Month: december

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U.S. radio is looking at its lowest numbers in decades for ad revenue. There was a 10% drop in ad revenue in October from the year before. Ad revenue for most stations come from local ad accounts which fell 10%. It has been 18 months that ad revenue has fallen for radio stations, and with a recession in the country it maybe at least a year or so before you start to see the numbers go up. Even though there were many ads for the election this year, it was not enough to stop the numbers from going down from the previous year. Radio has not seen it this bad since 1954 and it is seeing a fall from all major categories like auto, retail, telecom, and financial services. Small and large companies both are slowing down due to the financial issues the country is facing, and the future of ad revenue for radio at the moment does not look promising.

Month: July

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It is unlikely that Congress will vote this year on the legislation requiring terrestrial radio stations to pay artists and labels performance royalties to air their recordings, but a lot of progress has been made by the side supporting the artists. There was a resounding vote on June 27 in support of the legislation that sent the Performance Rights Act to the full House Judiciary Committee, but it won't get much further this election year after Congress takes its scheduled summer recess in August. The side supporting the broadcasters has created opposition to the bill calling it a performance "tax" and declaring it would create "severe economic hardship" on the radio stations. Even the opposition cannot deny that they are acknowledging the fact that in other industrialized countries, as well as satellite and Internet radio in the US, all pay performance royalties. Some point this out to be an example of "a lack of harmony with laws around the globe." Many are trying to find a compromise in the bill. They know it is fair to give compensation to the artists and labels, but think it should also be considered to have a business model that compensates the radio stations for their role in promoting music. Supporters of the artists and labels say they are happy with the progress and that this is the most they've made in the past 80 years.

Month: June

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Columbia Records wanted to make sure that the new single "Hammerhead" by The Offspring was successfully reaching as many radio DJs and station programmers as possible. So rather than send out CDs, which would probably get lost in a pile of others, the label used eNotes to e-mail the single directly to the desktops of their targets. The result was the single being #9 on the airplay chart of Radio & Records for active-rock, according to Billboard. eNotes sends an email with a streaming version of the song and gives the recipient the option to download the tune from a secure digital courier service. This multimedia advertisement gives labels the ability to track results on how many and how downloads the single. The company also targeted over 1,200 DJs, station programmers, and decision makers at rock stations for The Offspring's track. An e-mail also saves money and is eco-friendlier than shipping out physical CDs to radio stations.

Month: February

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As royalty rates rise for online music streaming, companies like AOL Radio are tryng to fingure out what to do next by recontstucting their business model. While things are changing for radio and the companies that provide the service, record companies are benefiting by having their music brought to the masses by the radio either online or terrestrial.

Month: August

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More pressure is being placed by lobbyist on congress to extend performance rights for AM and FM terrestrial broadcasts. MusicFIRST emphasized the international repercussions.