“Is Radio Still Important – And Did Streaming Kill The Radio Star?” plus 1 more

Is Radio Still Important – And Did Streaming Kill The Radio Star?

Posted: 17 Jan 2018 05:21 PM PST

The music industry is caught up with streaming and playlists and with good reasons, but what about radio? How does the future look for the radio format and is it still relevant?

In 2010, I started a management company with very limited resources and know-how about the music industry. I had previously been DJ’ing at the local nightclub, but soon I realized that I rather wanted to make the actual events. From here I went into tour management and helping out at my brothers management agency.

Back in 2010, my first company was established and I signed a couple of artists on one-page contracts with limited knowledge of how to build artist careers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA

In 2014, I was having a discussion with other professionals about how come you couldn’t really control, track or compare the artists revenue of radio money whether it was via your CMO or PRO. I soon learned, that by using this data you can actually benefit a great deal in terms of marketing purposes whether it’s for booking, radio promotion or social media.

While I was investigating the market, I found a Norwegian IT company, which had developed an algorithm for audio recognition. With this algorithm you can upload any mp3 file (the audio fingerprint), and whenever a radio station is playing it, a match is made. The company was Bach Technology – a spinoff company out of the famous IT university at Fraunhofer Institute in Ilmenau, Germany. The Founders of the company had also developed the Mp3 file back in 1997 together with Aarhus Library in Denmark.

I suggested to the CEO of Bach Technology that I was thinking of building a product on top of his algorithm that should make it possible for everyone to track any song on radio at any time. The idea was pretty simple, but the goal was that everyone should be able to benefit from this kind of data. This would only be possible if everyone had the option to access the data. Most people in the music industry, e.g. musicians and managers, spend a lot of time and money on everything from instruments and production to Sound cloud, Soundcharts and social media – why wouldn’t you want to know how and where your newest release is performing?

One would say “Well I’m used to hire a radio promoter”. Sure, and if you can afford one you should! But even so – he is not tracking your airplays. He is in many cases relying on the feedback from the radios playlists or strong personal relations.

Why wouldn’t you as an upcoming artist want to know exactly where you should make a promotional effort.

What if you are being played on a specific radio in another country? Or what if you are in rotation in a country or city you otherwise would not know of, why wouldn’t you want to know?

One would say “well, I’m signed to a big record label and they are already doing that”. Then again I must say no. Some labels do track their releases, but most of them use fairly expensive solutions with lots of data on a very limited amount of radio stations, and some only monitor in specific areas.

From my perspective, the key in radio monitoring is to cover as many stations as possible. Ideally all stations. Not only the large ones or the ones with an estimated highest amount of listeners.

As the service I want to create should be usable for everyone it has to cover as many stations as possible, even school, college and local stations, and especially all the genre based stations. This way you can improve the chances that everyone finds every single airplay.

I made an agreement with the CEO and founder of Bach Technologies about the idea, and I started working for them as a sales agent to get to know as much as possible about the company.

ON AIR

Fast forward 3 years – its December 21st 2016, and I just received pre-seed investment to the company WARM – the World Airplay Radio Monitor. The goal for WARM is to collect as much data as possible and distribute it to the costumer. Our first product is an MVP which launched April 17th 2017. We are currently working on new features and implementations.

I know that we live in a streaming based world. However, streaming is not everything. The radio is curated by real people which you can contact and connect with. These people, the radio hosts, djs, and promoters are in most cases people who love music and who love to discover and find new music. And whether their radio show has 5000 or 500.000 listeners it is people who get exposed directly to your music.

The radio star is still alive and kicking. I believe that radio airplay reporting has been neglected for way to long, and with a market that only caters for the large record labels and collections societies. Combined with a huge lack of coverage, transparency and being able to track revenue streams, it is simply not to early that we start making this available to everyone, especially the ones who needs it the most – the long tail.

/Jesper Skibsby, CEO & founder of WARM

Should You Hire Security Guards For Your Music Event?

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 01:40 PM PST

Whether you’re hosting a small karaoke party or a jam-packed musical festival, you have a responsibility as the event organizer to make sure that all of your guests get home safely. Here are just a few risk factors to consider and how security guards from a company like Security Services Northwest, Inc might or might not help with them.

Alcohol

People start losing their inhibitions when their blood-alcohol content (BAC) is as low as 0.06 percent, so if you’ll be serving alcohol at your music event, there’s a chance that the crowd will get drunk and disorderly. This is especially true for things like rock concerts where wild behavior is expected as a matter of course. Security guards can be used to keep the rowdiness from turning into ugliness.

Space

Crowd control should be a priority during music events with limited space. From zealous fans rushing the stage to excited crowds surging against rails and barriers, there’s always something that can go wrong when people gather in large numbers. The good news is that a few security guards stationed around the perimeter can help you maintain order. Their presence alone is often enough to deter wrongdoers.

Location

Both indoor and outdoor venues come with safety risks. For example, indoor venues might have blocked-off exits that could turn deadly during a trampling event, and outdoor concerts might have overgrown or poorly-lit areas where robberies and assaults could take place. You might want to hire security guards who are trained to spot the warning signs of these physical dangers.

Heights

If your event is taking place anywhere other than the flat, hard earth, you should consider hiring security guards to assist with the logistics of getting people up and down. They’ll have more authority to redirect traffic flows than a harried venue employee, and they can also be used to keep an eye on the structural integrity of things like stairs, ramps, turnstiles and balconies.

Events and Activities

Mosh pits can lead to injuries. Pyrotechnic displays can set off smoke alarms and cause a panic. Even the bands themselves can be dangerous if they’re prone to throwing around their equipment or riling up the crowd to extremes. Take a look at your event’s activity sheet and see if there’s anything that you need to be worried about as the liable party.

These are just a few things to consider if you’re wondering whether you should hire security guards for your music event. Broadly speaking, it’s better to be safe than sorry, but you’re the only one who can make the final decision regarding your event. Good luck.

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