Internet Radio Moves In Right Direction — Up!!!

Friday, October, 30, 2009 by Mel Phillips.

(Halloween Weekend Edition)

A new report from eMarketer predicts “steep declines” for terrestrial radio for the rest of this year and into 2010. Not so for Internet radio which can take advantage of marketing dollars that are moving online. “Even in this tough economy Internet radio is one of the fastest-growing online media categories. Attractive demographics and a connected audience will prove increasingly appealing to advertisers as they look for fresh channels to reach consumers” says eMarketer in their report. Can’t argue with that but I can argue about the definition of Internet radio. Pandora founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren considers his service, radio. I call it a music service. If a former president can question the definition of “is”, I can question the definition of ”radio”…

Pandora is the daddy of what Westergren calls radio. They have 30 million registered users and revenues tracking towards $40 million for 2009. In case you’ve been in the witness protection program with no use of a computer, this is how Pandora works. Users can create as many as 100 free so-called radio stations after entering an initial artist name. Pandora then narrows in on a genre of music based on your artist’s repertoire and there’s your “radio” station. When asked recently if Pandora was cannibalizing music sales, Westergren claimed that 45 percent of Pandora listeners are buying more music than they did before. Only 1 percent are buying less. Westergren also claims that Pandora sells $1 million worth of music per month on iTunes, Amazon and other sites. But Westergren is not happy with another rising number — licensing fees…

Westergren calls the performance royalty fee “a fundamentally unfair system. We pay a far higher per use fee than broadcast or satellite radio does for the same number of plays of any given song. As we compete more and more directly, this licensing structure is getting increasingly anachronistic.” On this issue, I agree with Westergren… 

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1894] Number One with a bullet: Billboard Advertising is published for the first time (11/1). The trade publication will later be known as Billboard Magazine…
2. 1926] Last disappearing act: Harry Houdini dies from complications of a ruptured appendix at 52 on Halloween, no less (10/31)…
3. 1938] War of the Worlds: H.G. Wells’ epic is aired on “Mercury Theater on the air presents Orson Welles”. Of the 6 million listeners, more than 1.7 million believed the fictional account of Martians invading New Jersey. Maybe they were looking for Jimmy Hoffa (10/30)…
4. 1941] What huge busts: Okay, get your mind off the female anatomy. Mount Rushmore is declared completed after 14 years of work. Sixty-foot busts of Washington, Jefferson, (Theodore) Roosevelt and Lincoln are finished and the landmark would soon open to the public (10/31)…
5. 1946] WNNNNNBC: WEAF changes call letters to WNBC (11/1)…
6. 1971] Runaway: Cornell running back Ed Marinaro runs for 272 yards against Columbia to surpass 4,000 yards and break Steve Owens record at Oklahoma (10/30)…
7. 1974] Are you ready to rumble?: “The Rumble in the Jungle” is fought in Kinshasa, Zaire with Muhammad Ali beating George Foreman on a TKO in the 8th round (10/30)…
8. 1975] DROP DEAD!!!: That was the subtle headline on page one of the New York Daily News after President Gerald R. Ford says he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City. Yep, better to use the money on police body armor in Keokuk, Iowa any day (10/30)…
9. 1988] Questionable seance: Debbie Gibson holds a seance at her Halloween party to contact the spirits of Liberace and Sid Vicous but channels Zazu Pitts instead (10/31)…
10. 1997] Convicted: A Cambridge (MA) jury convicts British au pair Louise Woodward of second degree murder in the death of 8-month old Matthew Eappen. The judge later reduces the verdict to manslaughter and sets Woodward free. Who was the judge? Lance Ito??? (10/30)…

Music Memories:

• 1962] Number One on this date: “He’s A Rebel” - Crystals (Darlene Love sings lead) (11/1)…1969] “Abbey Road” (LP) - Beatles (11/1) (#1 for 11 consecutive weeks)…1969] “Suspicious Minds” - Elvis Presley (11/1)…1984] “Caribbean Queen” - Billy Ocean (11/1)…
• 1984] Record Breaking: Barry Manilow breaks Diana Ross’s box office record at Radio City Music Hall with sales exceeding $1.9 million. Miss Ross’s record was $1.8 (10/30)…
• 1995] R&R HOF inductees, class of ‘96: David Bowie, Gladys Knight & Pips, Pete Seeger, Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, The Shirelles, the Velvet Underground and Tom Donahue, The father of FM radio, who goes in as a ‘radio pioneer’ (10/30)…
  

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”: (10/30) Ivanka Trump (28), Harry Hamlin (58), Timothy B. Schmit (62), Henry Winkler (64), the only surviving original Temptation, Otis Williams (68), Grace Slick (70) and Motown’s Eddie Holland (70)…(10/31) Rob Van Winkle a.k.a. Vanilla Ice (41), Rob Schneider (45), Peter Jackson (48), Jane Pauley (59), Kinky Friedman (65), Dan Rather (78), former astronaut Michael Collins (79), Lee Grant (82), and former Brit jockey and author Dick Francis (89)…(11/1) Jenny McCarthy (37), Lyle Lovett (52), Dan (America) Peek (59), Jim Steinman (62), Rock Needleman (62), Larry Flynt (67), Marcia Wallace (67), Bill Anderson (72), Gary Player (74), Al Arbour (77), Betsy Palmer (83) and James Kilpatrick (89)…

Timeline Countdown: Happy Halloween, Standard Time (back one hour) starts at 2 a.m. Sunday morning and 27 days until Thanksgiving…

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