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NY Post: iPod as radio rival

updated 11:00 am EDT, Wed July 21, 2004

iPod as radio rival

Apple's iPod is "," proclaims today's edition of the The New York Post. Radio, which has seen listener levels drop 10 percent in the last five years, faces a challenge as consumers load thousands of songs they enjoy on an iPod and take it with them everywhere. "By leaving the 'computer' behind, Apple's new devices bring your MP3 files out of the personal, private sphere of a headphone environment and into the space where radio currently lives," Tom Webster of Edison Media Research told the Post. "A high-capacity MP3 player set to randomly shuffle through gigantic playlists can provide the sense of surprise and discovery that was previously the exclusive domain of radio," Webster added. DJs aren't too worried however. "If [people] want to listen to nothing but music, they'll go to iPod," said Power 105.1's Michael Saunders. "People are entertained by the radio... that's why you have huge morning personalities."

by MacNN Staff

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rok
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 1999

0

07/21, 11:28am | report spam | close Reply |
Dear Mr. Saunders...

i don't know about others, but it's those "entertaining morning personalities" that make me change the station. i do not need to hear what happened on survivor last night, or the funny blind date someone had, or how someone is stripping naked in the studio, or a prank live phone call. get it through your think skull to your pea-sized brain:

WE WANT THE MUSIC. so shut up, stop talking over the songs, stop littering the airwaves with "male enhancement" ads and "get a better mortgage with us" audio-spam, and GIVE US WHAT WE WANT.

rok
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Joined: Mar 1999

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07/21, 11:29am | report spam | close Reply |
edit above:

"think skull" should read "thick skull"... speaking of which, i need more coffee.

scottnichol
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Joined: Oct 1999

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07/21, 11:37am | report spam | close Reply |
they don't play my music

umm... aside from some talk radio (stern, npr, etc) commercial radio doesn't play anything i'm interested in hearing. the quality of the audio is generally low. and i don't like listening to commercials.

so, of course i'll take an iPod loaded with all my favorites over a broadcast stream of nothing i'm interested in any day.

the iPod is no more a threat to radio than the original walkman, my car's CD player or the CD player i have hooked up to my home theater.

OsakaBill
Forum Regular

Joined: Oct 1999

0

07/21, 12:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
Morning Personalities

The biggest reason I rarely listen to broadcast radio is that I frickin' hate so-called "radio personalities." They are all a joke. I don't listen to radio for the zany hi-jinks of a couple of buffoons behind the microphone. I listen to the radio for music.

If I do listen to broadcast radio, it typically is public radio. If I want to listen music on my radio, I either use Internet streaming radio at home or my iPod in the car.

sadmachine
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Joined: Jun 2004

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07/21, 12:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ridiculous

"A high-capacity MP3 player set to randomly shuffle through gigantic playlists can provide the sense of surprise and discovery that was previously the exclusive domain of radio"

An interesting point. Did radio people complain like this when the walkman and discman became popular?

crayola
Junior Member

Joined: Jul 2003

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07/21, 12:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
no more radio

since i got dsl 5 years ago i no longer listen to the "radio". instead i listen to internet radio stations via iTunes and when i'm on the road i just fire up the trusty iPod.

beeble
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

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07/21, 12:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
This is the Post

We all remember they're impressive record for predicting future events now don't we!

Basically the Post has said it's going to happen so you can now safely invest in radio companies because you can be certain iPod is no threat whatsoever. The only difference between the Post and the Times is that the Posts BS is usually amusing.

macbarry
Junior Member

Joined: Aug 2002

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07/21, 12:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
gotta agree

I don't listen to the radio anymore because, as a media study has recently shown, on average 20 minutes of every broadcast hour is taken up with commercials. The remaining 40 minutes, by my own estimation, is filled up with mostly worthless payola music that is repeated endlessly.

If radio were to free itself of payola (or the legal equivalent) allowing local DJs to REALY choose the music and loose 1/2 of the commercials I might start listening again. I've got news for the seemingly blind, deaf and overleveraged big media conglomerates - it ain't illegal downloading or the iPod phenomenon that's caused the drop in your revenues...

EMC
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Joined: Jun 2002

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07/21, 12:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
This is ridiculous

Why not listen to radio when you have an iPod?

Let's see, for starters, radio audio quality sucks. Record an MP3 at 24k bitrate and you get radio quality sound. This is obviously the iPod's fault seeing as it is the year 2004 and nobody in radio has seen fit to transmit audio digitally. So they waste huge bandwidth with inferior high-power analog signals.

Second of all no "radio personalities". People like music, we don't turn on the radio just to here DJ babyboy try to make us laugh. With an exception of a few radio personalities, DJs are not the reason people ever listen to the radio.

Finally, commercials. Why I understand that commercials are necessary for revenue, they have been getting longer and longer every year. A typical radio commercial break can be as long as 10 minutes now. People go to their iPod because they want to listen to music, not mcDonalds' jingles.

XM radio has obviously solved all of the problems. High quality digital feeds, no commercials, and no radio personalities. But there is really no need for the satellite dish with the radio infrastructure in teh U.S.

It tood cell phone companies 2 years to migrate to a digital network. The radio companies should take notice.

testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001

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07/21, 12:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
iPod vs. walkman

the iPod is no more a threat to radio than the original walkman, my car's CD player or the CD player i have hooked up to my home theater.

An interesting point. Did radio people complain like this when the walkman and discman became popular?

Both of you are missing the point. With a walkman/discman, you had ONE TAPE/CD! Maybe it was a mix tape you made, but it still was fixed to a limited number of songs (and for the walkman, not even randomizable).

With the iPod, you have ALL your CDs at your disposal and can set up a random shuffle of some or all of the songs. Which means you can listen to random samplings of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, Easy Listening, Rap, Oldies, etc and not have a clue as to what's coming up next.

If you're the type who listens to all his/her albums straight through, with just a couple of random playlists, then, yes, I see your point.

But I have a relatively small library of 4000 songs, of which I have a good 2500-3000 in a single playlist of what I call 'playable' music (or radio music, if you like, basically the tracks that work randomly, as opposed to certain live and concept albums where random play won't work), shuffle that sucker up and just hit play. Better than chuckle-chuckle radio (or self-help radio, or I-love-to-hear-the-sound-of-my-voice radio). I rarely listen to the radio anymore. iPod hooked up to a pair of speakers is my alarm clock and what I listen to in the morning. Add an iTrip, its now in the car. Stick on a pair of headphones, and its there all day. Reverse it all on the way home. The only radio I listen to is when I want the traffic (thank goodness for all-news radio with regular traffic updates).

(BTW, to make the 'radio' playlists better, once you get yourself a list of music you want to randomize, create a smart playlist off of that playlist, adding in a "not played in last 7 days" criteria, and its now "no-repeat" music as well!)

rok
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Joined: Mar 1999

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07/21, 12:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: XM radio et al.

by the way, am i the only one lucky enough to hear these infuriating commercials on my radio station, where they spew forth c*** about satellite radio, how it's causing people's kids to say bad words, or how radio should be "free" (um, yeah, while i'm held hostage listening to the radio-spam during commercial breaks like i said above), or how you lose the signal when you go through a tunnel (um, doesn't that happen with regular radio too, if it's a long tunnel?). tons and tons of enough propaganda that it makes me want to punch my radio in anger that they waste several minutes every hour of my life listening to that garbage.

testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001

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07/21, 12:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: This is ridiculous

XM radio has obviously solved all of the problems. High quality digital feeds, no commercials, and no radio personalities. But there is really no need for the satellite dish with the radio infrastructure in teh U.S.

XM doesn't use a dish, if I understand it correctly. It uses repeaters on the ground that transmit the radio digitally from the satellite (similar to cell phones). Of course, I could be wrong.

It tood cell phone companies 2 years to migrate to a digital network. The radio companies should take notice.

Changing to digital ain't going to make the complaints about radio better. When I'm driving, sound quality is generally meaningless ("Wow, listen to the subtle bass on this piece...Oh, wait, that's the semi next to me down-shifting."). The ads would still be there. The DJs would still be there. The talk would still be there (oh, but you'll be able to hear Stern talk about the lesbians in his studio clearer then you ever did before!).

Cell phones would lose their popularity too if you had to listen to a 30 second commercial before making a call.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

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07/21, 12:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: xm radio et al

Wow, can't say I've heard them! But they sound just like those cable commercials about how bad DirecTV is.

abrody
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 1999

0

07/21, 01:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
The iPod a benefit

At least for some stations that don't have much room to stock many tapes and CDs for their music collection, now storing these things digitally they can play the music from the iPod through the radio. I believe Apple even ran an article about one radio station which took advantage of this feature.

fiesta cat
Forum Regular

Joined: Nov 2003

0

07/21, 01:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
Radio personalities...

Most radio personalities are pathetic. They copy each other, they appear to target the most idiotic portion of their market, and they waste too much time talking about nothing.

Give me a station that has timely traffic reports (they don't even have to play the pre-recorded helicopter sounds and pretend they are hovering over the freeways either), and good music.

TideSwimmer
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2001

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07/21, 02:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
Make your own radio!

On my iPod I now have three �radio� playlists in which I�ve recreated playlists of some of my favorite stations back when radio was in its prime.

Radio today is terrible: obnoxious �personalities� who are literally indistinguishable from one another. No matter who�s on, they play the same 30 songs in five hour rotations... what�s the point?

Back in my day (and I can�t believe how often I use that phrase lately, it�s horrible) but back in the day, Djs each had their own tastes and it was reflected in their shows. They probably had a basic playlist, to be sure, but they filled in around it with their own collections. Thus, one would slant toward harder rock, another would slant toward progessive rock, and another would slant toward 60�s rock. It kept it interesting.

The only thing killing radio these days is radio.

hodaddy
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2001

0

07/21, 03:23pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ni!

you can thank clearchannel for the 'wal-mart-ization' of corporate american radio. its not the poor friggin' DJs fault they suck. they're being railroaded into it by the almighty $$$ and average market consumer and a few pompous, short-sighted, greedy pockets.

i dunno why, but this whole clearchannel debacle reminds me of something else......

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power is derived by a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!

*shrug*

Feeling_Macish
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

0

07/21, 04:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
Hey Tom Hicks!

I live in Highland Park, your neighborhood in Dallas, and I think Clear Channel SUCKS. You may pridefully look yourself in the mirror each night and sing the following:

"I ruined radio and I don't care!,
I ruined radio and I don't care!"

...(bugging your eyes out and snapping a sly grin with each refrain).

Tons of money may ease the pain of having helped destroy local radio. But in Hicks' case, there probably was no pain. You have to have the mental and emotional equipment in the first place in order to appreciate what was there before you ruined it, so it's a chicken and egg problem.

mkjellman
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2004

0

07/21, 05:18pm | report spam | close Reply |
XM? Try Sirius...

Well you are all trashing XM but as a loyal Sirius subscriber I can tell you that I really enjoy the "Stream Jockeys" that add little tid-bits about the song or a concert that is going to happen with the artist that they just played. I find the quality to be good enough and for $100 a year I get exposed to all kinds of music. I also have an iPod filled with 4000 songs and I listen to that as well. I think that they have separate purposes. There is no way that the traditional "radio-dj" will be obliterated because people will always like the additions good ones add. If you don't like your XM give Sirius a shot. I like sitius and i love my iPod too...

PookJP
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

0

07/21, 06:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
Radio on iPod

One would think that if Apple found a way to add a radio antenna receiver to the iPod, it would attract even more people to the product. There's obviously a market for radio personalities, as is evidenced by their ubiquity on morning radio, so people could potentially have their cake and eat it too with a radio-enabled iPod.

klinux
Senior User

Joined: Jul 2002

0

07/21, 08:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
One thing

beeble wrote: "Basically the Post has said it's going to happen so you can now safely invest in radio companies because you can be certain iPod is no threat whatsoever. The only difference between the Post and the Times is that the Posts BS is usually amusing."

Well, except the article said no such thing.

I guess I can also say the only difference between beeble's BS and the Post's BS is that Post's BS is usually amusing.

Maclectic
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2002

0

07/21, 09:52pm | report spam | close Reply |
Consolidation

The problem that afflicts radio also affects your iPod in a more subtle way: media conglomeration and consolidation.

The problem with radio is that very few companies own most of the radio stations and they make them play nationally generated play-lists. The idea of a radio DJ with the ability to choose music to appeal to a variety of listeners, local tastes, be cutting edge, or introduce people to new music is dead.

With you iPod you go out and pick the music to put on it, so the local control is much better. However, the amount and variety of artists you might know about or can be exposed to is shrinking because of record company and promoter consolidation.

Pre-90s (or maybe pre-80s) roughly, the number of sources for new music were at least 10 times as large, but a combination of the advent of CDs and media conglomeration has closed down the list of choices.

The past refuge of interesting music is still around and people should listen to it more: college radio.

Commercial radio sux a**! Unless you want to listen to sports.

- Maclectic

Monstermind
Junior Member

Joined: May 2000

0

07/22, 07:27am | report spam | close Reply |
hugemorning personalities

Like Howard Stern, who used to be funny, but now devotes 5 hours to whining like a gaywad about the troubles he brought on himself.

Ipod �ber alles.

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NY Post: iPod as radio rival

updated 11:00 am EDT, Wed July 21, 2004

iPod as radio rival

Dear Mr. Saunders...

edit above:

they don't play my music

Morning Personalities

Ridiculous

no more radio

This is the Post

gotta agree

This is ridiculous

iPod vs. walkman

re: XM radio et al.

Re: This is ridiculous

Re: xm radio et al

The iPod a benefit

Radio personalities...

Make your own radio!

Ni!

Hey Tom Hicks!

XM? Try Sirius...

Radio on iPod

One thing

Consolidation

hugemorning personalities

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NY Post: iPod as radio rival

updated 11:00 am EDT, Wed July 21, 2004

iPod as radio rival

Related Articles

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Dear Mr. Saunders...

edit above:

they don't play my music

Morning Personalities

Ridiculous

no more radio

This is the Post

gotta agree

This is ridiculous

iPod vs. walkman

re: XM radio et al.

Re: This is ridiculous

Re: xm radio et al

The iPod a benefit

Radio personalities...

Make your own radio!

Ni!

Hey Tom Hicks!

XM? Try Sirius...

Radio on iPod

One thing

Consolidation

hugemorning personalities

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

to our RSS

Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

10 Most Discussed

MacNN Marketplace