Get an I-pod or generic MP3 player and load it up with the music YOU want. Problem solved.
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Radio - dead and loving it (sorry Mel Brooks)
- Thread starter howdareu
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Get an I-pod or generic MP3 player and load it up with the music YOU want. Problem solved.
An ISP that flatly refuses to keep up with consumer demand is more likely to be shut down than a music service. The public won't stand for it. Second, are you aware that many young people today don't even have physical music collections? And it's all provided by Rdio, Pandora or Spotify?
There's no way in hell consumers are going to settle for "data caps" for very much longer. It's just not realistic. As more and more things become "smart" and wi-fi connected, the data usage will skyrocket. Show me an ISP that refuses to upgrade it's system and still enforces data caps in 2020 and I'll show you a company acquired or in bankruptcy court and it's name a social media punchline. People NEED unlimited internet connectivity with higher and higher speeds today. And someone will bring it to them. That's just how things are.
If there's one takeaway I get reading this thread, it seems like a lot of people in the traditional media and entertainment businesses think they can somehow put the genie back inside the bottle and everyone will go back to listening to traditional radio. Or reading newspapers. Or buying CDs/DVDs. By industry force if necessary. And between the lines, that's kind of disturbing. I mean, what are you AFRAID of?
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I don't think it's fear but rather institutional arrogance.
The mistake that corporations could do better as owners like they did (until recently anyhow, fittingly) with mcdonalds or radio shack could somehow transfer to radio never happened.
Now the ship is sinking, but somehow it must sail on, thus the pretense.
The mistake that corporations could do better as owners like they did (until recently anyhow, fittingly) with mcdonalds or radio shack could somehow transfer to radio never happened.
Now the ship is sinking, but somehow it must sail on, thus the pretense.
Let's not get carried away here. McDonalds had a small same-store sales decline and has taken steps to protect their enterprise. Forecasts show that 2014 will have the second highest sales ever, around $28 billion, and an EBITDA of $10 billion. While that will be about $40 million off the record, there is no way you can compare McDonalds with Radio Shack.
And, back to radio, keep in mind that radio is rapidly expanding onto new platforms, so AM and FM may not even be a factor in the near future. But for the moment, terrestrial radio has the only profitable business model in the audio distribution arena. What broadcasters do with the current position will determine what their future looks like.
And on the other hand, Pandora reported weak earnings last week, a decline in the conversion rate to regular users and a decline in new registrations... and a decline in the growth of local ad revenues.
Which leads to an interesting point. Radio is supposedly part of the mass media. Yet the people who make the decisions over which segment of the population gets served are making a bit of a gamble. It makes sense financially in the short run. But what about the long run?
Radio already has more or less thrown 25% of the US population (those over 55) under the bus. I realise that there are stations that cater to the 55+ demos, but the overall attitude expressed here seems to be good riddance to them.
But the fact is the overall radio audience is aging, and within 15 short years the 35's -- that are big money demos now -- will be over 50 and they too will be thrown under the bus.
The radio industry seems to believe that the 20% who are under age 18 now -- who now get most of their music entertainment from non-radio streaming services and purchased music, and who get most of their information from non-radio, social media on the internet, are somehow magically going to become radio listeners when they turn 20 or 22. Like somehow they are going to discover IHeartRadio and think it's the best thing since Instagram, Spotify and YouTube.
Maybe they will.
But what if they don't?
The opening up of FM chips in cell phones was mentioned earlier. But does anyone really think the cell industry wants to lose a revenue source? And the cell industry has a lot of power. I can see where FM chips could disappear from phones, unless there's a government mandate otherwise. Chips take space on a small PCB. Most of them aren't used. Who knows if the actual receivers are any good.
But not forever. Like I said, more things are going online. the number of people are watching cable TV is declining. Everybody in the house is using the wi-fi and every app out there. Or the mobile hotspot feature on their smartphones. Data caps will HAVE to be raised. Or completely eliminated. If Corporation A won't do it, Corporation B will. Or maybe that dark horse upstart, Corporation X. Same with speed and better service. And yes, lower prices.
Stubbornly keeping things status quo doesn't work in digital tech. Don't believe it? Check back in 5 years.
You seem to think that because the internet is relatively cheap now, that it will always be this way. That's your version of believing the status quo. If you look at the bigger picture, the small group of telecom companies who own the internet, the ISPs, are constantly finding ways they can increase their profits and charge you more.
The wild card in all of this is the music industry. They OWN the copyrights on the music. The digital laws give them the power to charge for use of their music, and the rates they charge are constantly going up. You may be right about data caps. But you will pay for those unlimited caps in some way or another. You will pay someone. As I've said in other threads, the music industry has the law in their favor.
I hate to break this to you, but your entire life revolves around those corporations. It's very likely that your retirement money is in stock funds, which is based around the success of corporations. Virtually every product you use every day comes from corporations. Your health care comes from corporations. So before you go off on your anti-corporate rant, be careful not to bite the hand that feeds you. Unless you're growing your own food and living a self-sustaining life, you're dependent on those corporations.
As I said, people act differently when they're in school than when they have a job. They act differently when their parents pay for everything than when THEY have to pay. Adult life revolves around time and money. Those are the restraints that govern how you live. OTA radio is cheap and easy. That's why the boomers are so angry they can't find what they like any more. Cheap & easy is a very addictive drug. And truthfully, nothing is cheaper or easier.
But here's the other thing to remember: Don't blame radio companies for the shortage of programming for people over 55. If it was up to the people in radio, we'd gladly continue programming oldies and other music formats that appeal to boomers. It's cheaper and easier to program to boomers than Gen Y. The problem is we can't get anyone to pay for it. Fix that problem, and we'll gladly program boomer radio forever.
Does anyone else suspect our new "friend" here might actually be a new alias for either Avid or Fred?
If anything, when they get out of college, they have a job, and consequently they have more money.
Which means they have more money to pay for the pay version of Spotify, or whatever new streaming model crops up in a few years to replace it.
I hear you on this one.... You can't keep a station going with no ad money coming it. I get that.
But it's THEIR money, which means they're more careful with it. The reason Pandora's stock dropped 20% on Friday is partly because fewer people are opting for the subscription version. Same with Spotify. Other subscription-only services like Rdio and Songza have smaller user bases than the free services. So 20-somethings are spending money on other things, not music services.
Pandora's stock dropped 20% because their revenue was $8 million short of projections. Stocks usually take a hit when companies' revenues aren't up to what was expected. Amazon still has yet to turn a good profit, from what I read in a newspaper article a month ago. Yet I don't think anyone would say that Amazon is not the future of retail, or that everybody is going to abandon Amazon and go back to brick and mortar stores.
The linked article below says that Pandora's listening hours went up by 20% from the previous year, and their advertising revenue was up 36% from the previous year, and 'subscription and other' revenue went up by 24% from the previous year. Unless those claims are lies, it doesn't sound like the company is losing listeners. It may not be gaining them at a high enough level to sustain the company -- time will tell.
http://www.businessinsider.com/pandora-earnings-2015-2
A Billboard article says that their subscriptions went up by 7%, their revenue per impression grew about 14%, and total revenue was up 44%.
I'm certain you know more about the radio business than I do, but from reading these articles, it just doesn't look like listeners are abandoning Pandora, or that it's going to fail soon. Maybe the model is flawed (royalties taking up 48% of their revenue), and it will eventually fail. A lot of businesses fail. But right now it looks like it is still growing.
I think we might be applying our personal preferences to the whole population. There are many types of people and there are many ways people listen to music, etc. Just step back and look around. For a meal we have options from the finest restaurant to fast food to grocery stores, etc. Look at Churches and all the varied denominations. Look at vehicles and all the different brands and styles. People in general have varied tastes. This also applies to what they choose to listen to.
There are a few on this board that have a true hatred for radio. In fact their hatred seems beyond normal human behavior.
The real facts about radio are: it is a business. It must operate within the box it did not create but was created by outside sources (advertising agencies, listeners, etc.). Radio follows and reflects the trends of society in general.
You might ask yourself if your concept of radio is not found on the radio dial then why is it the public supported stations don't offer it. The dirty truth is even Public Radio is in the box. It might surprise some to know virtually all (there are exceptions) public supported radio stations receive less than half of their funding directly from listeners. The rest is from grants and especially underwriting, both of which require proving the station worthy of either. In fact in Underwriting sales, you are selling the audience to businesses. Businesses do not spend money for no benefit to them, so an attractive audience as far as numbers and demographic/economic stats need to be good as well. The pitch is to offer value and results because that means you can command your price. But, you ask the client to buy to keep this unique station afloat, you get a token donation on a good day or a 'no' on the average day.
Those of us in radio are very much like the interior designer that always wanted to decorate a home their way but never gets to because they know they have to do what the client wants. For us, and the interior designer, it is not about the design but about keeping customers. Those customers are the advertisers that provide the money to pay the bills. And to keep the customers we need to serve them with what they want. If you want to be upset with radio, it's the advertiser's fault. If you hate McDonalds, you don't go after the ingredients or the employees but rather the customers that spend their cash there, right? Isn't that the lifeblood of the company?
Will internet listening increase, you bet it will. My research shows most people that currently listen online choose existing over the air radio stations that stream their signals. I find that odd because many times it is a local station. Pandora and all those options will take a chunk and will likely grow over time.
The companies mentioned in earlier posts are losing money but they are the pioneers. The entity that creates something new is rarely the big money winner. Usually it is the companies that follow that build on the concept and figure a way to make money. Amazon might be an exception. No 'normal' company can continue to be so well funded for so many years while losing money. Amazon has visionary investors that realize their return may be measured in decades or through offsprings of what currently exists. They have to be similar in their thinking to the early investors in radio and television.
There are a few on this board that have a true hatred for radio. In fact their hatred seems beyond normal human behavior.
The real facts about radio are: it is a business. It must operate within the box it did not create but was created by outside sources (advertising agencies, listeners, etc.). Radio follows and reflects the trends of society in general.
You might ask yourself if your concept of radio is not found on the radio dial then why is it the public supported stations don't offer it. The dirty truth is even Public Radio is in the box. It might surprise some to know virtually all (there are exceptions) public supported radio stations receive less than half of their funding directly from listeners. The rest is from grants and especially underwriting, both of which require proving the station worthy of either. In fact in Underwriting sales, you are selling the audience to businesses. Businesses do not spend money for no benefit to them, so an attractive audience as far as numbers and demographic/economic stats need to be good as well. The pitch is to offer value and results because that means you can command your price. But, you ask the client to buy to keep this unique station afloat, you get a token donation on a good day or a 'no' on the average day.
Those of us in radio are very much like the interior designer that always wanted to decorate a home their way but never gets to because they know they have to do what the client wants. For us, and the interior designer, it is not about the design but about keeping customers. Those customers are the advertisers that provide the money to pay the bills. And to keep the customers we need to serve them with what they want. If you want to be upset with radio, it's the advertiser's fault. If you hate McDonalds, you don't go after the ingredients or the employees but rather the customers that spend their cash there, right? Isn't that the lifeblood of the company?
Will internet listening increase, you bet it will. My research shows most people that currently listen online choose existing over the air radio stations that stream their signals. I find that odd because many times it is a local station. Pandora and all those options will take a chunk and will likely grow over time.
The companies mentioned in earlier posts are losing money but they are the pioneers. The entity that creates something new is rarely the big money winner. Usually it is the companies that follow that build on the concept and figure a way to make money. Amazon might be an exception. No 'normal' company can continue to be so well funded for so many years while losing money. Amazon has visionary investors that realize their return may be measured in decades or through offsprings of what currently exists. They have to be similar in their thinking to the early investors in radio and television.
I said the stock dropped "partly because fewer people are opting for the subscription version." The key word is PARTLY.
If all the news is so good, and everything is growing by so much, why is revenue not meeting projections?
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What scares investors when companies are in their start-up period is a combination of a slowing of key indicators and no reduction in the capital burn rate.
The slowing in the rate of growth of ad revenue the most recent quarter indicates that future guidance will likely need to be moderated. The slowing of new user sign-ups and of conversions to paid services also indicates that the growth curve is flattening.
For a company that is burning capital, those are not good signs as it may mean that the light at the end of the tunnel is just a fire set by the Walking Dead (sorry, mid season premiere is tonight and could not resist).
Pandora's last two years EBITDA and projected 2014 final results are (11) (31) and (42) million, what we see is that as the subscriber base increases, the losses increase proportionally.
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