Bill H has brought up the fact that it is necessary to explore new territory. This is of course true for us but the question becomes how do we bring along the listeners and music fans. People are creatures or habit and boomers and even Gen X grew up with radio and don't have the level of mistrust for it or the alt-media savvy lean that the next generations to. To make it worse boomers still think that a progressive era could happen like it did in the 70s, on the radio! Any innovation that is going to happen now is going to happen on the internet so the question becomes: How do we redirect and reeducate our audience so they are able to find their music on the web. This is a critical time because so many listeners are looking for a home. The HD stations are not the answer, they sound just like the corporate stations, sometimes with even more pop and oldies.
There are some excellent stations on the internet, especially the independent ones like the ones on Live365, where there are multiple approaches to the format available. Everything from pure SJ from core and new artists with no covers or pop crossovers to urban leaning to rock/pop leaning to even stations that sound similar to the corporate radio format. All those core artists that you rarely hear on corporate radio are getting extensive play there, everyone from White, Koz, and Braun to the newcomers to the prog/contemporary. Facing too many choices becomes an issue too but all a fan has to do is click on one of the top 15 Live365 stations and they are going to hear hours of real smooth jazz. Once they hear it they will be much less likely to "settle for less." They are settling for less right now because it has been so long since more than one real SJ instrumental got played within an hours time hat they have forgotten how good the real thing is. When they hear it they won't go back.
People in their 30s know their way around the web, I know people in their 40s and 50s that can barely check their e-mail. How do we get them in the front door and at least comfortable enough to click on a website and let it stream? Then the next task is showing them how to buy the music they hear. It's a necessary and tough road to walk, and this is the perfect time to do it before they throw money away on HD or XM right before the merger sterilizes their channels.
There are some excellent stations on the internet, especially the independent ones like the ones on Live365, where there are multiple approaches to the format available. Everything from pure SJ from core and new artists with no covers or pop crossovers to urban leaning to rock/pop leaning to even stations that sound similar to the corporate radio format. All those core artists that you rarely hear on corporate radio are getting extensive play there, everyone from White, Koz, and Braun to the newcomers to the prog/contemporary. Facing too many choices becomes an issue too but all a fan has to do is click on one of the top 15 Live365 stations and they are going to hear hours of real smooth jazz. Once they hear it they will be much less likely to "settle for less." They are settling for less right now because it has been so long since more than one real SJ instrumental got played within an hours time hat they have forgotten how good the real thing is. When they hear it they won't go back.
People in their 30s know their way around the web, I know people in their 40s and 50s that can barely check their e-mail. How do we get them in the front door and at least comfortable enough to click on a website and let it stream? Then the next task is showing them how to buy the music they hear. It's a necessary and tough road to walk, and this is the perfect time to do it before they throw money away on HD or XM right before the merger sterilizes their channels.
