Retail Radio

[MrJohn]

I'm interested in a career in radio that caters to retail and businesses. Does anyone know how I might get my foot in the door, or who I should reach out to?

 

[kwthom]

Give a little more detail on your vision.

 

[gr8oldies]

Start with Mood Media.

 

[MrJohn]

Thanks for your responses.

In my 9 years in radio, my favorite part of the job was music scheduling. I poured a lot of energy into crafting music logs for a powerhouse CHR and an "all flavors of rock" station with a library spanning the 60s through 2010s. I loved the whole process. Filling in gaps, juggling songs, creating a mood, controlling the energy - it was a blast. Rotations and song categories and song testing/research genuinely excites me. I have a natural curiosity for what people want to hear, why some songs evolve into "classic" status and others are forgotten, how tastes change, how music ages.

Essentially I just want to apply my passion for music scheduling and research, and continue to learn and grow with a good company.

 

[b-turner]

I think I have a clue about what you are thinking. Your passion for music scheduling is something you want to specialize in. It might not be radio in the traditional sense that you are looking for but rather the satellite delivered feeds for the retail end of business (ie: the background music of businesses like Walmart, CVS and such. This might be the better alternative to over the air radio that will want you to do much more than music scheduling. I would think a good music scheduler would be part of a very small but stable specialty. I don't think there's a bunch of 'in house' being done but a small group of companies that contract with companies to provide the service.

It would be quite interesting to learn that side of the 'human' factor related to music scheduling for a company in store audio service. What sets shoppers at ease, in a good mood and makes them want to buy?

 

[MrJohn]

I think I have a clue about what you are thinking. Your passion for music scheduling is something you want to specialize in. It might not be radio in the traditional sense that you are looking for but rather the satellite delivered feeds for the retail end of business (ie: the background music of businesses like Walmart, CVS and such. This might be the better alternative to over the air radio that will want you to do much more than music scheduling. I would think a good music scheduler would be part of a very small but stable specialty. I don't think there's a bunch of 'in house' being done but a small group of companies that contract with companies to provide the service.

It would be quite interesting to learn that side of the 'human' factor related to music scheduling for a company in store audio service. What sets shoppers at ease, in a good mood and makes them want to buy?

You've nailed it! That's exactly what I am looking for in a job.

 

[gr8oldies]

Definitely keep us posted. That sounds like a very interesting field

 

[Mikey Radio]

I'm interested in a career in radio that caters to retail and businesses. Does anyone know how I might get my foot in the door, or who I should reach out to?

@gr8oldies mentioned Mood Media, and he's taking you down the right path, at least as a company to look into further. Mood Music offers a service and players that spit out several different music formats, can be dayparted to automatically play different genres or tempos at various parts of the day (perhaps helpful to restaurants who want a certain type of music or "mood" for their various meal services throughout the day from breakfast in the early morning where something calmer with a slower tempo and volume level may be desired, through to late night dinner service and those hanging around for drinks just before closing time, where something uptempo with steady, prominent bass is maybe better suited). The Mood players can be updated either via an internet connection or with media that they'll mail out to customers to ensure the content on the machines is updated and you're not going to hear the same tunes all the time for months, and so certain formats stay current.

Mood Media has acquired other companies that once offered similar services. My cable provider used to provide several channels of music from DMX, and DMX once offered a business service similar to Mood Music. Mood absorbed DMX. They also bought out Muzak which was very well known for years as a provider of background music for offices, businesses, medical facilities and the like. They also acquired AEI. Back in the 90s, lots of restaurants and similar had AEI units which played cassette tapes specific to that company's machines, and could be purchased to provide different genres. Each cassette had a title and a number describing the content.

The attraction of all these services was that the music was licensed and rights fees paid, so not only did one get music that was appropriate for their restaurant or business, but all of it was licensed. Mood has also broadened into things like digital signage and wayfinding, on-hold music and messaging, etc.

 

[gr8oldies]

I'm interested in a career in radio that caters to retail and businesses. Does anyone know how I might get my foot in the door, or who I should reach out to?
@gr8oldies mentioned Mood Media, and he's taking you down the right path, at least as a company to look into further IMO. Mood Music offers a service and players that spit out several different music formats, can be dayparted to automatically play different genres or tempos at various parts of the day (perhaps helpful to restaurants who want a certain type of music or "mood" for their various meal services throughout the day from breakfast in the early morning where something calmer with a slower tempo and volume level may be desired, through to late night dinner service and those hanging around for drinks just before closing where something uptempo with steady, prominent bass is better suited). The Mood players can be updated either via an internet connection or via media that they'll mail out to customers to ensure the content on the machines is updated and you're not going to hear the same tunes all the time for months, and so certain formats stay current.

Mood Media has acquired other companies that once offered similar services. My cable provider used to provide several channels of audio from DMX, and DMX once offered a service similar to Mood Music. Mood absorbed DMX. They also bought out Muzak which was very well known for years as a provider of background music for offices, businesses, medical facilities and the like. They also acquired AEI. Back in the 90s, lots of restaurants and similar had AEI units which played cassette tapes specific to that company that had various titles and numbers.

The attraction of all these services was that the music was licensed and rights fees paid, so not only did one get music that was appropriate for their restaurant or business, but all of it was licensed. Mood has also broadened into ththerings like digital signage and wayfinding, on-hold music and messaging, etc.

The one at the office I have mentioned on this board was Mood Media'd FM1, fed by satellite. They definitely have moved into many other distribution methods.

https://us.moodmedia.com/?utm_source=MoodMedia&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=moodmedia_com.

Here's some history of one of the early services, the Seeburg.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

The music played over the PA in my neighborhood supermarket is better than what you hear on the radio these days. How sad is that? And I'm not even kidding.