Greetings RF Fans… I attended the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA this past weekend. It’s a music conference mostly for gear heads but there was an impressive amount of technology there as well. In case you didn’t see my review it’s here. Urban radio and industry people are in DIRE need to learn more about technology. Let’s face it, our conferences never were places to learn and grow because they were more like family picnics and reunions which is/was also needed but these days its’ about preparing for the future. You would be AMAZED at what’s around the corner, perhaps even motivated to prepare yourself.
Clear Channel’s name change is no surprise to me, I think it’s brilliant. It’s much more than a radio company and they are preparing for the future. Today’s radio companies are much more involved in various aspects of media and they want to have complete control of services.
If I worked in radio today as a programmer or a jock, there is absolutely no way I would be resting on my laurels. Remember, we work in a youth driven industry. I cannot stress these four words enough PREPARE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Technology is NO JOKE and it would greatly behoove you to go to some of these technology conferences to see what lies ahead even if you have to pay for it yourself, it’s an investment in your future and there are a LOT of conferences out there.
The other day, I was trying to find a business card scanner for all the cards I collected at the conference. I was pissed because I threw one away that I paid $200.0o for when I moved from Atlanta back to LA. I found a few at Fry’s and other stores and they ranged around the $100.00 mark. Then I kept thinking… of that line ‘there’s an app for that’ and I checked my iPhone and low and behold an AMAZING card scanning app for $6.99. Then I thought… if my phone can do this and so many other amazing things like deposit my checks into the bank by taking a picture
of the check, how far off is technology to take over our industry? I mean really think about it. Actors are pissed right now because reality TV has hit their craft hard and basically made them obsolete. With the major success of Reality TV, How far are we away now from Reality Radio and Reality Movies? I’m surprised nobody has come out with a Reality Magazine covering the industry yet. There are 10 times as many out of work actors, singers and comics as there are radio jocks and comics have invaded our industry for some years now could actors and singers be far behind? They all have one thing over all of us RECOGNITION… their careers can be totally dead but their fans are not. Radio fans will forget about us in 10 minutes but they will remember a song by Stephanie Mills for LIFE.
The corporations have been extremely unfair to commercial jocks and programmers, stifling our growth and murdering our creativity not allowing us to market our skills so that they corporation can get all the credit. To an extent, it does make sense, the corporation is paying you to help build their brand but who is building yours? There are many Steve Harvey’s in urban radio, the corporation just doesn’t have the time or interest in building an unknown local jock into that kind of status and it appears they don’t want to. When you walk into any corporation and you are already a star its instant leverage for negotiation so part of our power will come from building our brands but how do we build our brands when the corporations won’t let us? It’s a catch 22 and something that you have to figure out. Part of that is learning as much as you can about the future of the industry.
I was talking to a major market PD a couple of years ago about EXACTLY what the station is Dallas is doing with Khloe Kardashian. She’s on for one hour and this is what this PD and I discussed. Eliminating commercial jocks and replacing them with celebrities on the radio with one to two hour shifts, which can be recorded from anywhere, bringing MAJOR branding to the local station by calling their celebrity friends and incorporating them into the segments. The shift is a piece of cake, no agents, managers, marketing people, publicity depts involved the middle man ELIMINATED because the “jock” has a direct relationship with the other stars but it’s the station that SHINES. The “jock” comes to the station with leverage. In addition the celebrity jock is as big as the music so the appeal for the show skyrockets. We labeled this “Reality Radio” because the jocks have no training, they are not afraid to be themselves and the corporations are going to give them carte blanche, unlike commercial jocks, to BE themselves. It’s a concept that just might work and it’s being tested as you read this.
I can’t say I would be disappointed to see corporations stop hiring these research firms and even Arbitron better be up on its game because all of these new music services directly connected to technology are able to tally their own stats. Once again… leverage. How long will it be before cell phones get involved in the process as an overall monitoring service for what people listen to on their phones. Anything is possible and the industry as we know it today will probably drastically change technologically within a year if not less. The pace is incredibly rapid. I’ve got a really big surprise coming very soon in RF and you will have a much greater understanding of what I am talking about. PREPARE…
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