Radio Industry Needs More New Talent

It's no secret that these items offer the most irration within the radio industry, too many commercials and song repitition. I don't need to define what either means.

"'Because we've always done it this way' is not a good business strategy."

For years "too many commercials" has been waved away by radio industry executives as an essential aspect of the business, a means of increasing profit. Song repitition has been defended by stating Time Spent Listening (TSL). Folks don't listen to radio as long as they used to. Top songs need to be played more often.

Today our task is to look deeper into this repetition and ask why. If survey after survey comes back saying people want to discover new music, and the radio industry continues its (rightful) claim that it is the place MOST people find new music, what's the problem? Answer: The only reason radio is where "most" people find new music is because, at this stage of digital's development, most people are still listening to analog radio.

As the auto entertainment system - the center stack - continues to be refined, the radio industry will not be on top for long.

Let's set aside the fact radio's DJ farm team system has been dismantled. Top air talent have no place to hone their craft in the numbers needed to keep local stations "local." This article is about the music, and music talent.

How many new artists does your station feature each week? Stretch that. How many new music talents are introduced throughout the whole radio industry each week?

Each question will bring a low, single digit answer.

Meanwhile, YouTube is becoming a major player for introducing new talent. And we have programs like Audio Graphics' "Intro to Indie Artists" series gaining speed, too.

But what if it became standard fare, within the radio industry, to use a station's web site for introducing new talent - and for using over-the-air mentions to shuttle audience to your station's web site to hear that new talent?

Here is just one example, though there are hundreds you can choose from. I was introduced to this dynanmic duo and wondered why there has been no mention of them from any radio station (that I'm aware of).



Watch on YouTube.

It's talent like this that a radio station can use to entice visits to its web site. It's also a way for the radio industry to begin parsing out new talent, using analytics on views to determine which new artists should be given more exposure.

The "Intro to Indie Artists" series is a way for broadcast radio to offer something different on the internet-side and gain stature as a digital player.

Placing new talent on station web sites or ordering a free "Intro to Indie Artists" program to be run on a stream are ways the radio industry can keep a few paces in front of the onslaught of new music competition.

We're seeing a push to have online audiences measured and added to over-the-air audience numbers; what nobody wants to admit is that the cumulative effect won't be much larger than that in current Arbitron books, unless people are given a reason to visit the station web site.

"Because we've always done it this way" is not a good business strategy. The public is looking for "new." To give it on your web site in either YouTube or new artist audio programs is an answer which has not become a new media strategy for radio.

The radio industry needs more new music talent. Introducing them online is the most efficient way to bring them onboard.





More Articles




Today's indie introduction is to...

Country artist John McLeod

sample song

Do It Anyway Download Song Tweet

When an artist has the power to please they should be given a chance to be heard.

Give John McLeod's "Do It Anyway" a listen.

Add it to your playlist, free!

	comments by Disqus