...

a) works
b) is audible to humans... and
c) doesn't feel like you're trying to conquer the north face of K2 by asking someone to connect it up

...then you'll probably be able to retire to a large island in the Caribbean by this time next year, as the demand for your services should be enormous! Good luck with it.

Future of Radio - Preview

Having had a sneak preview of the presentations from the panellists at the Future of Radio session at the 'London Calling' conference later today, I'm certain there will be some interesting views expressed.

Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, the online 'music discovery service' tours the world as an evangelist for his service... and has a unique perspective on how music radio listeners tastes are developing. As a result of having him on the panel I've found myself being sucked more and more into the world of customisable radio stations. Is this the shape of the future?

Likewise Chris Kimber form the BBC and James Cridland, soon to also be from the BBC, have polished up their crystal balls and some great things to say about where the radio industry is heading both in the UK and globally.

A full review of the session coming to this blog soon... but I'm sure Marconi would be on the front row if he could be!

The Future of Radio!

So what is the “Future of Radio”?

We’ve got an explosion in non-liner radio. Podcasts, listen again and time-shifting listening are now really taking hold. Listening on multiple platforms is growing massively across the UK. Not only DAB, but mobile environments, games consoles, IM applications. You name it, there’s probably a radio station broadcasting on it. And we haven’t even mentioned satellite radio, and the wealth of other platforms that a global perspective brings us!

If we had a crystal ball, what would the world of radio look like in 10 years time? Would changes in technology drive the programming sector? Would the conventional mass-market format still work? Would people still have their trusty old clock radio to wake them up in the morning?

Fortunately there’s a chance to pick the brains of some very informed individuals on this topic coming up soon!

‘London Calling’ is the UK’s largest music industry conference that gathers attendance from worldwide delegates and addresses a whole host of hot topics from the explosion of user generated content sites and what they mean for the music industry, through to the changes in marketing music to a variety of generations.

Naturally, the record and radio industries are so closely connected that putting a radio session on at this conference was a bit of a no brainer. So under the patronage of The Radio Academy (as it was Trevor Dann’s excellent idea!), I’ll be chairing a session called ‘The Future of Radio’.

My guests will be…

James Cridland, Director of New Media at Virgin Radio (and soon to be head of Future Media and Technology for BBC Audio and Music)

Chris Kimber, Managing Editor of BBC Audio and Music Interactive,

Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora - the US based online streaming portal for customisable radio stations.

All 3 have a great vantage point to help us work out the radio roadmap, and give us an insight as to where we are all heading.

If you want more details of the conference, head to http://www.londoncalling2007.com/

If you can’t be there, I’ll report back on what our future-watchers have to say, and how we can all act now to ensure that we’re ahead of the game when it comes to shaping the radio of the future.