IBS Student Radio Network underwriting opportunities

September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

IBS LogoOver the years many of the members of the IBS Student Radio Network have asked about finding sponsors and underwriters for their shows, segments and stations.  This week we are launching a pilot program to work with some of the schools in finding underwriters and sponsors.

In the last year our stations have taken well over 1M listener connections.  As the school year progressed the audience engagement increased by over 50% as measured by the average length of a listener session.  Clearly the efforts of the schools to promote their stations and streams is making an impact.

Building off the success of the live events Backbone helped to power over the summer, from the HOT 97 Summer Jam in New York, to the Outside Lands in San Francisco to the recently concluded Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, we will start this year off with a bang by broadcasting the Jamaica Plain Music Fest on the Simmons and Emmanuel College station streams.  These streams are available in the TuneIn tuner.  For this weekend they will be at the top of the college radio section as a sponsored link.

The college demographic is clearly a target that sponsors and underwriters would like to reach.  What better way than through the campus taste makers of the college radio stations.  If you are interested in being a sponsor or underwriter please contact us at underwriting@studentradionetwork.org.

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Internet Radio Concert Promotion — 100,000 more attendees, no extra porta-potties

August 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Eighteen years ago this week, in a previous life, George and I helped produce and broadcast Woodstock ’94 (Mudstock), and it was quite an experience, with 350,000 people in attendance. This week, we got to participate in another weekend concert, Outside Lands in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and I marvel at how differently big events can now be covered.

outsidelands logoAt Woodstock, we had dozens of television trucks and vans with satellite uplinks, requiring connectivity to and between the two stages, which was our primary responsibility as “fiber optic gurus”. For the most part, all of these broadcasters were on site to provide live news feeds for networks and local stations, as well as the occasional celebrity interview.  The complexity and cost was huge, while virtually none of the concert entertainment was broadcast live.

Outside Lands Stage - 2012Fast forward to 2012.  Over the last few months, in partnership with TuneIn, we’ve enjoyed exploring how today’s music festivals can build their reach to a worldwide audience, without breaking the budget of the event promoters.  We started out with New York’s Hot 97 Summer Jam hip hop festival in June, helping Emmis Communications promote the event exclusively on TuneIn radio the week leading up to the concert, then live Internet radio coverage of the show, and then best-of the concert the week following.  It was a major hit.

So, with that success, Emmis decided to do similar promotion for their Power 106 concert in Los Angeles later that month. It, too, was a big success.

That brings us to Outside Lands–August 10-12, 2012.  TuneIn assembled the team for this broadcast, with not only Backbone Networks but also a professional broadcast team with deep experience in branded radio stations, RFC Media from Houston, TX.  Unlike Woodstock, this concert was broadcast live, and it required no trucks, no satellite uplinks and a minimal crew…all with just “a Mac and a mic”.RFC Media Tent - Outside Lands

Results?  It was unquestionably another big success.  While Golden Gate park only holds about 65,000 people for an event like this, through Backbone Internet radio and TuneIn, over 100,000 unique listeners around the world tuned in for nearly half a million listener sessions.  What amazes me is that a regional concert in San Francisco can pull listeners from all over the world, as you can see in the listener cluster “hot spot” map for the concert week (click to enlarge).

Outside Lands Listener MapLike every other business activity, concert promotion has now been changed by the Internet, specifically Internet radio in this case. Going forward, we will learn even more about how to have the greatest impact and highest return on a very small investment.  We’ll share that with you.

Next up for TuneIn, RFC Media and Backbone: The Bumbershoot Music Festival in Seattle on Labor Day Weekend.

Peace, love and radio.

Filed Under: Backbone Radio Blog, Music Radio Tagged With: , , ,

Things I Learned About Talk Radio Last Week

June 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

New Media Seminar 2012 logoLast Thursday I got up early and took the 5:45am Acela Express from Providence to NY Penn Station for a full day of the most interesting conference I’ve been to in many years.  It was TALKERS Magazine’s annual New Media Seminar, where some 350 talk radio stars and producers shared their view of where the industry is headed.  And I loved every second of it. I won’t even try to give you all the detail of the day, but I will give you a few nuggets that relate to our business at Backbone.

First, the First Amendment is still a ball in play, and we got that message from all sides.  No less than Sean Hannity, Ed Schultz and Gov. David Paterson impressed upon the crowd that boycotts and retaliation are uncalled for when the listener can easily “change the dial”.  Of course, our Internet radio “dial” now allows for thousands of choices, with each of those stations having virtually unlimited freedom of expression.  Which brings me to my second point, Tom Leykis.

The persistent message all day was that talk radio is changing right before our eyes, whether it’s in slow motion or as a blur.  That technical change is the transition from terrestrial to the Internet.  The operational message is that nobody’s job is secure in traditional radio, you must prepare for the change now.  “Don’t expect to drive to work and park next to the building with the tower. The tower will be gone, and so might you.”

Panelists and talk show hosts Lionel and Tom Leykis talked about the importance of career preparedness, and it was Leykis who was the day’s most specific panelist about this subject. He tells us that while you still have a job in traditional radio you must get to know your sponsors and accumulate a database of your fans, because you will wish you had done both when you are out on your own, trying to start up your own station, like he did.  He told me later he took a couple of years and created his own station the hard way, not the Backbone way.  But he succeeded, and Leykis represents the future for many of the future-looking panelists and conference attendees.

Holland CookeIn another session, talk radio consultant Holland Cooke was, as you would expect, full of great ideas and tips on how to bring more people to your Internet radio site and station.  We were all warned not to try to take notes while he presented, because he threw more at us than we could keep up with. (“If you work on-air, at a local radio station, your job, as-you-know-it, is toast.”)  The first thing I did when I got back on the return train home was to buy myself a bunch of hyphenated domain names to increase my SEO.  You don’t understand?  Contact me, or better, Holland, at talk-radio-consultant.com and ask him.

Because of conflicting vacation plans, I won’t be able to attend the October version of this Seminar in Los Angeles, but we won’t miss out.  George and Paul will be there for sure.

You should, too.

P.S.  Michael Harrison, CEO of Talkers announced at the beginning of the Seminar that this would be the last “New Media” Seminars, because he’s been hosting them for 15 years, and this media is no longer “new”.  It will henceforth simply be called Talkers Seminar. Meanwhile, I notice in today’s news that Blogworld Expo is just now changing its name going forward to NMX, New Media Expo.

Filed Under: Backbone Radio Blog, Talk Radio Tagged With: , , ,

Clear Channel creates an inflection point for the radio industry

June 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I got an special email from the Radio And Internet Newsletter (RAIN) yesterday morning titled:

“Game-changing” CC deal trades AM/FM performance royalties for digital break.

Clear Channel RadioThis is a very interesting development, rate parity for Clear Channel across broadcast mediums. We have commented for years that the Copyright Royalty Board/SoundExchange rates tilt the playing field toward traditional terrestrial broadcasters and away from the nascent digital broadcasters that use the Internet.

IHeartRadio logoFavoring one type of broadcast medium over the other makes no sense, and John Hogan Chairman of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment agrees:  “This new agreement expands label and artist participation from just digital to terrestrial broadcast radio revenues in one comprehensive framework that will give all of us a great incentive to drive the growth of the digital radio industry and allow everyone to participate financially in its growth. This market-based solution helps bring the best in music to radio listeners wherever they want to hear it”

To date there has been no commercial business that can afford the SoundExchange per play royalty rates.  Overall this agreement signals a change in the broadcast industry. Going forward terrestrial and digital might be viewed as one, where the playing field is leveled between broadcast mediums and all can participate in the resulting revenue streams.

All I can say is, it is about time.

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Internet Radio — “By This Time Next Year” Survey Results

June 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

survey55-listen_to_one_year_from_nowHere’s something you already know in your gut, but you probably haven’t visually seen yet. The recent article by Audio Graphics summarizes “the trouble around the bend” for terrestrial broadcast radio, and how Internet radio continues to capture its listening audience. This one graph displays what online radio listeners say they will be listening to by mid-2013.

When you look at the additional survey data, you see that most of the music discovery occurs with Internet radio, which leads you to believe that Internet-only channels account for the majority of new artist coverage, since that rarely occurs on simulcast FM stations.  Not Pandora, but real Internet stations.

We are all very fortunate to be in an industry that’s on the rise, not in decline.

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Now for the Live Remote – A Huge Concert, Free on the Internet

June 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last week we told you about the launch of New York’s Hot 97 Summer Jam Internet-only radio station, promoting the upcoming, annual Summer Jam concert this Sunday, June 3rd.  Well, TuneIn and Emmis Communications just revealed that for the first time ever the concert itself will be broadcast free from the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to the world, exclusively on this same TuneIn station.

As you’ve probably figured out, Hot 97’s Summer Jam station, including all Internet radio broadcast and production, is supplied by Backbone Networks, using Backbone’s unique cloud-based broadcast and automation infrastructure.  The broadcast-from-anywhere, “live remote” capability of Backbone’s infrastructure is what enables professional broadcasters to simplify their event-based Internet radio production, using equipment as basic as “a Mac and a mic”.

The TuneIn connection is what makes a station like this so easy to find and far reaching. “TuneIn takes people places. This collaboration with HOT 97 speaks to the power of TuneIn to expand unique experiences like Summer Jam to wider audiences, taking people to events and places in ways that were never before possible,” said John Donham, CEO of TuneIn. “It is very fitting that HOT 97, one of the few truly global U.S. radio brands, team up with TuneIn to bring HOT 97’s Summer Jam to people all over the planet! We are delighted to be able to do so,” added Rick Cummings, President Programming, Emmis Communications.

Hot97 Summer JamThe Hot 97 Summer Jam 2012 concert kicks off at 7pm EST, with the Festival Village stage beginning at 2pm on Sunday (June 3).

Fans can access the free channel on TuneIn by searching “Summer Jam” on any of the 150 TuneIn platforms including smartphones apps, connected vehicle dashboards, Internet home entertainment systems and online at TuneIn.com.

Filed Under: Backbone Radio Blog, Music Radio Tagged With: , , , ,

Third Annual CHAMPSFEST – Arts & Entertainment Radio fund raiser

May 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Champsfest 2012With tomorrow being High School Radio Day we wanted to tell you about the efforts of one of our High Schools.  Arts & Entertainment Radio (AER) presents the 3rd Annual CHAMPSFEST 2012 featuring 12 hours of non stop music from noon to midnight Saturday May 19th at CHAMPS Charter High School located at 6952 Van Nuys Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91405

The Beat Lab, Boom Room and Main Stage will feature the best of LA’s Underground Hip Hip, Electronica, Rock n Roll, and eclectic music scenes with headliners such as Blu, Shlohmo, Jonwayne, Doll-E Girl, Kosha Dilz and Canto. Food Trucks and fun activities will be available throughout the day and evening. Here are some of the activities:

25 Solo Performances
16 Bands
6 DJs
6 Food Trucks
2 Stages
12 Hours of Non-Stop Music
Video Game Room
Champs Charter Academy and Club Booths
Mehndi & Face Painting Area
and scores of other Champtivities

 

Tickets are $7 Pre-Sale and $10 at the door.  Order yours NOW at Brown Paper Tickets or CALL: 800-838-3006

For more CHAMPSFEST 2012 info visit the CHAMPSFEST website

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Artist links:

Blu

Shlohmo

Jon Wayne

Doll-E Girl

Kosha Dilz

 

Filed Under: Backbone Radio Blog, High School Radio Tagged With: , , ,

Backbone Radio YouTube Channel – Internet Radio Simplified

May 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

You-Tube logoOver the years we have given a lot of training sessions on Backbone radio.  Afterwards many people said, “that was simple”.  With that kind of response we felt that we were doing the right thing by providing the personalized service of one to one online training sessions, going to conferences or even a few visits.

Since it is so simple we decided we should just do a quick set of videos on how easy it is to get started with Backbone radio.  So today we are launching a playlist of videos on how to operate Backbone radio along with our new tagline, “Internet Radio Simplified”.

There are only four videos:

  1. Installation and Configuration
  2. Loading Content
  3. Creating Rotational Playlists
  4. XTSR Station Training Video

The first two are quite short, less than 3 minutes a piece.  The third one, while a little over 7 minutes, provides a bit more depth on rotation and how it can be used as a powerful programming tool for your station.  There is a forth one from XTSR at Towson University, this is the video they use if for the training for their station operations.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL44AC0624A240407E

In launching Backbone Networks YouTube Channel we found a number of other great videos created by our stations or by our friends in the industry.  Even if you are already a customer and use the software daily please watch. Leave comments here or on our YouTube channel about what you think.  We would appreciate your feedback on what you like and what we could to to improve them going forward.

We are also looking for additional topics for short videos on using the our service.

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Radio Dying? Not on your life.

April 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Skull Headphones CigaretteHow many times have you heard it: “Adapt or die”?  It sounds heartless, yet it poses the essential question of radio’s survival.  Is radio dying?  Nope, but it is going somewhere else, and not by itself.

Take the recurring news of disappearing stations, like this post from the Dialy Iowan, College Radio Fights for Recognition, Funding.  To summarize the article, it provides some color about what is happening at many campuses — funding is being cut for the radio station or that the school is selling off its terrestrial radio frequency. In these economic times, it must be difficult for an administration to pass up millions of dollars for an FM station that continues to be worth less as Internet radio starts to become dominant.

So, that raises the question of whether a school that agrees to sell off its terrestrial radio signal can actually support a broadcast journalism program. Well, it’s not only schools. All media are facing similar challenges and looking for the best ways to respond.

Throughout the industry, you can see signs of a growing creative trend: integrated media.  For example, one of our newest member schools, Lehman College, has integrated its Internet radio station presence into its online newspaper, the Bronx Journal.  Media integration such as this was a persistent theme we heard at the CMA conference in New York last month.

We are also seeing mixed modalities in the mainstream media.  None other than the esteemed Wall Street Journal has integrated video into its site.  The Boston Globe has its Globe 10.0 video.  Sports radio powerhouse WEEI in Boston now has both an online presence and video on its site.

We first wrote about this in our white paper, The New Breed of College (and High School) Internet Radio-Surviving the Dinosaur.  It is more apparent now.  Journalism isn’t dying, either.  It is transitioning to a new paradigm as radio becomes a big part of it.  With evolving convergence occurring on the Internet, a college, university or high school can reach a much larger audience than it has in the past, using a truly integrated media strategy.  It is the path to the future.  Embrace it.

Filed Under: Backbone Radio Blog, College Radio Tagged With: , , ,

Backbone at SxSW 2012, launches “Internet Radio Simplified”

March 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

There’s no event that’s more exhilarating than Austin’s South by Southwest, an annual festival that combines Interactive, Music and Film, all tied together with the new, expanding Trade Show floor.  Of course, Backbone was right in the middle of it, demonstrating “Internet Radio Simplified” for the crowds.

SXSW Trade ShowNaturally, we were delighted being the only turnkey Internet radio station provider in the event, and even more pleased so often to hear “there’s nothing else like what Backbone does”. So that’s why we bring a mobile studio to these events, to show attendees how quickly and easily they can be on the air. And because everything they need for a remote broadcast fits into a backpack (Mac+mixer+mics), setup time is only a couple of minutes.

Backbone at SXSW 2012Our mission at SxSW was twofold:

  • Introduce new schools to your IBS Student Radio Network by Backbone, and
  • Build on relationships with our partners to provide greater services and features for our member stations.

We think we did pretty well on both counts.  We met student radio representatives from a number of large universities, all of whom voiced that being part of the IBS-SRN would be a major upgrade for their radio clubs.

On the partnership front, we can’t say too much here, but we’re continuing to make good progress for your Backbone-hosted station.  For example, in the area of delivery, not only is your station now available in both the TuneIn and iTunes radio tuners, but we expect to soon have your station become available on a new service that allows your listeners to actually record your shows for later listening, just like time shifting TV programs on your DVR.  We also met up with our friends from the Public Radio Exchange who tell us that they are getting quite a reception for their Public Radio Remix efforts that is available on XM/123, terrestrially and on the Internet.

From Texas we jumped on a plane and headed back to New York for the College Media Association’s NYC12 conference.  More on this soon.

Filed Under: Backbone Radio Blog Tagged With: , , ,
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