«US Internet users ages 10 to 15 flocked to social networks last year as if getting a MySpace account would increase their allowances. Harris Interactive said in its April 2008 issue of Youth Trends that more than half of US girls ages 13 to 15 used social networking Web sites in 2007, roughly the same as in 2006. Social networking jumped among other boys and girls surveyed: more than twice as many children ages 10 to 12 reported using social networking sites in 2007 as did in 2006.»

fonte: Teen Social Networking Still Growing eMarketeer, MAY 1, 2008

«Conversely, many artists have rallied in favor of the performance right, saying that they are being denied payments in the U.S. that they receive in most other countries. In February, more than 6,000 artists from more than 15 countries delivered a petition to Congress urging the prompt enactment of the legislation. Artists from Australia, Argentina, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico and more signed the petition and added their names to a coalition within the U.S. music community – the musicFIRST Coalition – which advocates the change in U.S. policy.» More House Members Oppose Radio Performance Fee, 1/05/08, FMQB

«For those with even more free time between now and May 8, pandora.com is running two VW radio stations called, not surprisingly: ‘Music for the People.’ Listeners can vote for which artists they want to hear and Pandora will collate all requests into a democratic playlist. Selling cars used to be so much simpler.» fonte: VW polls the people 28/04/08 LA TIMes

A necessidade de um editor (de um gatekeeper) poderá ser anulada pela informática na rádio musical - é possivel estabelecer prioridades, grelhas, pré-requisitos que, uma vez cumpridos, irão determinar por exemplo o que é que cada um pode definir para uma antena. Imagine-se uma emissão (hertziana ou streaming, embora no primeiro caso seja mais dificil de conceber) em que a música que passa é a mais votada pelos utilizadores.

Da mesma forma, se falamos em personalização (playlists) o editor - alguém que tem a última palavra sobre o que vai ser transmitido - é desnecessário. E se a ideia é personalização de conteúdos, mesmo para a rádio de palavra, este editor não faz sentido.

Onde o editor tem de aparecer é numa emissão de palavra, mesmo que com contributos dos utilizadores, porque é preciso hierarquizar, definir, escolher - não entra qualquer coisa...

Por muitos que estudos digam que «

«In 2006 Bridge Ratings' consumer analysis began to reflect a slow reversal of attrition by both groups. 12-21 year olds were less likely in these 2006 studies to abandon terrestrial radio as they were in the 2004 studies. This behavioral change hinged on two factors: 1) renewed interest in terrestrial radio and/or its Internet simulcast and 2) "iPod fatigue" among a significant number of 12-21 year olds who in 2004 consumed much less terrestrial radio because nearly 80% of their time-spent-listening to traditional AM/FM radio stations had transferred to MP3 player use. By 2006 our panel had greatly reduced their weekly use of their MP3 players returning to terrestrial radio listening patterns similar to those this group used in 2004.»

é importante esperar para perceber primeiro se existe realmente uma fadiga do iPod e, mais importante, se isso se reflectirá num regresso (ou numa descoberta) da rádio

MARTÍNEZ COSTA, Maria del Pilar (2004) ,La radio digital en Europa: perspectivas y evolución, Quaderns del CAC, Nº. 18, págs. 3-12

«estamos assistiendo a la configuración de un nuevo concepto de radio» (3)

«encrucijada tecnológica» (3)

«Es ’una radio que lee y se ve’, como han señalado repetidas veces otros autores. Aparecen otros servicios y sonidos que no son radio en el sentido tradicional del término» (4)»

«Internet no puede ser considerado como uma competencia directa de la radio tradicional ni de la radio digital en DAB. Internet es un nuevo soporte que facilita la integración digital de la radio y la oferta de nuevos servicios. Cuando se habla actualmente de radio en internet, por tanto, hay que entender que se trata de una nueva forma de comunicación y no exclusivamente de un nuevo soporte» (9)

«La radio deja de definirse por su suporte técnico, o por la tecnología que lo sustenta, e impone un concepto basado en sus contenidos y funciones: la radio no se define de ahora en más por lá técnica sino por las ofertas» (9) [DESDE QUE SUGIRAM CANAIS ALTERNATIVOS PARA DIFUNDIR NÃO HERTZIANAMENTE O MESMO CONTEUDO CONVENCIONAL, COMO A TV CABO - EUA - QUE O CONCEITO FICOU EM CRISE; É DUVIDOSO QUE «LAS OFERTAS» DEFINAM UM MEIO. OFERTAS SONORAS?]

«El modelo de programación de la radio actual está caduco desde antes del inicio del debate digital. Lo que ocurre es que, a pesar de ello y a corto plazo, sigue siendo rentable para las empresas. Pero no a medio plazo» (11)

Martinéz-Costa, 2004

Um objectivo indirecto deste trabalho é ajudar a perceber qual é afinal - se é que é possivel chegar desde já a certezas - o papel que a Internet está a desempenhar junto da rádio. É apenas um suporte, um novo suporte, como defende por exemplo Martinéz-Costa, que se limita a facilitar «la integração digital de la rádio y la oferta de nuevos servicios» (2004:9) ou afinal «una nueva forma de comunicación», como também defende a mesma autora?

«I’m not a typical listener: nor a typical music fan. Listen to my music choice (that’s my music collection in one big playlist), while looking at my most-played tracks of the last 3 months, and you’ll see that my most played track in that three months is The Divine Comedy’s “Absent Friends”, which I’ve played just four times. A typical commercial radio station will play their top tracks eight times a day - once every three hours. Assuming I listen to music for a total of two hours a day (in commutes and desk-bound working), commercial radio would have had me listen to that track 60 times in three months.Indeed, over the last week, my 210 different artists, and a total of 323 tracks means that, in just 18 hours, I’ve listened to more tracks than many commercial radio stations play per week. I’m singling out commercial radio here, by the way, not because of a misplaced loyalty to my employer, but that commercial radio’s music choice is, by and large, far more tightly musically formatted - and that, for whatever reason, only commercial radio runs nonstop music services.»

is all about music, James Cridland, 4/05/08)

«There's no mistaking who benefited from a federal-court decision to set licensing fees that three top Web services must pay songwriters and publishers for the right to stream their music. But the question left unanswered is whether the losers also include consumers. AOL, RealNetworks, and Yahoo may end up paying the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) $100 million as a result of a decision by a U.S. district judge to set the licensing fee for streaming music at 2.5 percent of adjusted music-use revenue. "(The court's decision) is a victory for songwriters, composers, and publishers, and something they have been looking forward to for a long period," said John LoFrumento, ASCAP's chief executive. "In the past, we've settled with (Internet companies) at low rates. We wanted to encourage the growth of these businesses, but these businesses have matured...they have been using our members' music to attract people to their Web sites...it's time to compensate (our members)." »

«Another radio giant -- CBS Radio -- also is establishing an online foothold on several fronts. This summer, CBS will launch play.it, a music streaming service where users can indicate who their favorite artists are and get a customized playlist of similar music they may like. Play.it users will be able to choose from a selection of icons representing different artists. By dragging the icons to their playlist, they’ll hear a lot of songs by that artist, as well as other music influenced by or similar to it. It’s similar to online music site Pandora, which has been successful at matching its users’ tastes in music with new content. In March, CBS Radio and AOL announced a partnership in which CBS will power AOL’s online radio network, replacing XM Satellite Radio. And CBS is planning to stream its HD channels, making that programming accessible to online users.» (Clear Channel mixes it up on new music site)

« CBS Radio plans to launch a custom internet radio site, similar to Pandora.com and Last.fm, where users can stream music that sounds like a given musician. The company is currently talking to advertisers about the site, called Play.it, and says it will open it to the public in the next few months. Screen grabs from an early version of the site are after the jump. Aspects of Play.it sound cool. Users will drag and drop favorite artists into a grid, weighting them by preference, to create the style of music they want to hear. And they’ll be able to add news reports, traffic updates, and celebrity interviews from local CBS affiliates. The site will then assemble and stream a radio station like one on the FM dial. Big surprise, that will include commercial breaks. But CBS Radio’s David Goodman says the frequency of breaks will be “a lot lower,” than on terrestrial radio, and that the ads will be “in context” — love songs will generate jewelry or flower advertisements, for instance. I’m eager to check it out, but I’m also skeptical CBS can keep up with the competition. Right now, Pandora and Last.fm have deep libraries of musicians and sophisticated recommendation technology (Play.it will use its own system, called “The Brain”). New services, meanwhile, keep popping up. Just last week we heard about another one, Chilirec, which records songs as they stream online, like a TiVo (via TechCrunch, or Go2Web20). Who knows where we’ll be when Play.it opens months from now» (CBS Radio Plans its Own Pandora (And It’s Not Last.Fm))

«"We want to be the greatest radio all around the world, broadcast or online," he said. "We think eventually that Clear Channel's ownership is going to be ours. We believe we can be there."

«The Daily: Do you worry that the end of traditional radio could also bring the end of the radio DJ personality?

TW: Yeah, but I would like to find a way to bring them into Pandora, frankly. I think those people are really important as well, and we're certainly not helping their cause.

The Daily: Does every single artist featured on Pandora get paid when their song pops up on someone's station?

TW: Yes, it's a percent of the revenue. We pay a fraction of a penny per song for publishing and performance, to the songwriters and the performers. And once our revenue grows enough, we will be paying artists whichever is higher - a certain minimum or a percent of the revenue.

The Daily: Right now Pandora is illegal to use outside of the U.S. What stands in the way of Pandora being legal everywhere?

TW: Licensing, licensing. We operate in the U.S. under a statutory law, and that is not available in any other country. So no other country has actually put that one-stop licensing in place. So as soon as they do that, we are going to be able to jump right in, hopefully this year.»

(e isso tem consequências ao nivel do consumo activo «The latest Internet & Multimedia study, conducted among people who are employed fulltime or parttime and who listen at work, shows a clear up-and-down trend. Arbitron says “the portion of people who listen most often to radio stations through a computer over the Internet has grown from 12% to 20% in one year’s time.” Want to bet what’s happening to that old GE/Motorola portable with the antenna taped to the wall near the plants? “The portion who listen most often via a regular radio has declined from 88% to 80%.” That’s a real swing in just 12 months. And Arbitron says when you control for education, “among college graduates, 30% say they listen most often to radio stations over the Internet.” That’s contrasted to a figure of 12% for non-college grads. Edison’s Larry Rosin says “the findings suggest that broadcasters need to think about the quality of their streams, and promote the ability to listen to radio online.” And here’s the Hammer of Doom, if you didn’t see it coming: “After all, on the Internet, the competition is not just the other stations in town. The possibilities are essentially infinite.”» fonte: “The boss says, Turn down that computer”, taylor on radio-info, 6/05/08; o original está aqui

«When public radio has to consider making its programs shorter because young listeners won’t listen, we officially have a documented attention span problem.
Of course, it doesn’t take any more than a few minutes in the company of the next generation before you realize that the number one problem going forward isn’t too many commercials or too little new music or stupid djs or lack of social networking. That, too. (...) In NPR’s case listening is up but for shorter periods. NPR is the last frontier of taking the time to do it right. If NPR is feeling the heat, commercial stations have a big problem they may not care to know they have. Break the programming down into smaller chunks. That is, one hour of music is fine if you're in the mood to listen for an hour. You'll rarely find a young person doing that. (...) One more thing -- you win the short attention span battle one minute at a time -- not one show at a time.This is something we definitely can do.»

«Play to multitaskers. Everyone seems to be a multitasker today even older demographics. So content should be created with that in mind. Broadcast to them and ask them to do something else -- pick up a Blackberry and text in to win a mortgage payment. This cooperates with the inevitable. Too frequently radio programming is created under the misguided belief that the station has the full attention of their listeners. They don't. They won't.»

«Dan Mason, CBS Radio’s president and CEO, claimed that "$1 billion in ad dollars were telling you that the iPod and satellite radio will lead to the death of radio. That’s a myth. Like when you were told the eight-track tapes, cassettes and the CD would sign radio’s death warrant. To say that an iPod or satellite radio, with little or no human connection will ever replace radio is absurd." Mason’s second goal was to call attention to CBS Radio’s intention to make use of digital distribution, even as CBS Radio and its peers struggle to cope with the additional competition from those platforms»

@ CBS Radio Presentation: New Play.It Media Player Offers Personalization, Contextual Ads»,  David Kaplan paidContent.org Monday, May 5, 2008

«David Goodman, president of the digital media group, tried to make the case that CBS radio was in the wireless business 80 years and therefore, has seen all kinds of challenges meant to bury radio. But he insisted that internet radio is more friend than foe and hopes CBS can tout the ad advantages over other platforms. "Internet radio is more popular than mobile audio streaming or satellite. Initially, we were nervous about cannibalization. What we found was it amplifies our listenership. People go from their car to their office and put on their media player. They're listening more and for longer periods."»

@ CBS Radio Presentation: New Play.It Media Player Offers Personalization, Contextual Ads»,  David Kaplan paidContent.org Monday, May 5, 2008

The ongoing success of DAB has continued to drive a resurgence in the UK Portable Radio market. Since the launch of DAB, approximately 9.4 million Portable Radios, of all types, have been sold. This has resulted in the yearly market value growing from a consistent annual turnover of around £30m (2000-2002) to just under £78m in 2007.   

In the first quarter of 2008, sales of DAB compatible models accounted for 81% of the value of the Portable Radio market. With the average price of a DAB radio now dropping below £50 (March 2008), it is the continued unit growth of DAB Portable radios that has resulted in the sectors' current value performance.

«You type in an artist or song title, and the engine plays that song, or one similar, and then sets the bar for all upcoming tracks based on an analysis of your original pick’s “music genome.” As the songs play you have the option to give a yea or nay in order to perfect your personalized radio station» (se se pode escolher o que se ouve, já não é rádio...)

«If the equation of "music + brief personality + we pick for you + having to sit through commercials" still works best for listeners above age 30, it may be because they were the ones who were most likely to hear that type of radio done right. And because the programmers who are still inclined to offer it to them are the ones who grew up hearing radio well executed. It has been in the last 10 years that our relationship with listeners has been repeatedly breached by stations too many commercials, too much repetition, and either obtrusive companionship or none at all. And while you can't be sure that the generation that would rather text than talk will respond to that formula, you can say that it has rarely been offered to them, and that the WCBS-FM experience shows it is not inherently inferior.»

«Welcome to MOG, your personalized gateway for music discovery. With MOG, you can find, share, and talk about the music you’re into, from Abba to Zappa. Whether you’re a die-hard music junkie, or just looking for inspiration for your latest party playlist, MOG is your essential online music source. Created by a passionate community of music lovers and powered by cutting edge music discovery technology, MOG makes it ridiculously easy to find new music, watch music videos, and read news and reviews that match your personal taste in music. (...)Completely free, anyone can create a MOG page and browse posts, MP3s and videos by visiting www.mog.com.  One of the first online communities built exclusively for music lovers, MOG was founded in June 2005 by CEO David Hyman. David is a veteran entrepreneur, digital music pioneer, and self-proclaimed music freak, who has held key executive positions at Gracenote, MTV, and Addicted to Noise. MOG has been funded to date by Angel investors and is headquartered in Berkeley, CA»

http://mog.com/about

«Some of the biggest music labels could soon allow free legal downloads, after an ambitious ad-funded file-sharing service, Qtrax, signed a deal with Universal, the world's largest record label and home to U2, Kanye West and Mariah Carey. (...) When it emerged that several deals were not yet fully in place or had lapsed, analysts expected the service to disappear in the ensuing backlash. But it has since signed deals with Beggars, the UK's largest independent label, home to Dizzee Rascal and the White Stripes, and the publishing arms of EMI and Sony/ATV.The contract with Universal is the first with a major label to cover both publishing and recording rights, meaning that it should be able to offer music by its artists within the next month or so. The Universal deal is initially understood to cover only the US. Qtrax is just one of several sites trying to make money from the concept of free, ad-funded downloads and streaming. Earlier this year We7, backed by Peter Gabriel, began offering downloads with embedded audio adverts and signed a deal with Sony BMG to offer its catalogue on a streaming basis. Other sites such as Imeem and Last.fm have also signed deals with leading labels to offer streaming services that act as vast, ad-supported online jukeboxes. Adverts are displayed during the search and downloading processes. Spiralfrog, a New York-based site that has been striving for two years to establish a user base in the US and Canada, also has a deal with Universal. Qtrax has promised that tracks downloaded through its browser can be kept by users for ever as long as they regularly log in to renew the rights management software. It will also enable iPod users to transfer the tracks to their audio players, which could hit sales of downloads through Apple's iTunes Music Store. In addition to sites offering ad-funded music, labels are also exploring new licensing models for subscription-based or bundled offerings such as Nokia's Comes With Music and MusicStation and beginning tentative discussions with internet service providers about packaging music downloads into monthly broadband subscriptions» (fonte: Universal to allow free music downloads, Owen Gibson, The Guardian, Thursday May 8 2008»)

«"This generation functions differently. They’re able to multitask and bounce around," (...) Millennials are accustomed to collaborating; remember, these are the kids who even went to school dances in groups rather than one-on-one dates. They’re used to working on group projects and approach new technologies with confidence rather than anxiety, Kang told conference participants. This age group is at ease with the constant communication afforded by e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones and BlackBerries/Palm Pilots. They also expect computers to facilitate daily life, both personal and professional, in a way that’s still a little off-putting to other generations. Boomers wore book bags or backpacks to school, while Millennials, wearing iPods and carrying cell phones, lugged laptops.» The Attention Span Problem  Inside Music media, 6/05/08 

«(...) no human connection, will ever replace radio is absurd.»

«I agree with Dan that the idea that new technologies will replace radio is -- to use his word -- "absurd" if you're talking about older Gen X'ers and baby boomers. This group loves radio and will appreciate receiving something they already like on their computers or mobile devices.» (Jerry del Colliano)

«Once the present economic downturn ends -- still a long way off -- there won't be enough new young listeners to help radio continue to grow. It becomes a losing proposition. More radio listeners die and fewer new radio listeners use traditional radio»

(intro - os desafios que se colocam à rádio musical)

Notícias como esta («Universal to allow free music downloads») podem querer significar duas coisas - que se trata de uma experiencia (e, por exemplo, uma moda) ou que a música tendencialmente será grátis. E legal. A rádio musical é a mais atingida por esta situação: que lugará estará reservado para a rádio musical quando todos estivermos em rede (ligados) e encontrarmos toda a música de que gostamos (incluindo a nova, que não conhecemos...) na rede (com uma infinidade de recursos, como listas personalizadas, e «transportáveis/embedded»)?

Notícias como esta («Universal to allow free music downloads») podem querer significar duas coisas - que se trata de uma experiencia (e, por exemplo, uma moda) ou que a música tendencialmente será grátis. E legal. A rádio musical é a mais atingida por esta situação: que lugará estará reservado para a rádio musical quando todos estivermos em rede (ligados) e encontrarmos toda a música de que gostamos (incluindo a nova, que não conhecemos...) na rede (com uma infinidade de recursos, como listas personalizadas, e «transportáveis/embedded»)?

Quanto maior for a oferta, quanto maior for a escolha, mais necessidade de que alguém (ou algo - pode ser um computador ou o chip do iPod...) faça a selecção. Podemos ser nós próprios, podemos entregar à maqúina (de acordo com coordenadas dadas por nós ou em 'roda livre') ou podemos confiar em alguém. Que, com talento e criatividade, o faça por nós.

Mas não bastará apresentar um fluxo de emissão (musical), ainda que com muito talento e criatividade. A rádio ter-se-á de fazer acompanhar de ferramentas (que já existem fora da rádio) para competir com vantagem; por exemplo permitir o download das musicas que passaram (ainda que com publiciddade ou a um preço 'competitivo'), além de muitas outras opções de consumo activo.

«(...) a quebra de barreiras vai permitir que o comunicador Yahoo Messenger atualize automaticamente dados como foto e "música favorita" tendo como base o perfil do MySpace. O compartilhamento de dados também vai acrescentar fotos, vídeos e dados biográficos do usuário em seu perfil do eBay, assim como enriquecer o Twitter com um perfil mais completo.
O anúncio foi feito por Chris Wolfe, diretor-executivo da rede social. "Os sites não serão mais ilhas na internet. O objetivo é reforçar a troca de informações entre os serviços on-line", disse em entrevista. "Com isso, seu perfil no MySpace vai virar seu endereço de internet, sua identidade", completou. 
O usuário terá o perfil padrão do MySpace e poderá compartilhá-lo com todos esses outros sites. São quatro níveis de compartilhamento: informações básicas, fotos, vídeos e lista de amigos. Uma das principais preocupações dos envolvidos na iniciativa é dar ao internauta total controle sobre quais informações serão divulgadas, em que sites ele fará isso e para quais contatos.» Parceria entre MySpace, Yahoo e eBay cria perfil único na web Globo 08/05/2008 - JULIANA CARPANEZ E RENATO BUENO 

«When public radio has to consider making its programs shorter because young listeners won’t listen, we officially have a documented attention span problem. (...) Break the programming down into smaller chunks. That is, one hour of music is fine if you’re in the mood to listen for an hour. You’ll rarely find a young person doing that. In the past radio worked well with block programming -- variable length shows at different times. Growing up I remember "the adults" listening to WOR, New York that had, say, a 15-minute newscast, then a 45-minute program with the legendary Jean Sheppard. There was a different standard for program length. You just had to stay tuned. Maybe it’s a 45-minute show. Maybe a 55-minute program on health. The all-night show tended to be one long block figuring that the station was providing company for night owls. Back to the future. Even a top 40 station can break into a five song countdown anywhere on its clock -- say, featuring the five newest releases in the genre.»

 The Attention Span Problem  Inside Music media, 6/05/08 

pode beneficiar? Pelo menos ao nivel dos podcasts...

(conclusão):

« New iPod models Continue To Fuel Growth of Portable MP3 Players: The introduction of the iPhone and new iPod models continue to propel growth. Nearly four in ten Americans now own an iPod or other portable MP3 player. Continued growth and ubiquity means media companies need to have a podcast and iPod/MP3 player strategy.»

«Infinite Dial 2008», Arbitron e Edison Media Research, Abril 2008 [http://arbitron.com/downloads/digital_radio_study_2008.pdf]

Muitos dos estudos citados neste trabalho são realizados online, pelo que a amostra fica enviezada (a favor da tecnologia digital); Gustavo Cardoso demonstra-o no estudo E-generation (2007: 27-31);

muitos são pagos pela industria (nos EUA), directa (rádios e associações de rádios) ou indirectamente (consultoras que trabalham nesse mercado, agências de publicidade, fabricantes), o que pode enviezar, apesar da credibilidade das instituições que os realizam;

- muitos têm amostras reduzidas

- tambem se pode questionar a forma como alguns são construidos, colocando por exemplo uma questão contra outra, não permitindo outra opção (entre este e este, prefere...») possibilitando resultados que de outra forma não apareceriam.

como é que se combate esta situação: por um lado eliminando aqueles estudos que oferecem mais dúvidas e por outro tendo a consciência que, se os seus autores estão directa ou indirectamente ligados à industria (EUA) e os resultados são maus para essa industria, então apenas devemos desconfiar se não deveriam ser piores

mais do jogos ou venda de imagens

«Mobile social networking stands a good chance of jumpstarting mobile Internet adoption because mobile social networking is based more on communication than content. Time and again, communication services have led the way for content and advertising to follow. In the case of the Internet, it was e-mail and discussion boards—not Web pages—that triggered the explosion from early adoption to mainstream consumer use. SMS services drove mobile data use and they still account for the majority of mobile data revenues by carriers. It is not surprising, therefore, that mobile carriers and mobile content providers have warmed to mobile social networking as a new opportunity to ramp mobile Internet use. In truth, they have little choice. Their attempts to convince the mass market to sign up for mobile Internet have proved moderately successful, at best. According to February 2008 research by Informa, the global market for all current forms of paid mobile entertainment should reach $31.7 billion by 2012. Back in 2006, the same forecast optimistically predicted $42 billion by 2011. »

«Jumpstarting the Mobile Internet», eMarketeer, MAY 12, 2008

«The perception of radio is bad. That's what has to be turned around first - and you do that by improving the product. Repackaged you-know-what is still you-know-what.
This is the end result of delivering poor product to young people for over a decade.
Radio used to be a soundtrack to popular culture. Today, radio, especially formats appealing to the young, aren’t even close.» (Radio Heard Fear, John Gorman, RBR.com, 4/05/08)

«“We are seeing a renaissance in radio with respect to programming – programming that has become
more versatile, more experimental and of a higher quality than ever before,” said Jeff Haley, President and CEO of RAB. “This is an industry that is being bold, taking risks and engaging audiences in a variety of creative ways. And listeners are taking note. More than 90% of Americans say that radio continues to play an important role in their lives.”» Radio 2020 Next Phase Debuts: Radio Heard Here!, Radio2020, 15/04/08)

Não, a LASTFM!

«Ahead of the official re-launch of its European online radio platform, Internet service provider America Online (AOL) has announced that the returning service will be powered by none other than popular Internet radio and music community Last.fm. Set for an initial rollout in the United Kingdom, France and Germany -- with more European regions to follow in the coming months -- AOL Radio users are bound to benefit from the association with CBS-owned Last.fm, which currently boasts a worldwide visiting audience of around 21 million. Specifically, the new AOL Radio will include various new features and engaging multimedia options for users to familiarise themselves with, including the ability to search for favourite artists through the service before then listening to a continuous stream of their music.»

«Imeem is now becoming a serious contender in the streaming music space, at least according to data points surfacing Tuesday.  In a ranking of streaming music destinations compiled by Boston-based Compete, Imeem topped heavy-hitters Yahoo, AOL, MySpace, and Last.FM.  "As the music industry seeks to reassemble in the wake of digital distribution, it should recognize social streaming communities as the fastest growing opportunity in its evolution," explained Compete analyst Alex Patriquin. 
During the month of March, Imeem grabbed a unique visitor tally of 10.3 million, a bump of 58 percent from last year.  Yahoo Music (music.yahoo.com) was not far behind at 9.7 million, though AOL Music, MySpace Music and others trailed considerably. Specifically, AOL Music (music.aol.com) pulled 4.6 million uniques, down 30 percent, while MySpace Music (music.myspace.com) earned 4.5 million, down 3 percent.  That was followed by Project Playlist (playlist.com), MSN Music (music.msn.com), Pandora, iLike, Last.FM, Live365, and others.  Compete aggregated its data based on ISP, toolbar, and survey information»
Alex Patriquin, "Music Industry Downfall, Part II: The Rise of Social Streaming"

«Following up on its erockster Internet radio initiative during Coachella, Clear Channel is expanding its online presence with a number of new services -- including a personalized radio player, lyrics page, and widget strategy, among others.
Clear Channel is not yet providing many details about the new personalized radio feature, only that one is coming by the end of the summer. But Billboard has learned it is negotiating with Pandora to offer the company’s customized radio service across all its Web properties nationwide, but no deal is finalized at this time. Pandora allows users to build a custom playlist of sorts based off the characteristics of one song. The system recommends songs that sound similar to the one first chosen, based on a catalog of about 500,000 titles.
The partnership should prove a major boon to Pandora, which is struggling with how to remain operational under the weight of the new Webcaster royalty rates. The exact details of the deal between the two parties have not yet been disclosed, and Clear Channel declined to comment on the specifics.
But adding such a feature is considered essential for Clear Channel to stay competitive in the online space. Competitor CBS Radio earlier this month unveiled plans for a similar custom DJ feature called Play.It, working in conjunction with sister company Last.fm. Both efforts show how terrestrial radio stations are responding to listeners' increasing demand for more control of their listening experience.
"Online, there is a lot of variety and choice," says Evan Harrison, Clear Channel executive VP and head of the company's online music and radio unit. "If we don't expand our offerings under our umbrella, people will just go elsewhere for it."

In other news, Clear Channel has added a lyrics service provided by Gracenote. Available immediately, the service adds a lyrics link to each song profile streamed online which takes the listener directly to a page providing the lyrics. Lyrics links also now appear on the home page of individual stations, artist pages and more, and will be promoted via on-air house ads from its many terrestrial stations. Gracenote has compiled the myriad of publishing rights required to post the lyrics, and provides it as an outsourced service to other customers such as Yahoo Music. Finally, Clear Channel is creating widgets of it member station Web sites allowing fans to stream the station from social networking profiles. Widget syndication firm Clearspring is providing the backend technology. The effort starts with widgets of the "Stripped" live performance series, and will eventually expand to incorporate streaming stations, erockster and other Clear Channel applications.

fonte: «Clear Channel Expands Online Plan, Eyes Pandora Link Bilboard Biz May 12, 2008  By Antony Bruno

«According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22.3 percent of U.S. households with both landline and cell phones receive almost all of their phone calls on their mobile phone. That's 13.1 percent of all households in the United States. Combined with wireless-only households, 28.9 percent, or nearly 3 out of every 10 households, are reliant or almost completely dependent on cell phones. Now obviously Arbitron is aware of this problem. And, as they often tell us, coping with it is difficult and expensive. But what does it mean for these people to be - as a group - potentially stripped of qualification for your ratings? What does it mean for radio's effort to target younger audiences in particular? What does it mean when the 100 shares in your Arbitron rank don't include the one in four households who opt out of landlines?» Mark Ramsey

Depois de ter comprado a Last.FM, a CBS comprou agora a CNet, que - entre outros activos - tem a mp3.com, um site com «Artist-provided content from both independent and major-label acts including customized artists pages with songs, videos, similar-artists lists, photos, bios, news, blogs, and forums. Fan-generated content such as ratings, reviews, videos, blogs, forums, and favorites lists. Exclusive coverage, editorial features, and original programming including web shows, artist interviews, concert webcasts, event reports, video album reviews, and more. Thousands of free MP3s, plus streams of popular music videos and selected new albums.».

a CBS, um dos operadores mais importantes de rádio convencional, parece ser a que melhor se posiciona para liderar na nova tendência de consumo activo.

Sobre a «guerra» CBS - Clear Channel pelo dominio da rádio online: «It only took them about three years to catch up with their traditional media counterparts, but the big radio groups are finally embracing digital in a major way. Now two of the industry's biggest players, CBS Radio and Clear Channel, are in an arms race to see who can build the most scale the fastest. Clear Channel wants to lure more, younger listeners to its weekly listener base of 1.4 million by creating its own indie-rock online music app, eRockster, to bring a catalog of 5,000 indie, alternative and electronica songs to its music library by the end of May. And, later this summer, Clear Channel will launch its own personalized radio station, with a best-of-breed partner».

«XM's first quarter numbers are out, and what do you know?  Its losses widened to nearly 6 percent, even though revenue is up.  For the quarter, XM hemorrhaged $129 million, and their customer acquisition costs rose to $73 a subscriber (up from $65 last year)» (Jacoblog). Mas para quê pagar quando «According to data released by Digital Music News and media tracking firm BigChampagne, one-third of all PCs worldwide have LimeWire installed. For those who are among the other two-thirds, LimeWire is the top P2P file sharing software - the iTunesitunes-overtakes-wal-mart-in-music-sales Apr-4-2008 of "stealing" music so to speak. Usage comes in at exactly 36.4% of all PCs according to the survey, and of course its the target of a multi-year RIAA lawsuit (no doubt a side effect of its popularity)».

«Cornetto cria concurso de bandas no My Space, de acordo com o M&P.

“A Cornetto lançou um concurso de música no My Space, o Auditions, que vai permitir à banda vencedora subir ao palco do festival Optimus Alive”. [ler]

A tendência é clara e está instalada: o consumidor é cada vez mais volátil e saltita entre meios diferentes. As marcas têm de ir ao seu encontro, procurá-lo, acompanhá-lo, servi-lo e surpreendê-lo em novos ambientes, com novas propostas e novas abordagens. A rádio deveria seguir o exemplo da Olá, ou em alternativa, associar-se à Olá e lançar iniciativas que liguem o meio às comunidades que os mais jovens (e menos jovens, a avaliar pelos e-mails que recebo de comunidades como o hi5, Orkut ou Linkedin) utilizam e nas quais estabelecem ligações que podem potenciar o consumo de produtos culturais e da rádio» (Paula Cordeiro)

«(...) many consumers don’t pay for music at any price. The chart below, based on Compete’s data on more than 1,000 music sites, shows how the most popular options for listening to music online are free.

Despite lawsuits against illegal download sites, the fastest growing category in online music last year was P2P downloads, which shot up 140%. Nearly ten years after Napster raged through college networks, online music piracy continues to grow.»

fonte: Music Industry Downfall, Part II: The Rise of Social Streaming by Alex Patriquin Compete.com May 12th, 2008

«These social streaming communities have risen rapidly in popularity. iMeem recently overtook Yahoo! Music as the most popular streaming site on the web.

*The Hypem1500 presents aggregate traffic to the more than 1500 music blogs tracked by the Hype Machine, a popular blog aggregator. The Hype Machine itself is ranked separately from its network at #16.

fonte: Music Industry Downfall, Part II: The Rise of Social Streaming by Alex Patriquin Compete.com May 12th, 2008

O que factos como este (A popularidade da música via streaming (e grátis)) ou este (prejuizos na rádio satélite: as pessoas não querem pagar?) demonstram é que, podendo existir outras formas de viabilizar a musica na internet, o negócio tende a ser gratuíto.

Poderemos falar realmente de um novo consumidor (marcado por palavras/caracteristicas como 'produtor',  'inconstante', 'individualista', 'multitasking') ou na verdade não irão aumentar significativamente os indices de participação e estaremos a falar sobretudo de uma moda (de um capricho)? O consumidor maioritário continuará a ser como antes, passivo (por conveniencia ou por custo)?

«Right now I'm playing with MeeMix Internet Radio. Meemix is a browser-based player which offers both an audio and video mode. MeeMix thinks of itself as an Internet community which offers members the ability to create and listen to personalized radio stations. MeeMix uses a "taste prediction algorithm" which tries and figure out what you will want to hear - not unlike what Internet stations like Pandora or Last.fm pioneered. I started by typing in "Abba" (It's just my default music search term) upon which MeeMix began playing "Take a Chance on Me" - a big 1978 hit for the band. MeeMix then decided I should hear Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" followed by a 1979 disco hit by Cameo. (...) MeeMix has a "Mood Control" with three controls: Surprize Me, Pulse, and Volume. (...). I definitely was surprised. MeeMix has a Not or Hot slider control which let's you tell it whether or not you like what it's picking for you to hear. MeeMix provides a lot of other controls to promote interaction, too: a favorites tool, another to block cuts, the ability to buy the CD you're listening to, recommendation tools, and more. MeeMix is fun to play with and free to use. First time visitors can try it out before registering and create up to 3 radio stations that allow you to listen to 5 songs on each one.»

Corey Deitz, Make Your Own Radio Stations with MeeMix Internet Radio 12/05/08 

«"We think the future of radio is just really, really bright.  One of the reasons...is the opportunity to serve local communities.  As long as we do our job of providing local information and local news to our communities, we know that there are going to be people who listen and who care about their communities.  So, as long as we do our job, we think there's going to be a lot of listening and, if there is listening, we are going to be in great shape," Friesen [Lyndon Friesen, President of Golden West Radio] concluded» (New President at Golden West Radio, discovermoosejaw.com, Maio 08)

- tem características que a tornam importante e quantitativamente também é relevante

«The Bedroom Project» (2007) , Arbitron e Jacobs Media

- todas foram verificadas em setembro de 2008

- todas são de acesso livre (sem necessidade de registo prévio ou pagamento)

- quando uma ligação deixou de estar operacional (por já não existir ou exigir inscrição), é usado o endereço respectivo do blogue de apoio, O Segundo Choque

«In a world where more and more people seem to be turning off their radios and turning up their iPods, radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. found a way to profit from that trend. Clear Channel offers a service in which listeners with specially designed radios can, with the push of a button, "tag" a song they hear on their favorite station and then download that song later onto their Apple iPod. "It’s a simple technology," said Jeff Littlejohn, executive vice president of distribution and development for Clear Channel. "What it does is just merge these two [radios and iPods] together." As technology advances, people who traditionally have spent time listening to the radio have a lot of new choices competing for their attention. Besides iPods, they can also download music and other entertainment on their cell phones, or listen to music streaming through their computers. And some listeners have turned away from traditional over-the-air radio stations in favor of satellite radio. (...) The HD technology also allows stations to offer new data services, such as Clear Channel’s iPod tagging feature. The HD signal includes an identification code that is embedded into each song. Using an HD radio that includes an iPod docking station, a listener who wants to buy a song can push a button to tag the song, which sends the ID code into the iPod. The listener can then connect the iPod to a personal computer and download the song from the iTunes music store.»

fonte: BASCH, Mark «Radio is working with, not against, iPods», Jacksonville.com,  18/05/08

Um estudo sobre o universo geral de ouvintes (e não os mais jovens) [já usado em 4.3.3.1]:

«Despite the wide popularity of portable music sources, consumers prefer to listen to some form of radio more than MP3 players and CDs, according to a new survey. A total of 560 respondents spend 16,814 hours per week listening to audio entertainment. Thirty-nine percent of that time is spent on FM radio, followed by 23 percent on MP3 players / iPods and 18 percent on CDs, to round out the top three audio sources. In an age of portable media devices like the iPod, individuals still satisfy their audio cravings with the longest-standing format, radio. The findings were a result of a survey commissioned by sonoro audio, manufacturer of distinctive, high-quality audio products. Collectively, 57 percent of the time is spent listening to some form of radio, AM, FM or Internet. Internet radio alone is becoming a premier audio medium for US consumers. (...) "Even with the advent of MP3 players, consumers are still largely turning to radio for their music needs as it is easily accessible and free," said Marcell Faller, founder and CEO of sonoro audio. "However, consumers’ expanding, elaborate music libraries have created a demand for all-in-one audio systems that let them integrate the functionality of MP3 players, CDs and radio in a single compact device." »

fonte: MarketWire.com, «Radio Still Number One Music Source Over MP3 Players, CDs» 19/05/08

«"Even with the advent of MP3 players, consumers are still largely turning to radio for their music needs as it is easily accessible and free," said Marcell Faller, founder and CEO of sonoro audio. "However, consumers' expanding, elaborate music libraries have created a demand for all-in-one audio systems that let them integrate the functionality of MP3 players, CDs and radio in a single compact device." Spreading audio libraries across several formats reassures users that their carefully-compiled collections are not lost, if a laptop full of digital content is stolen or CDs are damaged.»

fonte: MarketWire.com, «Radio Still Number One Music Source Over MP3 Players, CDs» 19/05/08

«O que a Web 2.0 nos traz é a mudança de paradigma de relação com a informação e isso encerra problemas maiores, porque não nos atinge apenas individualmente, atinge-nos individual e colectivamente em todas as dimensões da nossa vida. É óbvio que as novas di