Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

60° - clear at 11:52am

Good Morning from Mid-Michigan. Bike ride with my 9-year old this morning brought us down the road to Okemos High School (aka "The Taj Mahal" by locals; its very nice).

Listening. To my usual Sunday Morning lineup. Stroud on Chicago's WDRV featuring the music of Badfinger this morning. One of all-time fav bands; both the Apple and Warner years.

Bob Stroud also seeking votes for the next volume of his Rock 'N Roll Roots CD (it will be number 10). See here.

Post bike ride: Steve Palec on Milwaukee's WKLH. A good dose of Linda Ronstadt this morning as "The Root Salute". Ronstadt covering Tom Petty's "The Waiting" was wonderful! Thanks Steve.

The ROI. David Martin discusses the Radio 2020 initiative from the NAB, RAB and HD Radio Alliance...and calls for goals, scorecards and accountability.

This goes beyond simple "feel good" reaction (or otherwise) from inside the industry. Read here.

My take: Dave is right on. Unless there's measureable results, you'd never know if its time, effort and money well spent or otherwise wasted. And where to next. Promoting "radio" is best targeted at the ad community. For listeners, its all about brands and programming.

Think "users". Mark Ramsey points us to Inside Radio and the words of Bonneville New Media Director James Webb:

"radio needs to stop thinking of its cume as “listeners” and consider them to be “users.” He says “Listeners are engaged only when the radio is on. Radio users connect with you in other ways.”"

Mark adds additional comments here.

Records. Lee Arnold gives us the trailer of a forthcoming film on the death of the independent record store. Places where I spent much of my youth exploring. See here.

Amazingly, I was just told this past week that a "record store" just opened in nearby East Lansing.

Jaye Albright's open letter. To a Los Angeles broadcaster. Jay notes an air personality leaving this broadcaster's station to move to Huntsville, Alabama (apparently to make more money). Read here.

Jaye also points us to Detroit's WYCD...doing something radio does best. Here.

Would the RIAA do this? Author Seth Godin encourages readers to loan a copy of his book "The Dip" to others. "If I could double the number of people who read the book, it would be pretty cool."

Seth writes here.

Speaking of. Driving home Thursday afternoon I heard a song on MSU's student run and programmed radio station. And when I got home went online and bought the MP3 download. Isn't that the way its suppose to be? Radio remains the record industry's biggest promotional resource.

Howard Who? While the latest Arbitron satellite listening report shows him king of satellite radio, has the mainstream forgotten him?

Friday Night on Letterman - NPR's Ira Glass revealed that he was a major fan of Howard Stern. Said it twice. No studio audience reaction...no applause, nothing - although Ira (and Dave) appeared to be waiting for it. As if they didn't know the name anymore. Or cared. Just an observation.

Cindy Gatziolis. Don't know the name? Doesn't matter. Cindy share some great radio stories this week in Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight. Think Larry Lujack. Jonathan Brandmeier. Read here.

Have a great Sunday.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

64° - sunny at 10am

Happy Sunday. My in-laws have been in town from Denver since Thursday. Good times. Watched Michigan State spank Notre Dame yesterday on TV.

Listening this morning: Again this week to Pam Rossi's Over Easy on WCSX/Detroit. Thanks for the Simon & Garfunkel. Loved "The Boxer" and "Leaves That Are Green".

The latter I haven't heard likely in 35+ years. I've got to order "Sounds Of Silence" on CD from Amazon today. Sarcasm: I forgot...radio doesn't sell music.

Actually tried WDRV/Chicago first - a longtime habit - but they're not streaming "Rock & Roll Roots" this morning due to RIAA issues.

Speaking of WDRV: Celebrating Bruce Springsteen's birthday today with Boss classics throughout the day.

Perhaps the RIAA problem this morning was due to the "not more than 4 songs per artist in any 3 hour period rule" for streaming. Wonder how CHR stations stream???

WCSX/Detroit. New website design. Clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate. See here. Very nice. Great use of You Tube videos (a free resource!)

Meanwhile - Radio Online reports that "Male-Oriented Formats Top List for Radio Web Visitors". Hello classic rock. Read here.

This week Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight shines on suburban classic rock WRXQ/Joliet PD Freak - who's had an amazing career with a number of stations in Chicago.

Read a cool story here.


Fun. Bob Andelman (Mr. Media) talks to Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin. Another guy from Chicago. Curb on HBO is one of the highlights of my week. Read here.

Have a great Sunday.

Monday Monday

70° - cloudy - 97% humidity at 9:33am
Drippin' in Mid-Michigan

Free name tag generator here.

Good Morning.

Radio Station Names. What makes a strong one? Mark Ramsey takes notes here from a book by author Marty Neumeier.

Added: More ARBs: Just read Anthony Acampora's latest demo breakouts on All Access. In Denver: Persons 25-54 is ruled by Clear Channel's AAA KBCO followed a half point behind by sister Classic Rocker KRFX. Not a bad place to be - congrats to KRFX/Fox PD Garner Goin.

In Seattle: KZOK is #1 P25-54. And in Portland: KGON is a solid #2 P25-54.

XM's Lee Abrams: "Heard a Deep Tracks promo. Great example of NOT using “lazy words”. They used the line “handcrafted sets” (as has the Loft for a long time) to describe the music programming on the channel. They COULD have used “All your Deep Classic Rock Favorites” or something silly like that."

Lee's blog is here.

Lee Arnold. Last Thursday his internet station WORJ.COM streamed a 1975 radio concert from Gary Wright. From the "Dream Weaver" era - and wonderful.

Thanks again Lee.

Kudos. To Cox Radio head Bob Neil for telling it like it is: "The reality is that if radio doesn’t play their music they’re not gonna sell their recordings."

This in reaction to proposed artist airplay royalties - and last week's testimony in Washington.

Nearly every successful recording artist can thank radio for their careers - including Sam Moore and Judy Collins.

Wednesday Blogs & ARBs

77° - sunny at 10am

Welcome to August.

Last night was a great one for a bike ride around town and through the bike trails with a big old pink red moon overhead. And I did finally water my (browning) lawn. At least the front yard.

Frustration. I'm going to try again - but yesterday I had sent a note to introduce myself to a GM at a ratings-challenged station in a market I'd like to be in. This morning an Outlook return receipt showed that it was "deleted without being read". At least I know it wasn't something I said...lol.

More ARBs. Looking casually over the release spring numbers from the past week - a few stations really stood out: One is KQRS/Minneapolis. The station is #1 12-plus. Added: KQRS dominates 18-49 and exceeds a 12 share 25-54!

WGRF/Buffalo is #3 12-plus - a solid #2 A25-54 and #1 M25-54. Very nice.

From my blogosphere:

Records & Radio. From press reports it appears the recording industry woo'd Congress yesterday with their request for airplay royalties.

This morning Jerry Del Colliano writes about "Radio Royalty Hardball" - read here.

And Fred Jacobs notes here that "...the recording industry still doesn't "get it" that their best avenue for exposure, artist brand building, and sales is still good old radio".

Conclave. From Jaye Albright: materials and session recordings from last month's Conclave are now available - some of those resources are free. Check out Jaye's blog here.

Seth Godin. Seth writes a short blog post about "Toxic" employees. Read here.

My own experience and growth has helped me avoid such hires and to better manage "pre-existing conditions".

When Satire Becomes Reality...

Jim Bartlett - who writes the awesome Top 40/Classic Rock blog The Hits Just Keep On Comin' - and also does weekends on classic rock WHLK/Madison - recently pointed to a 2002 story in the national parody newspaper "The Onion".

See anything familiar here?

RIAA Sues Radio Stations For Giving Away Free Music

"....the radio stations acquire copies of RIAA artists' CDs and then broadcast them using a special transmitter, making it possible for anyone with a compatible radio-wave receiver to listen to the songs."

"....these radio stations often play the best, catchiest song off the album over and over until people get sick of it. Where is the incentive for people to go out and buy the album?"

Read the full 2002 Onion "story" here.

Steven Van Zandt on Radio & Records

67° - rain at 9am

Steven Van Zandt. Radio host. Musician. Record producer. Actor. Writer. I'm certain thats an incomplete list.

Last night - Mark Felsot - who handles affiliate relations for Little Steven's Underground Garage - e-mailed an advance copy of Steven's "Garage Rock" column for the July 21st issue of Billboard. Steven addresses the illogical move by the record industry to demand payment for airplay.

Some great quotes from Mr. Van Zandt: "I do not believe radio should pay anything to anyone. And I mean every kind of radio."

"..radio stations and concert performers shouldn't have to pay for promoting our music and helping us sell it. Radio is the greatest thing that ever happened to us all, not counting Les Paul sticking that pickup on his guitar—which also worked out quite well."

And my favorite: "We have talked about, right here, the new ways people hear music and its significance especially for young bands: ads, videogames, TV, movies, ringtones, car horns, whatever. But can any sane human being think all that can ever replace a great radio station?"

I simply love that.

This morning Dave Lange posts the entire Little Steven article and offers some additional commentary. Read here.

Programming You Can't Stream

Sunny/80° at 11am

Happy Thursday.

Today: Chicago's WDRV is featuring album sides - all day long - "tracked all the way through without interruption." - and - "delivered unapologetically with the occasional pop, scratchy static and skip." I love it!

But as I live far outside their broadcast range, I can't listen. Not even on their stream. WDRV's on-air feed is not being streamed today - instead your redirected to their HD2 "Deep Tracks" stream. They can't legally stream today's on-air programming.


The webcasting rules (Digital Millennium Copyright Act -or "DMCA") states that you cannot stream:

• No more than 3 songs in a three hour period from the same album/CD
• No more than 2 songs in a row from the same album/CD
• No more than 4 songs in a three hour period from the same artist or box set
• No more than 3 songs in a row from the same artist.

Yipes! How does this affect your programming? Think about those "Rock Block Weekends" or other album/artist features you're doing. Depending on your strategies, these restrictions could either be a minor inconvenience or a major headache.

There's other rules too...read here.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

Left: Mich State University 10:30am

It could hit 65° today! I'll try to drag my two boys away from their PS2 long enough to join me on a bike ride this afternoon. I could use the exercise.

Elton John is 60 years young today. WDRV/Chicago is celebrating with 60 songs by Elton starting at 11am EDT. Just heard the marathon kick off with "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding".

Added: Its 11:30am and the WDRV stream just got clipped. Here's why: "Due to RIAA guidelines and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we are unable to stream Elton John's 60th Birthday Party programming. The stream will be back on at 4:30pm. Thanks for clicking on WDRV.com, we apologize for the inconvenience."

The RIAA strikes again! WDRV is substituting with its HD2 deep tracks stream. Good tunes. Even hosted by a jock (sounds like Steve Downes)!
>>oops - see correction here.<<

Free Stuff. From McVay Media. "60 Ideas In 60 Minutes" - from some great programming minds at the 2007 Canadian Music Week conference in Toronto. Get it here.

Core Artists. Reading Jaye Albright's blog over coffee this morning. She writes about "the only artists you should play once an hour". And those "maybe once every two hours". Jaye does country - but this applies to almost any format - and certainly to classic rock.

Are your artist protection rules set up to give your core artists the exposure they need? AND - do your rules demand that core artists are scheduled consistently? I've used type codes/rules in Selector to define core artists so I don't schedule too many non-core artists in a row. -dan

Fun and Educational. "The Horrors of Clearing Customs...and Good Times In Canada" - by Lee Abrams. Lee writes: "As a consultant I always preferred to get the mechanics like rotations out of the away and then look at the things that were beyond mechanics—what made stations GREAT." Yup.

Tommy Chong. A terrific person and a great interview. And now he's video blogging. See Tommy here.

Right: Tommy and me at WMMQ last year.

Performance License Fees. They just went up for web streaming. Traditional over-the-air radio has always been exempt. Could this change? More here from Mark Ramsey.

April Fools. Its next Sunday - a day off for most morning shows. FWIW, here's this FCC advisory from Broadcasting and Cable.

Have a great Sunday.