Will Pandora Kill the Radio Star?
As traditional radio listening hits its lowest point ever and more and more young people
are using services like Pandora to discover new music, do digital music services mean the end
for radio?
“Video Killed The Radio Star.”
So sang The Buggles on their 1979 worldwide hit record which reached number 1 in 16 countries.
Two years later it was the first song to be played on air on MTV when it launched on 1st August
1981. 35 years on however, radio is still very much alive and kicking – even though MTV is now
available in 85% of homes in the US.
But radio faces a new threat. A threat, it could be argued, that is in the process of killing off radio’s elder
sibling print. In its quarterly report last week, the UK radio industry’s audience measurement provider
RAJAR revealed that the share of UK radio listening via traditional analogue radio hit its lowest point ever.
Only 56.5% of radio listening was registered via the traditional AM and FM bands – down 1.9%
year-on-year
The threat is, of course, digital. Recent years have seen the emergence of platforms such as Spotify, Rdio,
last.fm and Pandora. A survey by Niche reported that 77% of graduating high school students in the US
claim to source new music from Pandora, while Clear Channel’s tradition radio brands came in third place at 31%
In a recent interview with Kurt Hanson – the globe-trotting founding editor of RAIN News – Pandora SVP
Heidi Browning made much of the discussion focused on the company’s new “Promoted Stations” product, which
“leverages a combination of media creativity and data knowledge.”
The most publicly visible example of this kind of campaign so far has been US television network WGN’s three
Promoted Stations for their new drama serial MANH(A)TTAN
BRIEF: WGN/MANH(A)TTAN PROMOTED STATIONS
Ahead of the launch of their new drama series Manhattan, WGN augmented their campaign on Pandora with
three “promoted stations” – curated playlists of music from the show itself from artists including Sigur Rós, Jake
Bugg and Zero7.
The WGN/MANH(A)TTAN Promoted Stations campaign, while at first glance simple, is a very exciting
development. It’s the first time we’ve heard of an advertiser perceiving added value in curated, targeted,
interactive audio content in this way – paying for more than the usual spot buys. The MANH(A)TTAN
campaign was developed and implemented by Pandora’s new in-house creative advertising team. The
team “works with agencies and advertisers to build customized messages, programs, and productions to
connect brands with targeted groups of listeners”.
Browning went on to say, “We co-create; we don’t replace the agency.It’s a collaboration. We come to the
table with what we know is best for the listener. They come to the table with what they know is best for the
brand. Together we create a custom experience.”
Hold on. That sounds awfully familiar. So their creative team works with clients and agencies using the
knowledge they have acquired of their audience…
Sounds like a radio station!
Perhaps digital does not mean the end of radio as we know it. The world of digital audio can learn
many things from the established medium of radio. Knowing and understanding your audience has a value
and developing engaging and creative campaigns will help an advertiser communicate with that audience.
But traditional radio can also benefit from the advantages that the digital world has to offer when broadcasting over
the internet and to people listening on mobile devices, particularly when it comes to targeting, interaction and
measurement.
Targeting – Ads in live streams can now be as targeted as the ads we’re all used to seeing on Google or Facebook.
Interaction – Mobile devices offer a whole new raft of ways for broadcasters and advertisers to interact with listeners,
whether it’s tapping through to a website or sending a text message. Who knows, the “press call” function could
mean an end to telephone numbers in radio ads.
Measurement – Mobile audio campaigns can now be as fully accountable as any other digital campaign with reports on
when and where people are listening as well as measuring audio ad impressions and interactions.
So will Pandora kill the radio star? Hopefully not.
If radio learns from print and embraces digital rather running away from it – adding the targeting, interactivity
and measurement that digital offers to the powerful intimate medium of radio, the future of the original “new media”
is looking rather bright.
NPR One – The blueprint for mobile radio apps?
January 21, 2015
Statistically, online radio listening is increasing year-on-year, with the biggest percentage of listeners falling in the 12-24 years of age bracket; and it’s the same story for music streaming services. As both audio platforms try to boost their listener percentage, they must look at what makes them different from their competitors. But online radio looks like it might have an advantage…
BURSTING AT THE SEAMS
There is no denying that the online music streaming industry is over-saturated. Just off the top of your head you would probably be able to name Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, SoundCloud and Grooveshark. And that’s just the big international players – imagine how many more, local, music streaming services there are the world over. Just last week it was announced that Tesco’s ex-music streaming service, Blinkbox Music, is to be sold to Guvera, yet another such service, hailing from Australia. French service Deezer acquired US based Muve Music to expand their music streaming footprint in America. And yet again this week we have been informed of two – yes, two – more music streaming services that we should keep our ears peeled for – Boomio and Nusiki, who both lay claims to providing users with services that are different, and better, than their competitors.
‘IF INSTAGRAM AND SPOTIFY HAD A KID’
Brian Hewitt, co-founder of Chicago-based Nusiki, has described this new app as ‘if Instagram and Spotify had a kid’. The secret, it seems, in launching these new apps, is in implementing small features which other apps have overlooked and making a big fuss over that. Spotify shares music too publicly? Ok, we’ll make our sharing system more controlled, as in the case of Nusiki. After all, it’s the little things that make the difference, a phrase that seems to carry a lot of weight in the world of music streaming.
Boomio’s mantra seems to be ‘sharing is caring’ as users pick a song to listen to and share, and at the end are prompted to either re-share in order to hear the next song or buy the track on iTunes. Sharing can be done to an individual, a group, or a social network.
But at the end of the day, music streaming services are limited in what they can offer to the listener when compared to the content of radio. Radio stations are of course already available on mobile phones, but they often lack that element of personalisation that such services as Spotify and Pandora offer. But what if there was an app that brought to you relevant news and stories, in bite sized chunks, from your local radio station as well as internationally, with the curation aspect of music streaming services?
Larry Rosin, president of Edison Research, has recently talked about one such app – NPR One. Dubbed ‘Public radio made personal’, it is available only in the US, although users worldwide can still download it and listen in. The app itself has many great qualities, but it’s not just good; it could well be a blue-print for future radio apps with which to take the online audio platform by storm.
‘PANDORA-ITISATION OF CONTENT’
The advantages of radio are numerous and well-known. One of the oldest social mediums, it still continues to have a large relevance in people’s day-to-day lives. What NPR One does so well is offer their listeners efficiency. Up-to-date relevant news and stories, in under 5 or 10 minutes. Like the music streaming services, you can skip stories, flag your favourite, and share. But it also reminds the listener that there is a local public radio station as part of its programme, and one that needs financial support. Through this scheme the app inspires a wholesome community feel; radio really does bring people together.
Of course, NPR One only deals with news and stories; there is no music, no presenter tete-a-tete, no real-time traffic and weather updates. But all of these typical radio features could be merged with NPR One’s principal concept to create great personalised radio apps, which would have a better value to listeners than all the current numerous music streaming services which fundamentally all do the same thing, albeit in differently packaged ways.
And it’s not just broadcasters and listeners who would benefit from such apps; advertisers too could cash in by the implementation of personalised user-targeted ads.
The moral of the story? NPR One have a great mission and concept. Taken on a global scale and implemented by other radio apps, mobile radio would certainly offer much more than music streaming services – the varied content of radio, with the curated personalisation of music streaming, and adverts tailored to both listener and broadcaster. We all know that radio as a medium is still going strong, with audience figures constantly on the up, and it’s refreshing to see that younger listeners haven’t been completely sucked in by the world of streaming – at least, not in the UK.
If you are interested in becoming a broadcasting partner, or would like to know what our integrating technology can do for you, contact our Partnership Account Manager Matthew Layton – matthew.layton@exaget.com or +447533517396
If you are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact the CEO of Exaget, Shankar Meembat –shankar.meembat@exaget.com or +447411130680