rearview mirror point of view...

here's a post i did for another blog that we run at CD101 called "An Alternative Point of View."

A blog post this morning from Jacobs Media pretty much threw gasoline on my fire! And I think that we at radio stations need to understand this concept throughout all of our departments! By understanding it thoroughly… it’ll shape what comes out of our mouths when we’re talking to clients, prospective clients, partners, record labels, peers and friends.

The post touches on a New York Times piece that looks at the change in consumer spending levels since 2003. Jacobs relates it to which categories are “hot” categories in advertising spending… then makes a completely valid point that it isn’t that spending is down. It’s that advertising is shifting.

Great. Now that we’ve established that… the biggest challenge is to work thru this with agencies who have relied so heavily on ratings for so long! Why do you think that Arbitron is struggling with the launch of PPMs? It’s because their model is broke. (Arbitron Profit Dips in Q3 via Radio Ink10/21/09) And as Arbitron work desperately to stay in the game (by introducing PPM), they’re failing to see that radio is changing. Some stations are upset because ratings are changing. Others are upset because they’re not changing fast enough. But here’s the key…

As entertainment evolves… the value comes in the multi-channel reach that you’ve developed with your station!

Ratings alone are losing their potency. They’re now a piece of the pie.

It is time to start placing value on fans, friends, followers, subscribers, and the various communities of people that are just as valuable, if not more valuable, than the listeners Arbitron tries to reach!

Now all we need is a system that aggregates all of that data together into one, easy to read/use, piece of inexpensive software. Anyone… anyone… Bueller… ?

Read the post here: Follow The (Shrinking) Money – jacoBLOG 10/21/09

oh how times change...

sure... when i got into radio we were still using cart machines. i got my start as reel-to-reels were ending their run... where splicing an edit together meant it was time to break out the razor blade and actually cut, then tape it back together! *NOW WAIT* this WAS in college! i'm not that old!

that new-fangled invention "compact discs" had been out for a while. and the college station i worked at would get our "hit disks" in the mail from TM Century every couple of weeks with the latest songs being pushed on the charts. record companies were the same way.

from that point, over the next 5-10 years, digital downloads rose to prominence. itunes gained in popularity. and record sales... er CD sales, started to bite it. hard.

well... today i came across the evolutionary step forward. what is surely either the "next format," or an attempt by the labels to still have something physical to mail out to radio stations offering new music. astral works records sent about 20 of these our way...

a micro-SD card with 16 tracks new artist music on it.

a CD ends up in crooked stacks that lean their way toward the ceilings of the music director and program director's offices. an email with a digital song attached... or a link to a shared site with new music is too easy to pass over and be missed. surely a tiny... little... microchip, with numerous songs digitized and compressed to hell... to the point where the dynamics have all but been wiped smooth... will get the job done. it'll be noticed right?

so i asked around to see if anyone had plugged this little bad-boy in and give it a listen...

of the three people who are actively managing the influx of new music around cd101, the answers ranged from...

"that's so high tech to me that it's almost too much. i have not-- who's on the playlist?" to... "what?"

guess those record companies still've got some work to do. nice try though fellas.

here's a test post via SMS. hoping this works out! although i'm thinking posting via email will be better suited since I can attach pics.

more music widget...

just messin around with the CD101 music widget. love that you can grab it and post to your blog / facebook / other sites! also love that it continues to update! sweet!

a perfect example of why magazines are folding...

earlier today the memorial service for Michael Jackson was broadcast all over the world. the news coverage for the "king of pop's" death has been everywhere! in fact, trying to get away from it is virtually impossible! it's pretty safe to say that i've had my fill of MJ tributes, specials and the like. don't get me wrong, i love his music. just pointing out how much coverage there has been.

the irony in all of this is that this morning, as i paged through the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, dated July 9-23, while eating my generic brand super sugar crisp... i came across this sweet little story...

"Michael Jackson's Troubled Comeback"

The singer's upcoming 50 concerts will make him rich again - if he holds up.

in a world where instant gratification is expected, especially in the world of entertainment news, you're going to have a hard time competing when the competition is flying past you days... even weeks ahead of time! and don't kid yourself. anything that grabs consumers' eyes and ears these days is absolutely competition!

so a dated story like this is only going to happen occasionally. possibly. but the more often it happens you know that subscribers and those suckers who actually paid full price at the news stand are going to think twice about whether or not they lay down the cash next time. the point is that the overall content of Rolling Stone, and any other magazine for that matter, is going to have to be so freakin good... that people look past the short comings.

needless to say... this issue of Rolling Stone features the Jonas Brothers on the cover. i think you see where i'm going with this one.

you can take this as a sign of things to come...

interesting story today at bloomberg.com reporting that online episodes of popular programs like "The Simpsons" and "CSI" are pulling higher ratings than when they run on prime-time TV.

and as you surely know.. higher ratings means higher advertising rates!

just goes to show... that if you're not evolving your product to reach fans/friends/followers on mulitple platforms... then you're slowly becoming unemployed.

traditional media ad sales are having a rough go of it! makes me feel good about our own little corner of Columbus... and the tribe of followers that CD101 has developed over almost 20 years! there's a reason why you can connect with us on so many different levels!

new CD101 live music stream

i'd rather be losing... at halftime at least!

i'm not a big basketball guy.  give me a cool fall afternoon and a good football game any day!  but as with most sports-fans in general... march is the only time of year i really pay attention to the game.  

so my bracket is filled out.  we've got the pool going at the office.  i'm ready to go!  

maybe that state of mind is what caused me to really enjoy this piece from the freakonomics blog.  (one that i highly recommend)

"When Losing Leads to Winning"

teams that are behind by 1 point at halftime are actually more likely to win than teams that are one point ahead.

here's the link to the rest... 

she's figured it out already...

on wednesday evening just before dinner... my daughter avery was watching tv.  normally when a commercial comes on she reverts to the, "oooh mommy, i want that!"  or "daddy... that's what i want!!"

last night she took a different approach.

avery:  "all the commercials on tv just want to steal your money... because they keep showing stuff just so you'll buy it."

she's pretty much just summarized my entire career objective... before the age of 5.