radioxfactor

The Beginning of The End?

Radio listenership is down. Way down.

The industry has consolidated until it's more inbred than that banjo-pickin' kid in Deliverance.

Clear Channel is being sold.

Did anybody else see Barbarians at the Gate?

Is this the beginning of the end? Or did the end pass up by, and maybe this is the new beginning?

I'm still undecided -- but I know this: folks in the radio biz are in for a rocky time for the next year or so. For those who are not untalented, kiss-up clones...hang on. There will always be a place for you.

Meanwhile, why not start a show over here?

What if you didn't need a transmitter to have a big audience? What if you could create a show on your laptop and have bigger cume than you do right now?

Still Not Worried About Apple?

Steve Jobs: “Apple’s in your den now, right? iTunes on a Mac or a PC. Apple’s in your living room with iTV, driving your big flat-screen TV. Apple’s in your car, with over 70 percent of the 2007 model cars offering iPod connectivity. And of course, Apple’s in your pocket, with iPods. Den, living room, car, pocket. And I hope this gives you a little idea of where we’re going.” [emphasis added]

Gee...what other medium for delivering music/ entertainment/ information is available n your den, living room, car, pocket? Are you paying attention now?

Your News Department Outsourced

Dave Winer: "As the professional media pulls back, the citizens, you and me, need to fill in and replace every pro with 100 of us, to cover every school board meeting, every planning commission, defense contractor, civic organization."

XM Adds Key Feature

From the XM Newsletter: "It all adds up: the pioneer of digital music downloading plus America's #1 Satellite Radio Service means it's no longer just about listening to music. Discover. Download. Play what you like, when you like. We're talking unlimited access to your favorite XM Radio Online music channels and Napster's catalog of more than 1.5 million songs, and the ability to download them to your PC. A whole new way to experience music, intensified and grown to infinite proportions."

How Can We Talk About This?

I've gotten some feedback from colleagues about the issues I raised two posts ago. Most agree with me, but don't want to "go public" for fear of their jobs. Good Lord. I guess for now you can whisper in my ear, and I'll be the mouthpiece. But...  I'm wondering how we can best talk about this? I don't want to do another "discussion forum" (we have enough of those, don't we?) and there is no way we can talk about this stuff at the existing industry conferences. Trust me, I've been shut down at those before when I wanted to raise questions about what the Wall Streeters are doing to radio (uh...who do you think PAYS for those big conferences anyway?). Ideas? Anyone?

It's Nothing New...

By the way, my little rant is not a new topic, as some will know. Go back and read this piece that I wrote on May 28, 2005.

Look Out, Change Is Coming. Again.

I've been asked: "What happened to the X-Factor Blog? Why don't you post any more?"

I've been sporadically posting a few things over the last few months...but yes, it's been sparse. I've been busy. I wrote and published a book, spoke at a few conferences, did some consulting...and oh, yes, worked at my j-o-b. That made for a lot of time commitment. No excuse, just fact.

Now...why am I writing about all this here? Because I'm angry, and you're about to see a flurry of posts and activity here. Get ready for it.

Saying I'm angry doesn't begin to get the idea across, really. I'm pissed off. Something I love is being destroyed, dying a slow and humiliating death, and nobody seems to be paying any attention. Including, up until now, me.

I'm through ignoring the problem. I hope you are, too. In fact, I'm hoping that once I lay down my case, you too will be pissed off, and that together we can do someting about all this.

Maybe you're wondering what I'm talking about. I'm betting some will already know, but just in case you don't: I'm talking about the death of radio as an art form.

The sacrifice of the beautiful, intimate medium to the dull-witted pencil pushers and bucolic bean counters.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am a Crusading Capitalist. Ayn Rand is one of my favorite authors (that means something, and those who have read her work know it).

I'm not against radio companies making a profit -- but they must create something of value in order to reap the reward of long-term profit. And they're not doing that. They're raping the art form for every last penny they can get out of it, and they're going to leave the business I love in a smoking ruin if we let them get away with it.

Will we? Will we let them get away with it?

I, for one, say "no".

What do you say?

The Gold Is In The Goals

Have you set any goals yet for 2006? Now's the time to start thinking about it. What do you want to achieve in 2006? In your radio career? Do you have income goals? Do you want to achieve some weight loss or perhaps diet and exercise goals? Write them down  - be ready for the new year long before it starts. There's gold in your goals.

Another Great Voice Silenced

"Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger in "Winnie the Pooh" features for more than three decades and a versatile ventriloquist who became a fixture in early children's television along with his dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, has died. He was 82.

Winchell died early Friday in his sleep at his home in Moorpark, Burt Du Brow, a television producer and close family friend, said Saturday." For more on Paul Winchell, see his web site.

Dave Puts His Foot In His Mouth

Dave Winer: "John Lennon said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. No argument, it was true, they were."

Dave, what external data do you have to back that claim up? Because I don't believe it was true then, and I don't believe it's true now. I love the Beatles - but there are over 2 billion Christians on the planet and I just don't think that group from the Sixties had (or has) that many fans. Sorry.

"Well, even though the vast majority of people have never heard of Steve or myself, we're more influential than John Lennon or Bob Dylan ever were."

Holy crap. That's the biggest load of self-glorifying garbage I've seen you post yet. Good luck hacking the media. Too bad you don't know that even Paris Hilton kicks your butt when it comes to influence. I really mean that Dave -it's too bad. But it's also true. How about a little humility, Dave?

Update: Now (6/9/2005) Dave claims it was all tongue-in-cheek, and is somehow justified because pot-smokers are in jail and people are being killed in Iraq.

Do Listeners Prefer Local Contests?

Paragon Media Strategies surveyed 404 (58% of which were female) radio listeners. Here's what they found:

• 16% said they might participate in a contest.
• 78% of those listeners (who might participate) said they prefer local contests.

And yet the Powerball is still successful.

Mind-boggling. Or is it?

Do people say one thing yet do another? Hmmm...

How Would Apple Do A Remote?

This little post over at metacool gives a hint as to how Apple might do a remote broadcast - the remote would look like an iPod.

Once you've read it, you'll understand what I mean... and you'll start thinking about whether your remotes (and your contests, and your morning show, and your van, and your t-shirts, and your stickers...) are "right".

Tivo For Radio, In Your Pocket

While Podcasting is often billed as "Tivo for radio", it isn't. Anyone who has both Tivo and iPodder knows the difference. But this little unit, the RadioYourWay LX, is exactly like Tivo for radio.

I have to get one. Thanks to Kris for pointing this out.

What If Radio's Big Owners Just Quit?

Interesting comment from "George" on my previous post about XM and Podcasting. It's worth quoting:

Everyone is in the storytelling business. Not just radio. I watched Ron Howard on Leno last week, and that's what drives his movies. So are Opie's movies a threat to radio? I doubt it. The only reason XM and Sirius aren't in the storytelling business is because they haven't realized it yet. Give them time. Then what do you do?

To Mark, the "powerful suits" aren't the people you have to convince. It's the ones who work for them that make the decisions. Quit turning a handful of owners into the enemy. Because if they were to pack up go, who'd be left to pay everyone's salaries? I had a dream that the big companies all got into subscription radio business, taking all the big talent and events with them. Leaving nothing for terrestrial radio but ethnic and non-commercial broadcasting. It's not that outrageous. 

George - I'm guessing that's not really your name since you gave a fake email address - I think you understand only part of the picture, and only part of what I was trying to say.

I'm not trying to turn a "handful of owners into the enemy", I'm merely pointing out the deadly nature of pretending we don't have problems. One of the problems is slothful, Wall Street-driven management that can't look beyond today's stock price for a vision of the future. That's not negativity, it's acknowledging reality.

Yes, everyone is in the storytelling business (or at least they should be). I too have read Seth's new book.

I don't think there's much danger that XM and Sirius will wake up and figure that out, because that's typically the behavior of small start-ups, not of big Wall Street companies...and because there's too many people on the "programming committee" at each of those companies.

Same is true for big radio. In general, there are too many people on the committee when it comes to making decisions about programming and marketing the radio stations. Storytelling is done by individuals, not by organizations.

Stephen King writes great novels, not the layers of execs at Viking Press. Howard Stern does a great radio show, not Infinity and all their P.D.s, V.P.s, and G.M.s.

Ron Howard makes great movies because he has gained enough power to be able to keep his story alive, even after the committee has put their grubby fingerprints all over it. Enough of Ron's (and King's, and Stern's) story survives that it still breathes, and the public responds.

Sometimes organizations are smart enough that they can allow the storytellers room. Sometimes. Sadly, that's the exception and not the rule. Usually it's one iconoclast at the top who keeps the storytellers alive and free - and when that leader is gone, the pasty bureaucrats rush in to quickly squash any storytelling as quickly as they can. Look what happened to Infinity when Mel left. Look what happened to Citadel when Larry Wilson was shown the door.

I'm not looking for radio to become decommercialized. Anyone who knows me will testify that I am a devout Capitalist. I just think there's a difference between smart business and dumb business. And right now in our industry there's plenty of dumb business, and most of it is wearing thousand-dollar-suits.

So, can XM and Sirius wake up? Sure they can. But I'm not holding my breath in hopes that they will. Podshow was a step in the right direction, albeit it's podcasting stripped down, homogenized, and obviously "committeed" near to death.

Of the two satellite services, Sirius appears to be the one that might actually "get" it. They were smart enough to hire Howard Stern, and now Podshow. This is all because of Mel, no doubt. Maybe there is hope for them - though they've got plenty of hurdles yet to jump before the race is done.

As for terrestrial radio...

I think Radio Programmers and Air Talent need to start thinking of themselves as storytellers, George, you're right about that. Perhaps they should, in fact, think of themselves more like movie directors - and go looking for those small, independent film studios that will let them tell their stories, in their own way.

Are you up to that challenge?

If so, then go do it, and light a signal fire or two to let the rest of us know where you are and what you're doing there.

That should be an interesting story.

GR-R-R-EAT Man Dies

VO Artist Thurl Ravenscroft - the voice of Tony The Tiger  and the singer of "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch"  has passed away at 91. Via Metafilter.

Why Radio Can Beat XM and iPod

In a competition on the Leno show, a pair of Morse coders kicked the asses of two SMSers for speed. MAKE blog has links to the video and comments from the competitors. From BoingBoing.

New Look For Radioxfactor

Yes, I changed the look of the site. I am aiming for someting cleaner, with less clutter. I took out a lot of the extraneous stuff in the sidebar. Hope you like it.

Change of XML Feed Address

If you've been getting RadioXFactor through its Feedburner feed... you'll need to switch to the new feed address, which is http://radioxfactor/index.rdf . Sorry for the hassle. The reason for the change is: Feedburner takes too much control of my XML feed. If you don't understand this, don't worry about it. It'll go away.

The Liar's Blog

Seth has a blog just focused on the new book, and on marketers as liars: http://www.allmarketersareliars.com/

The Bullshit Factor

I just finished reading Seth Godin's new book (All Marketers Are Liars) for the second time.

This book is genius - and it's dangerous, too.

Genius, because Seth is the consummate consultant - someone who not only knows what to do, but does what he knows (if you know Seth's work and his practice, you understand what I just said - if you don't, you're probably better off posting libel and blaming your problems on other people over at AllAccess).

Dangerous, because I guarantee that 90% of people who read Seth's new book will interpret it as meaning "just tell stories - they don't even have to be true". And this will only add to the "bullshit factor" in the marketing and advertising world.

• "This Weekend Only - Inventory Reduction Sale". Bullshit.
• "We're Overstocked, And All Vehicles Must Go". Bullshit.
• "You May Have Already Won $10,000,000". Bullshit.

Those are just the obvious offenders. There are more subtle ones, too...

• "We'll Take Anything In Trade, No Matter What You Owe." And then you'll add the "trade in value" onto the loan for the care you're selling me. Bullshit.
• "Mattress Sale - This Weekend Only." That's funny. I seem to remember a mattress sale last weekend, too. Bullshit.
• "For All Your Hardware Needs..." Really? All of my hardware needs? How do you even know what all of my hardware needs are? I mean, you must know, since you claim to have the answer to all of my needs, right? So once again... bullshit.

And we, as radio programmers, have our own "stories" that are really just "bullshit"... don't we?

• "Jack. We Play...Whatever..." Bullshit.
• "The Biggest Playlist In Seattle". Bullshit.
• ""Back To The Music Faster" Bullshit.
• "More Smiles Per Hour" Bullshit.
• "The Station That Picks You Up And Makes You Feel Good." Bullshit.

So what's my point?

Stop bullshitting people.

If you're ready to start telling the truth - without bullshit - then the first step is to read Seth's new book carefully.

Read it with this commitment in your mind: I will in fact tell stories, as Seth suggests in his book... but they will be true, authentic stories.

That approach will work. You will be successful. And maybe you'll still be able to sleep at night.

And that is not bullshit.

Instant T-Shirt Budget

So you don't have a T-Shirt budget for your station? Create an instant budget, out of thin air. Figure out your minimum order, and then open an account at Fundable.

Put on your thinking caps, boys and girls. This could also be used to raise money for a morning show CD, or a charity album or event, or a community carnival. The only challenge with Fundable is that the promotion of the "thing" you're trying to fund. Most people will have a tough time mounting a large enough promotion campaign. You have a radio station. Are you getting the picture?

NAB Dish?

I didn't post any NAB dish because there wasn't any.

Same ol' stuff.

The Rebels have become the Empire.

Scott Mahalick Returns

My friend Scott Mahalick just launched a new company called Groovpix Entertainment LLC. Groovpix will make DVDs for music lovers, mixing up concert footage with “behind-the-scenes” interview segments. The company's first project is a DVD featuring 3 Doors Down.

Promo Shenanigans

AllAccess: "REUTERS reports that two independent music promoters... have sued UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP (UMG) for $100 million, claiming the record company forced them to doctor invoices that then allowed UMG to bill promotional costs to artists whom the promoters never represented." 

NAB Week In Sin City

This week is the NAB... in Vegas. I'll deal some dish later on. Ciao, baby! Have your people call my people... yadda, yadda, yadda...