Audacy Launches Over 350 New Digital Music Stations

[Kelly A]

Sounds exactly like what SiriusXM is doing with its online-only channels -- fragmenting genres into micron-thin strands, loading each channel with 250 to 300 songs, then putting each one on shuffle play.

That's not how it works. Those streaming channels use similar technology to Pandora. Each stream watches for trends of the individual listener (IP or MAC address), then caters the playlist to match the perceived preference. When you first start using the streaming app, it tosses out varied artists and titles to get an idea of what you want and don't prefer. After that, it keeps feeding you music that appears to have your attention. It's a rudimentary form of AI.

I'm just afraid it WILL be done.

Why would you be afraid of another streaming service? Who cares? Either you like what they do, or you can go somewhere else. Same goes for radio. Don't like their blends of music? Go somewhere else.

 

[Marcos_C]

Audacy's new group of channels is similar to what is offered by the free versions of Spotify and LiveXLive (formerly Slacker Radio). Each channel has ads every few songs, and the listener can skip up to six songs per hour. However, unlike Spotify and LiveXLive, Audacy does not offer a paid tier without ads.

 

[mjb1124]

Not sure why anyone hasn't given the obvious answer - Audacy doesn't need to create new Classic Hits or AC stations because their terrestrial stations already have those formats covered.

 

[CTListener]

That's not how it works. Those streaming channels use similar technology to Pandora. Each stream watches for trends of the individual listener (IP or MAC address), then caters the playlist to match the perceived preference. When you first start using the streaming app, it tosses out varied artists and titles to get an idea of what you want and don't prefer. After that, it keeps feeding you music that appears to have your attention. It's a rudimentary form of AI.

Oh, so that's how they do it. No wonder I don't like it. I tried out Pandora years ago and found myself frustrated at the limited, obvious tracks it kept forcing on me from my (correctly detected) favorite artists and (sometimes correctly detected) artists it "thought" I might like. In two or three months, I don't recall Pandora's AI turning me on to any artist with whom I wasn't already familiar or surprising me with a deep cut from one of my longtime personal favorites.

I love the random aspect of radio and can deal with the occasional song I don't care for on the main SXM channels just by punching another of my presets or -- in the case of country and classical music (yes, I like both) -- by pursuing local options on FM. My TSL can vary wildly during the course of a long drive, and sometimes I don't come back to SXM again, but that's not my problem, and since SXM has no way of knowing what its OTA listeners are doing, it's not theirs either. I wasn't happy when SXM and Pandora made their deal, I'm even less so now.

 

[Marcos_C]

Not sure why anyone hasn't given the obvious answer - Audacy doesn't need to create new Classic Hits or AC stations because their terrestrial stations already have those formats covered.

Except that Audacy's online stations appear to have fewer ads. On the one station that I tried out, I heard a 30-second ad before the music resumed. Still, I question why I need this particular service when there are other more established options available.

My only use for the Audacy app is to listen to three of its all-news stations. (I tried out the online music station through a web browser on my laptop.)

 

[Kelly A]

I don't recall Pandora's AI turning me on to any artist with whom I wasn't already familiar or surprising me with a deep cut from one of my longtime personal favorites.

If you were looking for deeper tracks, there are different SXM oldie streams too. Again, using the AI technology, it would determine how deep and how often you seem to prefer your 'oh-wow' title preferences. Based on your comments, it appears you have already made up your mind that streaming isn't for you.

I love the random aspect of radio and can deal with the occasional song I don't care for on the main SXM channels just by punching another of my presets or -- in the case of country and classical music (yes, I like both) -- by pursuing local options on FM.

Good to know. Radio loves you too.

I wasn't happy when SXM and Pandora made their deal, I'm even less so now.

Why would you care? You said you didn't like Pandora.

 

[kp2780]

That's not how it works. Those streaming channels use similar technology to Pandora. Each stream watches for trends of the individual listener (IP or MAC address), then caters the playlist to match the perceived preference. When you first start using the streaming app, it tosses out varied artists and titles to get an idea of what you want and don't prefer. After that, it keeps feeding you music that appears to have your attention. It's a rudimentary form of AI.

You sure about this? The online only stations seem to have a set playlist as the original post explained. There are separate options in the Sirius app to create Pandora stations.

 

[Kelly A]

You sure about this? The online only stations seem to have a set playlist as the original post explained. There are separate options in the Sirius app to create Pandora stations.

Yes, I'm sure. All the new streams start with a basic playlist, then use remedial AI to follow preferences.

 

[vchimpanzee]

When you're offering free programming, you still have to get advertisers, and you generally know exactly who your customers are because most of them answer demographic questions when they sign up. So, advertisers have an easier time excluding the 55+ listeners.

WERT does seem to have plenty of advertisers.

 

[Kent]

WERT does seem to have plenty of advertisers.

I'm guessing they're almost all local direct and very little national advertising. Van Wert is a town of about 11,000 with an average age of roughly 40. A town like that usually won't get a lot of national accounts.

With some hustle, you can make money off of an older format in a town like that assuming your sponsors pay their bills. Doing that on an internet radio station is a lot harder. In Audacy's case, most of its internet ads are either national buys, probably through TargetSpot, or are inserts from nearby markets. If you're going to target an older audience, you need to be willing to load up on per inquiry spots and hope your listeners respond. That's not a good way to make money.

 

[gr8oldies]

I'm guessing they're almost all local direct and very little national advertising. Van Wert is a town of about 11,000 with an average age of roughly 40. A town like that usually won't get a lot of national accounts.

With some hustle, you can make money off of an older format in a town like that assuming your sponsors pay their bills. Doing that on an internet radio station is a lot harder. In Audacy's case, most of its internet ads are either national buys, probably through TargetSpot, or are inserts from nearby markets. If you're going to target an older audience, you need to be willing to load up on per inquiry spots and hope your listeners respond. That's not a good way to make money.

WERT and its FM sister are owned by former WOWO personality Chris Roberts. (The original WERT-FM became a Fort Wayne move-in as WBYR, The. Bear, now owned by Federated Media.

 

[powers]

The ideal, of course, is a station like WERT Van Wert, Ohio, which someone mentioned in a Facebook group for people who share my musical taste. There are some strange choices there, but for the most part they don't do anything from after the 70s, and it's mostly easy listening or big band with some doo wop and early rock and roll.

Does Audacy have anything like this? The truth is WERT is all over the road, as opposed to middle of the road, and so far it sounds like the Audacy stations don't play wide range of music.

Okay, there is no logic to this whatsoever. Whose idea was "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears? Have they HEARD the rest of the music?

To be honest, that Tears for Fears song is my ALL-TIME favorite song, but I was fifteen when it came out and it was tied to a romance with a girl I liked at the time who has since passed away long ago. I'll be 52 at the end of this month so I understand we are a little separated demographically. A couple of times a year I do a deep dive into some of the music apps to see if there are any surprises. I did this a month or so ago with Audacy (haven't played with the app since these new channels came on board yet) and I've found that there are some golden nuggets, not just from Audacy but some stations with other owners who have been invited onto the Audacy app. iHeart also has a few non-iHeart controlled stations on their app as well (I think they have a deal with several college radio and Public stations to carry their streams).

 

[powers]

One reason I don't have SiriusXM is that it would take six of their channels to cover everything I like.

WHVN is not online and they're about to be sold, but I have enjoyed listening over the past several months when I have been in range of their signal. I did write the new owners to suggest an online broadcast of the same music (the previous owners did fund-raisers) and I have told SiriusXM about them but it seems unlikely anyone would listen to those ideas.

SiriusXM probably would not take a stream of a terrestrial station, especially one owned by somebody else. They had a long-running deal with iHeart/Clear Channel that allowed that company to program some channels and include some of their top terrestrial stations. Today, the only channel left in that deal is KIIS-FM/Los Angeles. I'm not sure why it's even still there. They would likely program a channel in-house, if they saw any value in the audience it would serve. I'm still sore that some of the best XM channels went extinct after the merger. I'm no longer a customer and don't miss it, what with all of the other streaming options.

 

[powers]

Sounds exactly like what SiriusXM is doing with its online-only channels -- fragmenting genres into micron-thin strands, loading each channel with 250 to 300 songs, then putting each one on shuffle play. If Audacy is trying this approach, too, there must be industry-conducted research available showing that listeners (or in SXM's case, paying subscribers) love it and want more such channels added as often as possible. Country hits of the '80s, '80s country party mix, mellow country of the '80s, patriotic country hits of the '80s, rockin' country anthems of the '80s, big country artists of the '80s with five letters or less in their first names ... there's no end to what can be done. I'm just afraid it WILL be done.

Have you checked out Accuradio? They do EXACTLY that (or something like it).

 

[Kent]

It’s definitely not the new set of curated stations, but more stations would appear to be on the way to the Audacy app. Several Entravision markets are showing up on the app's list of locations.

 

[CTListener]

SiriusXM probably would not take a stream of a terrestrial station, especially one owned by somebody else.

It does have a 24/7 feed of ESPN Radio, which is what many terrestrial stations use for programming all day or nearly so, especially in small markets where there's no budget (or audience) for a local sports talk show.

 

[vchimpanzee]

To be honest, that Tears for Fears song is my ALL-TIME favorite song, but I was fifteen when it came out and it was tied to a romance with a girl I liked at the time who has since passed away long ago.

To me it has always been an outrageous alternative rock song that was a perfect example of why music was going way downhill throughout the 80s.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

It really wasn’t. Might want to ease up on the get-off-my-lawn approach to evaluating music

 

[ksradiogeek]

Okay, there is no logic to this whatsoever. Whose idea was "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears? Have they HEARD the rest of the music?

Do you know the meaning behind the song? Read the lyrics and truly understand it.

And it’s a core 80s hit that hit #1 in the States and other countries, and still tests well to this very day, despite you not personally liking it. If all of this doesn’t answer your semi-oddly worded question, I don’t know what will.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Do you know the meaning behind the song? Read the lyrics and truly understand it.

And it’s a core 80s hit that hit #1 in the States and other countries, and still tests well to this very day, despite you not personally liking it. If all of this doesn’t answer your semi-oddly worded question, I don’t know what will.

We're talking about adult standards here. I personally don't care whether a song is meaningful or not and that won't affect whether I like it or not.