We’ve all been there. You wake up one day – or 5 o’clock rolls around – and it turns out that one of your competitors has changed formats. And now they’re coming right at you. They’re playing your music, with your value proposition, and your liners. And they’re commercial-free so even your core fans will try them out. And it also turns out that this is no ma and pa company – it’s one of the biggest corporations in the business and they’re gunning right at your heart. It’s...
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs Another Steve – Steve Case former head of AOL – sees the world of business as either attackers or defenders. In his mind, it is essential for companies – especially smaller entrepreneurial businesses – to think proactively and innovatively: “…I realized the world of business really separates into these two groups. The attackers are the entrepreneurs who are disrupting the status quo, trying to change the world, take the hill, anything is possible, and have nothing to lose...
Since our Techsurveys expanded last year, our ability to explore formats has become one of the most popular dimensions of these studies, designed to help radio see around corners. Our expressed goal since we started this research initiative nine years ago was to help the industry understand what listeners do when they’re not tuned into radio. Since those early days before iPhones and Facebook, our Techsurveys have broken a lot of ground, from discovering the “cell phone only” problem to the apps opportunity to the social media acknowledgment challenge. And our...
Recently, The New York Times profiled Michael Dubin, the newest hot entrepreneur. But this story’s a little different. Michael’s Dollar Shave Club is a very simple concept that isn’t really techie. And it’s a runaway hit. OK, the tech part is that his wildly popular viral video has propelled Dollar Shave Club, generating lots of sales and attracting venture dollars, while competing with the big boys like Gillette. Here’s the humorous video that has generated more than 10,000,000 views: >EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO WATCH DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB VIDEO<...
It is hard to believe that in some circles, there’s a raging debate…about all the wrong things. Are digital futurists falsely predicting the doom of radio? Are automakers conspiring to eliminate AM/FM radio from their “center stacks?” Do we really need to be streaming? Are young people abandoning radio in favor of new media technologies? And on it goes. In radio, these are issues akin to gun control, immigration, and the budget deficit – too complicated to take on in this space. But for one of them – the...
Recently, we talked about Yahoo’s new policy to keep employees in the building when they banned telecommuting. But today, I want to potentially anger my friends and clients behind the mic by exhorting you to get out of the studio and put yourself in front of the people you serve and entertain. Why? Because it is essential for radio to not just do what it’s always done. To gain and capture attention and loyalty in this environment, there’s an ongoing need to make an impression, to have impact, to do something different,...
You have to love all those crazy predictions about the future – especially the ones that never happened. Robots cleaning our homes and flying cars should have been here by now, right? And yet, technology has never been more remarkable. It seems like almost every day there’s a new announcement about how the intersection of media and technology just became even more compelling. When you consider that back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, you could go years without a significant new development in the radio world, now they seem to show...
My kindred spirit – and at times blogger partner – Alan Cross (“A Journal of Musical Things”) ran across something fascinating the other day about musicians. I think there are radio applications to it, too, so let me explain. Below are two video clips, one from today featuring Trent Reznor in Dave Grohl’s Sound City documentary. The second goes back more than 40 years to a Pink Floyd video made around their Live at Pompeii concert in 1972. The fascinating thing about these two videos is that Reznor and Floyd’s David Gilmour...
As Lori Lewis has reminded Jacobs Media clients and the many readers of her weekly “Merge” column in All Access, you have to understand the various social media platforms in order to benefit from them. This is especially true in the ongoing discussion about Facebook and Twitter. Lori frequently fields questions about the differences between these two platforms, because so many believe that the relative size of each is the determinant of whether stations or personalities use them. When it comes to Twitter, she’ll tell you that all things...
All the talk about the recent sign-on of Nash 94.7 has encompassed the notion of whether Country will work in New York City. There’s been a lot of noise about whether Manhattan, the boroughs, and the agencies will embrace some of the hottest music out there. The station did a fair amount of stunting, and by all accounts, pulled off a nice sign-on. But the requirements for a new station debut have changed. Yes, you’ve got to have your music and/or hosts in place. The production has to be sharp,...
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