Audioslave Shackles Traditional Radio with Internet Only Release of New Single

Another major recording label, mega-band has decided to give the finger to traditional radio on releasing their new single. They've created an ingenious way to get the word out by developing a web site that allows fans to click on a link to activate a countdown to "open" the song. 1,000,000 clicked on the site within days and were able to get first crack at their new tune, "Your Time Has Come" from their album that is due out in late May. Traditional radio got screwed yet again by the Internet as a promotional mechanism for creating a buzz about new music.

More and more bands are taking this approach. As mentioned already in this blog, big bands such as Coldplay to smaller, indie bands like Robin Wynn are using the Internet as a way to get their music out there, and simply bypassing traditional radio as a promotional means.

My Internet radio station, CVILLERADIO.ORG, helps promote local bands in Charlottesville and helps to get their music heard around the world, without relying on the local radio station. More and more of these radio stations and Internet distribution points for music are popping up and are definitely making a difference, as evidenced by the Audioslave release.

The New Way Of "Finding" New Music

A friend of mine had not heard of Eva Cassidy and so I went rummaging through both my offline (CD, tape) and online (mp3, iTUNES) collections and was dismayed to actually find very little of what was once a pretty substantial collection.

I turned to MusicMatch and my Gold subscription with the service that gives me pretty much unlimited access to their archive of songs on what they call MusicMatch Radio. A quick search for "Eva Cassidy" and I'm given two sets of results. First, all of Eva's music, including the Live At Blues Alley release, right there, a click away. A second set of results gave me "related artists", which I admit might have been a little off, but still, how cool is it to have a personalized litlte radio station instantly with "related artists". In Eva's case, people like Norah Jones, k.d. lang, and Joni Mitchell showed up, which was great.

It got me to thinking what I would have had to do 3-5 years ago when coming up empty on a desperate search for Eva. I could have called my local jazz or soft rock radio station and requested a song. If I got through, maybe, just maybe they'd play one song and that would be it. Or, I could go down to my local CD store and shell out $15 per CD, if they have them in stock. Fast-forward to today, and with 2 clicks and some typing, I have her full discography at my disposal, streaming right over my computer. Pretty sweet.

Just another example of how traditional radio is really losing out to Internet Radio. My station, CVILLERADIO.ORG, will hopefully continue to do its part in helping Internet Radio reach some sort of mainstream status by promoting local Charlottesville artists such as Monticello Road, All of 15, and Ostinato.

Traditional Radio Is Starting To Get The Internet Picture

I've been reading more and more studies, facts, and statistics on how traditional radio is changing their habits to combat the millions of people now turning to alternative methods to get their music. With new choices of Internet radio stations, iPOD and mp3 playing devices, and services such as XM Satellite and Sirius radio flooding the market, traditional radio stations are starting to get the picture - it is time to seriously consider going digital and leveraging the Internet, Internet Radio, and the iPOD craze.

My Internet Radio station, CVILLERADIO.ORG, is the first of its kind in Virginia, dedicated to supporting and promoting local artists by playing only local music. My playlists contain hundreds of different songs, from various styles and backgrounds. Your average traditional radio playlist might have 15 songs on it, which is why you'll hear the same stuff over and over and over again.

An interview with a local San Diego woman in the Daily Breeze, showed just how everything is changing. And this is happening every day, all day. Erin Pace, who recently received an iPOD for her birthday said the following, "Radio has been so bad lately," said Pace, who was shopping in the Apple store at a nearby mall for a device to connect her iPod to her car-stereo system. "They play the same stuff over and over and there's more commercials than ever. This allows me to take control."

So the traditional radio that she used to listen to in her car to find new music, is now being replaced with an iPOD accessory that allows her to plug her iPOD directly into her car and listen to whatever music she wants, whenever she wants, and without those pesky commercials.

The game is changing folks, and traditional radio stations are starting to get on board and pour millions of dollars into Internet radio stations and digital broadcasts, streaming audio, and podcasting.

Cold Play Gives Traditional Radio The Cold Shoulder

An announcement came out today from iTUNES talking about how Coldplay's new single, "Speed of Sound" is on pace to be the highest downloaded and most sold single of all time -- thanks to iTUNES. Still unreleased on traditional radio, Coldplay made a conserted effort to pump up the promo of this tune using the Internet, Internet Radio, and iTUNES.

The song is #1 on all of iTUNES online stores, and is contintuing to virally promote itself thanks to things like blogs, email, and other benefits of the Internet.

It is my opionion that this type of release (a single song instead of an album / on the Internet instead of traditional radio) is going to become the norm from now on, not the exception. People spend more time at their computer, on their cel phone, and jacked into their iPOD than they do in their car or plopped down in front of their FM radio. That is a fact. So, as an emerging artist, why not leverage that fact and use the Internet to promote your music.

Another great example, is a band called Fisher. They are a husband and wife musical act that used the Internet, and MP3.com, to get more than 3,000,000 of their songs downloaded in the late 90's. Now, they have parlayed that initial success into a large indie label business that is very successful.

It can be done. Internet radio is here and it is growing. My radio station, CVILLERADIO.ORG, is trying to promote local musicians in the Charlottesville area by utilizing podcasting and RSS to spread the word online about some of these great musicians. Who knows, maybe the Naked Puritans will be the next Fisher.

Is Traditional Radio Dead?

An announcement came out yesterday that Real Networks now has over 1,000,000 subscribers to its music subscription services. Live365.com has millions of listeners. iTUNES has millions and is growing significantly each day. XM Satellite and Sirius Satellite are converting hundreds of thousands each quarter. Is traditional radio dead?

Just the other day, I was in a discussion with a friend of mine about where and how we find our new music to listen to. She is the lead singer in a band, Robin Wynn, and mentioned that she is working with her group to get some additional airplay. Currently, she is spun on some local stations like WNRN and WRIR, and is working hard to take it up a notch. We talked about how there are so many places on the Internet to get your music heard on Internet Radio. And it is amazing, how many places you can go to upload your music and get it "spun" on Internet Radio. My site, CVILLERADIO.ORG plays all local Charlottesville, Virginia music that I know is not being played anywhere else on traditional radio. And some of this stuff is really, really good.

So, I'm going to answer my own question here. Yes, traditional radio is "dying", but I'm not sure it is dead yet.

Here are some places where you can get your music played on Internet Radio:
http://www.live365.com
http://www.live-radio.net
http://launch.yahoo.com/launchcast/setup.asp
http://www.radio-locator.com
http://www.shoutcast.com
http://www.virtualtuner.com

Live365 & Internet Radio

The Internet is certainly changing the rules by which traditional radio and the music industry in general have to play. Live365.com, a huge Internet radio conglomerate of thousands of stations, currently boasts more than 2.5 million visitors a month.

These days, anybody can basically setup an Internet radio station in their basement, or on their laptop remotely. I took the plunge and am in the midst of launching an Internet radio station for the Charlottesville, VA area called CVILLERADIO.ORG. My goal is to promote and support local artists and get their music on the airwaves - well, the Internet airwaves at least.

As I was saying, anyone can do it. You need a few things:

• Hosting company (to host the web site)
• Steaming company or streaming software (think radio tower)
• Rights management affiliation (to pay royalties for the music you are streaming)
• Computer, Internet connection, and a microphone hooked to your computer

Hosting Company

If you do not currently host your own web site, you will need to either do so, or find a hosting company to physically host the web site that will run your radio station. I use Enterhost, which offers a great Cold Fusion and MS-SQL based solution. Or, you can use a bigger player such as someone like TEKgroup International, Inc. - a company I am a partner in.

Streaming Company

Here I use AudioRealm, which has an incredible product called SimpleCast. I was able to download, install and configure this in less than an hour, including 2 calls to their very helpful technical support staff. I highly recommend at least giving them a look. They offer various stream packages with different options for quality, audio encoding type, and # of streams.

Rights Management Affiliation

You'll need to decide what type of music or content you want to stream on your radio station. Either way, someone needs to get royalties. If you are going to compete with mainstream radio, you'll need to pay something to ASCAP, BMI, or other agencies. My station, CVILLERADIO.ORG, uses SoundExchange, which is a royalties program for unsigned and indie artists. Sign up with somebody though so you can remain legitimate and at least follow the motions of getting the artists paid.

Computer, Internet Connection, and Microphone

The basics. You definitely need to be able to record or play back audio content from your computer utilizing something like SimpleCast from AudioRealm. If you want to DJ or talk over the music, you'll need a quality microphone hooked into your computer as well.

That's all you need to get up and running with a basic Internet radio station. After that, the sky is the limit. Make sure to add your radio station to places like Live365.com's directory so other people can enjoy your station.