Some Radio People Continue to be Confused by the Connected Car

I've done a lot of reading and writing about what's slowly happening to traditional AM/FM radio in automobile dashboards--and I've taken a lot of stick for it, too.

"Stop bashing radio!" some have said.  Others say "You're insane.  People are always going to need radio."

Both criticisms are missing the point.  I've never said that radio is going die. What I've always said is that the transmission methods of radio need to change.  The age-old analogue delivery method of amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) need to be left behind for something more digital that allows the audience to consumer what us radio people have to offer on their own terms.

Most radio people are way too the subject to understand that we've moving more and more into an on-demand world.  Think about how you consume any form of media now.  From iPods to tablets to PVRs to voicemail, we ingest information as we choose and less and less as a firehose of non-customizable real-time data.  

If industry people think that audiences will forever want something that comes at them in a way they can't control, they're deluded.  The real focus should be "How can traditional take what it does really well and transition that to the world if IP delivery?

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Can You Create Hipster-Friendly and Hipster-Unfriendly Playlists from the Same iPod

Cam things so.  Check out what he has to say at Completely Ignored:

Bold statement: Now more than ever, music lovers can own and access a wide range of music, cool or otherwise, without much impact on their beloved street cred. No more “guilty pleasures." Just “pleasures."

Two early 2000s innovations forever changed the type(s) of music that hipsters and other insects would admit to owning and/or enjoying.

The first innovation was the mash-up. A modern take on the decidedly non-modern efforts of Steinski, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers, M|A|R|R|S andthe Timelords/JAMMs/KLF, the mash-up soon became a staple of tinny MP3s and trying-to-hard dance parties across the land.

[...]

The second innovation was the iPod.

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4 Social Media Trends That'll Hit the Music Industry

Music continues to be shaped by the use of social media.  Music Think Tank offers four ways things will continue to evolve down this path.

1.  The Internet of Things

You'll be hearing this phrase a lot more.  Basically, it's the linking together of dumb (i.e. non-computer) devices through the Internet.  

2.  Multi-Channel Engagement

Getting what we want, when we want it, wherever we happen to be and on whatever device we happen to have.

3.  Increasing Mobile Adaption

Smartphones.  Where willl they take us?

4.  Visual Social Media

Just look at Instagram.  Kids like it way more than Facebook.  No wonder Zuckerberg bought it.

Read the entire article here.

Are We Headed for Renewed Interest in High-Quality Audio? Vote Now!

I feel like a grumpy old man yelling at the kids on my lawn everytime I complain about how people seem to be satisfied with the crappy audio they get from cheap earbuds, MP3s and over-compressed CDs.  

This is why I'm championing the return of vinyl (a format I happily abandoned for good reason) and has me cheering on Neil Young and his Pono project.  

Maybe, though, I've been missing something.  Music Week points out that a couple of studies have concluded that young music fans--the same people who will happily shell out $300-plus for a pair of Beats headphones--are starting to think in turns of high quality audio.

Might these same music consumers push harder for better sound on all levels?  Maybe even a new HQ format for music?

Take the Music Week poll on the subject by clicking on the image.

Music Streaming Services Are Cool, Convenient and Still Money-Losers

This could explain why Canada doesn't have the full compliment of streaming music services yet.  If they can't figure out how to make it pay in the US and Europe, why would they bother with Canada?  From The Verge:

[E]verything in the music and technology industries is pushing toward digital streaming. Last year, music-related startups received $619.3 million in new investment. Spotify has more than five million paying subscribers, proving that customers will pay rather than pirate every month for a rich library of music if it's inexpensive and available everywhere.

(Later this year, Spotify will offer free, ad-supported music on mobile devices in all of its markets.)

Soundcloud, the leader in user-created embedded audio, just simplified its paid, pro, and premium partnership tiers for heavy users, music labels, and brands. Google wants to start a music subscription service in the second half of this year, trading on its strong positions with both Android and YouTube. Hardware upstart Beats Electronics is building its own streaming service, Daisy, using just-acquired Mog as its backbone. Even Apple is finally embracing streaming in principle, negotiating royalty rates with music rights ownersto add a new, complimentary service to its iTunes Store.

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