From the press release.

A BIG BREAK: PORTLAND’S THRIVING MUSIC SCENE HITS THE AIR

Portland, ORE. – July 16, 2007 A beautiful concept! … Best format for HD2 ever! … You’re really doing the local music scene a great service. Listeners of 94/7too Independent Radio, Entercom Portland’s newest HD Channel, are applauding the station’s dedication to local music with the launch of the first HD radio channel locked on playing only Northwest music.

“The most exciting and vibrant music scene in the world right now is in the Pacific Northwest,” said Entercom Portland Program Director, Mark Hamilton. “Portland has risen to take the lead, continuing what Seattle started in the early 90’s. It makes complete sense to create a HD channel that will showcase this wealth of talent in this region.”

The diverse, new programming is designed to offer more local choices and enhance listening experiences. 94/7fm (KNRK) is committed to the Portland music scene and developing new artists by providing a platform to highlight these local artists.

“The key to the future success of HD Radio is to get early adapters excited about the product. What will they hear when they turn on a HD radio. And will it get them talking?” Hamilton said. “Whether the artist is signed or unsigned is of little concern… if it matches the expectations of 94/7fm listeners we’ll play it! We are proud to make radio history and launch the first regional music station, 94/7 too, Independent Radio.”

About HD Radio
The HD technology approved by federal regulators in 2002 sharply improves sound quality and allows FM stations to expand programming with extra free channels. To listen to this new technology, listeners will need to purchase an HD Radio receiver equipped to receive multicasts. The new channels do not require any subscription or additional fee beyond the purchase of the new HD-ready receiver, which can be purchased at www.hdradio.com.


Bands from Ashland, OR to Vancouver, BC.

Also streaming at 64 kbps at http://webclust1.liquidcompass.cc/entercom/video_gateway.php?id=KNRKHD

Firefox users need to click on "Listen Now" to begin the stream.

Well now......kind of an interesting twist for sure. You suppose KUFO launched it's "Viva La Luna" show in an attempt to keep up with the Jones? This may have just convinced me to go ahead and purchase the HD Jump add in for my car and home stereo system.
http://www.amazon.com/Visteon-Jump-Portable-Radio-Tuner/dp/B000PCM18C/ref=pd_bbs _sr_1/102-6226409-6128968?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1184703504&sr=8-1
Add the Car Kit for another 50 bucks and you are set. Aside from install anyway.

I'm guessing this is how they're getting around their post-payola agreement to play independent and unsigned acts -- without actually having to play them on "regular" radio.

Fine by me. This is an excellent HD2 attempt.

I just finished hearing a bad falsetto imitation of Michael McDonald doing "What a Fool Believes" on the 'NRK 2 internet stream.

I stand by my assertation that if a given local song can hold its own alongside other music in regular rotation, then that's where it belongs, not relegated to a locals only hour, or a sub-channel. A long string of material that can't make grade is not compelling radio.

Gotta' love the screeching feedback on the song playing now. The guitarist will not be the next Jimi Hendrix.

It may be interesting to check out for occasional short periods, but you have to sort through a lot of crap for a few rare gems. Isn't that what they pay music directors for?

Too bad they aren't doing IBOC in Canada and putting most of the Can-con on the HD3. This new invention could prove useful yet!

A song playing now is called "Rotton Hell." I concur.

I've been listening for two days and it's pretty awesome....but then again, I'm a local music geek.

Good thoughts Randy.

Kind of like radio in Hawaii!! lots of obscure local content.

Some ideas for this format:

-who do they remind you of?

Play local band in tandem with established band, open up phones: agree, disagree?

-where are they playing now?

Play set of better tunes from bands, who have all played a local venue in the last month, or just same venue. Promote said venue, open up phones:

-what were you doing when you saw these guys?

Play a theefer, open the phones

-could it be a single?

Play a good one (and yes that might be tough, but somebody's gotta do it. Perhaps enlist some local music critics, fans, etc... to ferret this out)

-local mix at 6

Do a mix, like the Coctail mix, have the locals who have been featured on the Coctail mix program, spin these. Pimp their favorite venue.

-meet the band

Interview, get them to tell some great stories, play some of their stuff and have them tell us what it means. 15 minute mini-segments could be repurposed into a teaser show for the main channel. IMHO, some small cross over will make a big difference, while not detracting from the main channel much at all. No brainer.

-up and comers, who got signed?

Play these, along with some potentials.

-rate it or hate it!

Tie this into a web page. As they play, feature their photos, some background, venues played (playing), rate it or hate it button. Comments would be good too, but would require some web weaving likely to get messy.

Two buttons on thsi BTW. Either one rates it, or they hate it. Neither button can be pressed until some short comment has been entered.

-who are they?

Play someone, open phones, correct caller gets a cookie.

-inspired by....

Play signature tune, play same from inspiration.

-venue tuesday (or day of week)

Play brief comments from venue owners, producers, etc... for one hour, play tunes or sets that have or are appearing at that venue this week, right now. Kind of a sneak peek at the shows.

-KNRK picks of the month.

Make the picks like that currently happening on the main channel. Aggragate these onto a CD to be won / distributed / sold. Make covers unique, numbered and collectable. Offload production to geeks wanting some fame.

Same could apply to best of [venue] - [year] - [season].

-our first gig...

Play short intro to story (hook set), play tunes, finish story, open phones as option. Repurpose for main channel teaser.

-screaming streaming

Remote a live show or two, replay on stream with comment page where people can exchange greetings, stories, shout outs, while listening. Rotate these in some fashion to highlight the more popular venues.

Agreed with Randy. Just playing them non-stop is just another cookie cutter thing that won't spark any real , beyond the real music lovers looking for new stuff.

Somebody needs to get in the loop to aggragate the cool (and there is some, but it's too diluted right now), and provide some relevance / context and it will all go much better.

I wrote fine effort because there is a LOT of potential here.

Does anybody really care about HD radio? Outside of the radio industry, I mean. I've never heard anybody but radio people talk about HD radio.

Today on Z100...an ad..."get your HD radios at Walmart...and tune the stations 'between the channels' for free!"

HD radio will fair better than Blue Ray and HD DVD due to the fact that OEM car manufacturers are starting to get on board with this setup. It is not a great cost difference to equip cars with HD stereos over non-HD so why not. The next two years will probably see all major OEM's with HD as standard equipment.

I've had a couple of people mention HD radio. The ads running right now are sparking some interest.

In my opinion, the more places locals can be heard, the better.

However Mike and I'd been talking about this show since late last year and if you're talkin' about who came first (darktemper mentioned it), Viva La Luna has been in the works for some time.

But again, I say the more places the locals can be heard, the better.

Somebody needs to brand "The Scene" and leverage that. We've got an interesting one happening here right now. Why not?

I actually dig the station. Today I've been looking for an in dash HD hookup for my car.

It really sucks when I have to drive to Spokane and listen to the radio along the way so I took a gamble with satellite back a few months ago. I fully believe there is a market and you guys shouldn't chastise people for listening to satellite. But I totally do understand supporting local radio which is why I want to buy the HD receiver.

I wish the web would display some accurate info on who is playing what. I'd then go over to cdbaby and look at what the artist is offering.

Support local radio?????

WHY? Most stations are putting on a cheap, Half assed product and could give a rats (You know what) about their listeners.
SCREW LOCAL RADIO!

OPB has had a weekend show that plays local stuff for a month now.

Disagree Buns....there are still a few that really do care or at the very least, ONE!

Two...if you count down here in the desert!

Sure....Dessert is always good!

Three.

I just had dessert. Home made Marion berry and peach pie with ice cream.

I think it is cool when OPB expands any kind of music programming. Did they add it? Or simply replace something else? Forgive my skepticism, but this radio network has to be rattled by the lapels sometimes to get it.

Also, on the TV side, if OPB is smart enough to get the fantastic Tom D'Antoni back on Oregon Art Beat as a regular, I might give them even more credit for caring about local music and creative folks. Jeff is great, as always, but well, if you watch, you know what I mean. I will be kind and simply say that Tom adds value.

D'Antoni sure sounded like he was having a hoot hosting the live music in Cathedral Park on KMHD this past weekend, and as always, he was a pro. I try to catch him whenever I can.

By the way, call me a cynic, but I think the gesture of a locally focused HD outlet on KNRK does have much more to do with Danner's wise assessment and less to do with "community building" or supporting locals. Still, on the whole, it is another place to find a few scattered locals and throngs of recent migrants. Not a bad thing, of course.

This said it all to me:

"The most exciting and vibrant music scene in the world right now is in the Pacific Northwest. Portland has risen to take the lead, continuing what Seattle started in the early 90's."

I liked the first part, but then they go and spoil it with typical "I read it somewhere" misinformation. The whole, "look what I just found" mentality gets tiresome to folks who know better.

To be accurate, the "alt" -- *gag* -- feeding frenzy went from the entire Northwest to San Diego, the Bay Area, Chicago, Boston, Montreal, Halifax, Lincoln, Austin, Athens, Detroit, Denver, across the pond to Manchester, Scandinavia and a good many other places in between before returning, yet again, to the Northwest. Mills need grist and go where the getting is good.

In the early 90s, local acts were approached with major label interest, but few took the bait. At the time, it was not a question of talent, just the desire for autonomy.

Watch the opening scene of "Hype" and it might come to you. The "movie about Seattle's scene" opens with Crackerbash, a stellar Portland band that turned down the pimps. To be precise, they actually had roots in -- *gulp* -- Gresham. Oh, the irony.

On a brighter note, Missing_KSKD has some very solid ideas. He is the latest poster to help others do a better job. This unpaid consulting gig is fun, isn't it? :0)

You know the drill. Scroll it or read it, but please don't bitch about it. (I'm gonna get hammered again this next coupla weeks, so it's get it out now, or not.)

"[more to do with] Danner's wise assessment and less to do with "community building" or supporting locals."

Absolutely. And that's just fine. We've extra space that comes with a market building problem that's also fairly low risk right now, in many ways. (very high risk in general, if not well managed however!)

So, let's make it about money then. Specifically, the ROI pitch that's gonna have to come from some thinking about the new options, means and methods, and their potential impact. Here we go...

Right now is the perfect time to innovate, add value, and work on the content problem, without having to put revenue already on the table at significant risk.

There are still the costs associated with doing these things, but at some point, the investment really should be made. It goes without saying, some portion of this investment needs to be in people, not just better tech.

Said people can be local, regional or national, depending on where they are gonna add value, but they gotta be there, adding value, or this whole HD radio bit is just not gonna fly.

I believe the killer point to make is:

Should HD radio fail to meet corporate expectations, it's gonna blow the ONE re-introduction opportunity that makes real sense.

Now is the time people. There isn't gonna be another one that has the kind of punch potential this one has. And, the tech build out already done, more or less forces the matter because...

...if digital radio fails, radio in general fails big. It then will actually be old, have failed to compete, etc... And you can bet every other media form will leverage that to the absolute fullest. That's ugly in so many ways, it's just gotta be said. I think it's the key to getting some dollars focused back on people and their value.

So, it's re-introduce radio here and now, or just forget it, hope to re-purpose the digital stuff with conditional access and become infrastructure that happens to play tunes some times.

That's the takeaway.

Somebody in the board room swallowed the ROI pitch on the tech build out. Ok then. The king pin to the whole tech build out was not quality, but economies of scale. More channels, new radios, etc... Quality is an artifact, it is not a means toward an end. These economies of scale depend on...

Content!

So, now it's time to go back and make the same successful ROI pitch for content investments to complete the picture. One problem I see is there is no single, focused source able to apply this pressure, like there is on the tech side. In fact, there is a bifurcation here, leaving radio in the middle, having to choose between same old, same old and all that comes with that (revenue assurance, but not growth assurance), or doing it's own thing, with all content sources, not just the established ones.

Since I'm on the free gig, I get to say whatever I want: (ha!) --and I just want the better radio I know can happen.

Two streams means a lot of new branding options that break down into two coarse approaches.

The easy way to go is just to treat them like additional stations. Cool, depending on what the core identity of the primary stream is. Ignoring primary streams is a part of making this work. I don't like it because it devalues what is already working. Think about it --if the extra stations are where it's at, what does that say about the ones on the dial right now?

(could get ugly, if not well managed)

KNRK is at least treating their second stream as a strong value add to their existing brand. Sweet! This is the better way to do it, IMHO. Make an existing brand / identity stronger the whole package is new, not just some of it.

You get economies all over the place this way. Station staff are already known (if they exist), expanding on an existing and running brand / format carries less risk, no need to rebuild entire effort, elements can be shared, re-purposed across both efforts, etc...

This is why I think the local effort is just sweet. It's also cookie cutter in that successful elements can be exported to other regions and people. It also has very strong potential for the station to leverage local talent in creative ways. that's what some of the ideas above were about.

This, in turn, is very important for that early potential listener curve problem. There is a window where HD can make an impact. I don't think it's very long. (three years tops?)

So, getting alpha listeners engaged and talking about HD is paramount. Again, local packs a big punch, given somebody is there to add value, aggregate and present the cool to everyone.

Every venue in town should be giving away HD radios, in exchange for demographic data, favorite bands, etc... Share / trade all of that to keep costs down, pay somebody to run numbers and start focusing where it's gonna matter.

Same with the CD's mentioned above. "I heard them on HD first!" needs to happen. Yeah, it will make some elements of radio look old. So what? THEY ARE OLD AND THIS IS WHAT THE WHOLE AFFAIR IS ALL ABOUT RIGHT?

Artists played on HD radio, here in PDX, on KNRK, can include discounts in their CD liners, "screaming streams" as bonus tracks, tickets to their live shows, you get the idea...

There are a ton of people here, capable of producing short segments. So get them to do it and plug something or them, that matters.

We did this IBOC stuff so the existing brands could be leveraged. So, leverage them.

I do want to revisit the first option though. Just plugging things in, as separate stations can still work. Not every brand has the strong tie-in potential the local angle does. Nor does every population center.

So, new stuff is gonna have to be done in a discreet manner, just like it is now. Local is not the be all end all. I've written this before, but re-purpose an AM or two and do the HD2 broadcast there.

This will do a few things:

people can sample easily as they have AM radios

once they get the fact that some new stuff is happening on AM will bother to tune it again
(existing AM's won't bitch about this)

moving content from AM to HD2, or vice-versa should be something people expect, and that will only build AM IBOC acceptance. Say what you want technically, the battle is over, the stuff is here, and there is no reason not to leverage it, unless one really is done with radio.

I'm not --I love radio. It is still a tech winner for overall bang for the buck --will be for some time yet. How long that time is will be a direct function of how much work is put into serious daily relevance innovation.

I gotta mention program guides too. Those are coming, so I read. Great! This means some of the more complex formatting options will become more user friendly. The huge part to these is being able to set expectations.

Why do people love PVRs? No or reduced commercials is one thing, but being able to manage their media time is the other. For radio, the introduction of program guide capability is the missing link to making the radio PVR.

(Remember the post about the subscription podcast? Yep. Program guides, on web, and in new radios, will be a key enabler for this. People can get radio for free, but will easily pay to get it on their terms and their time. You read it here first!)

(next)

(same drill, different post)

Streaming is always a ready option, as is main channel teasers, but only if they add value to the core brand, and said core brand is worth the hassle.

Charlie?

Who cares, run the teasers. "Play anything" means exactly that. The more the merrier.

KNRK / KINK / KUPL (Wolf right? I get them confused as I'm not a regular country listener.)

Better only run ones that actually add value, or go the AM, stream route to get people sampling. These brands, and others like them, can better support value adds.

FM talk? (and it's up and coming --too high of a daily relevance to ignore --and a growing number of stereo venues will encourage better quality production efforts)

Segment listeners on the two streams or three (one for leftie, middie and rightie). Feature bonus live segments on the HD2. Interleave programming to permit listeners the choice of live at a poor time, or recorded at a great time. The AM tie-ins / HD2 re-purposing should be obvious at this point.

On the CD bit, building the interviews, playing concert sets from venues, etc... can be worthwhile purchases and or downloads. These days, that stuff is getting really easy, but for the attorneys. Offer these as contest goodies on the HD2 first, then let the legacy "not with it" riff-raff jump in --if there are any left!

(works with all goodies, BTW)

If it were me, I would begin putting together the legal frameworks for this to happen, particularly with unsigned bands. There is a bunch of Creative Commons license type options as well. IMHO, this investment is almost as important as the content and presentation / branding / identity efforts are. The enabling tech is here and growing, but it's difficult to leverage.

(What is it with the major labels? They are just begging to be marginalized. Will serve them right too.)

Good thoughts KSKD!

No surprise, TDanner was absolutely spot on folks! Entercom is a bit more subtle about it than others in megamedia. Tiny HD listenership or not, they actually are involving the community and exposing unknown artists to a wider audience. I applaud the effort.

Clear Channel, on the other hand, is just plain dishonest. Here is the sleazy way that CC has decided to approach the decision by the FCC:

"Clear Channel set up an online application for local and independent artists to submit their music for airplay on each of its stations. The applications are on a web page attached to each Clear Channel station website. See, for example, http://www.dc101.com/cc-common/artist_submission

Specifically, the contract states (as of 7/06/07):

1. License. You grant to Clear Channel the royalty-free non-exclusive right and license, in perpetuity (unless terminated earlier by You or Clear Channel as set forth below), to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, digitally perform, publicly display and distribute any sound recordings, compositions, pictures, videos, song lyrics, still images, Your name, picture, portrait, photograph, band information data, graphics, trademarks, text, information, screen names, profiles, newsletters, gig listings, play lists, podcasts, blogs, broadcasts, messages, software, XML, RSS and links and/or other content (collectively, the "Content") submitted by You to us on this website (the "Site")

'Royalty-free', 'in perpetuity', 'use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, digitally perform'. Looks to us like Clear Channel is asking the artists to sign away their performance royalties just to allow Clear Channel to consider playing their music. Even more ludicrous, they’re using the very structure that was agreed to as part of the FCC-led payola settlement to do it. Most companies would be a bit ashamed of this, but as we’ve learned over the years Clear Channel is not just any company.

Clear Channel's Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Andy Levin responded to our discovery with an exceptional bit of double talk:

Where else could a band called Oh Crap! Ninjas get more than 7,000 spins in just a couple of weeks online? But now the FMC says it wants us to pay a royalty every time a listener samples new music from an unsigned artist. That's the surest way to kill this experiment and so I have to ask, Who's really on the side of the artists here? – "Air Traffic Control", by Todd Martens, Billboard July 7, 2007.

The snide tone toward a successful indie band aside, negotiating a deal with the FCC to avoid further investigation into payola allegations is hardly an 'experiment.' It would be like the FCC calling the $12.5 million portion of the settlement it reached with Clear Channel and other broadcasters a 'suggested donation.' Threatening to kill the settlement is a scare tactic.

Levin also seems to imply it would be a financial non-starter for Clear Channel to pick up the costs of the digital performance royalty, so just how much would it cost for the nation’s largest radio chain to stream an Oh Crap! Ninjas song 7,000 times? $10,000? $5,000?

According to current SoundExchange rates, it would be about $7.70.

What’s most troubling is that Clear Channel appears to have learned nothing from the payola scandal. The company’s mindset remains fundamentally the same: musicians owe the chain for airplay. As Levin told Businessweek in a follow up story:

(Musicians) should be paying us to play their music. Unfortunately, that's against the law."

http://futureofmusiccoalition.blogspot.com/2007/07/clear-channel-threatens-indie -artists.html

I'm gonna make sure those Indie artists I know, are completely aware of this CC move.

What CC does not grok is that people really don't need them all that badly today --and they won't need them as much in the future. Direct marketing of ones content is viable today, right now. This will only improve.

CC does not exist in a position where that rights trade off is worth it, unless the artists are fools. That is the beauty of having more than one venue, and is highly likely to be one of the drivers behind the ongoing efforts to keep competition from actually competing.

Remember the WTO spat over the broadcasters right? Yep, this is a back door approach along the same lines. Very poor form CC.

Thanks for the heads up!

Radio is about finding cool, aggregating it and delivering it to people, ideally on a daily basis with relevance. That attracts ears and with those ears comes mind share that others will pay to leverage.

I'm actually ok with paying to get air time, but it needs to be on RAND terms. (reasonable and non discriminatory) Done that way, radio would actually get compensated for it's content mining and aggragation efforts.

Sadly, this will never happen.

I would do one better, now that I think about it. Charge a review fee. That compensates the people who are in charge of finding cool. When played, pay back some small amount to those getting the air time. For those not there yet, send them back a short opinion as to why. This is a freaking huge value add and would be a no-brainer to start doing.

Done right, the value of that air time would increase, allowing for good AD revenue, depending on how well the cool people actually end up aggragating the kind of cool that appeals to their potential listeners.

Also, radio would not have to go looking, but would actually then be filtering and packaging and get the cost of that covered. Content would flow in willingly! No digging, no magic, just people looking the stuff over for it's potential, then plugging those things that have entertainment potential.

...or we can continue to treat our potential entertainers as cows to be milked for the benefit of the shareholders. Good business adds value. This kind of business is founded on exploitation. Not my scene, for sure.

On the topic of radio tech, value adds, etc...

I just picked up an HDTV digital TV tuner for my computer. Wanted just a capture card for some video stuff I want to do. The tuner came along for the ride.

Decided to set it up and try it out. I've not watched any broadcast television --actually live television in quite some time. Didn't think that little goofy antenna would actually receive anything. (Well, at my place it didn't. I'm in a dead zone for DTV, it seems. )

So I drove somewhere I could check it all out.

This is where radio needs to be!

Analog TV was a horrible mess. Good old KPTV had a respectable signal as did KOIN, but the rest were a mess. Blech... I won't be tuning those again ever.

Digital TV was a completely different story. I got 14 channels clean and clear on just the little antenna that came with the thing. It had a mag base, so I just stuck it on the roof of the car, sat back and toyed with the tuner for a while.

Of course the images were clear and clean, but the biggie was the on signal program guides! Nearly all channels had them!

Sweet! I could set the computer up to record anything I wanted to watch, burn the resulting program to DVD, etc...

All the infrastructure is there for some great programming value adds. Makes me want to get an antenna and set this up at the house. I won't just yet because there isn't much on, but I'll be looking, that's for sure.

Analog radio was a bigger mess than the analog TV was. Useless, in this context. I suspect digital radio would work in this scenario, just as DTV does. If so, we could be in for one hell of a ride.

Imagine turning on your FM tuner, hitting the program guide to see what's gonna be playing that day! IMHO, my DTV experience this weekend completely validates what I wrote above.

There is a serious chance here, in IBOC, to reset radio expectations and not really devalue existing ones.

If it were me, I would keep the main streams doing what they are doing. Tons of people just listen to the radio and the formulas that work for that, will continue to work --just leverage people and all is golden.

However, the new streams could tie in with the program guides to deliver a far more structured experience, complete with time-shifting, burn to CD, etc...

(TV gets this, how come radio is bogged down with attorneys?)

Anyway, back to that tuner. I could pick some mini-concerts, talk shows, artist focus, up and coming samplers, etc... schedule them, burn them or move them to my portable media player and consume them just as I would a television program.

The kicker is audio is so portable! Where I more or less must either just listen to a TV broadcast on the go (and I do sometimes), or sit there and watch it --radio is just portable. I can do lots of things while enjoying the programming.

People are gonna say that nobody cares, it's too complex, blah, blah... Right now they would be right too!

However, this is a re-introduction right? Do it now, let the alphas start using it, delivering feedback, talking it up, handing out CD's, etc... and a new cycle starts.

A better cycle, one that is hip, connected, and very relevant all things considered.

Think on all of that, then reconsider my post right above! With a solid stream of content to build from, there is plenty to fill the programming slots --and radio would be compensated to engage in the activity! Artists that really deliver, get exposure, some kick back and exposure to build their own efforts.

It's an excellent synergy, with radio being where cool is at, without having to own the content --just the mindshare that can help it to be relevant.

Right now there is a ton of content churn going on. For those willing to look, great stuff is happening on a regular basis. This will only grow as content production gets easier over time.

(it's damn easy right now)

The only real problem is getting people to look.

So, either get them looking, or do the looking for them and sell it as a value add!

(that's what radio should be doing)

If they start looking on their own, which is beginning to happen right now, radio gets left out in the cold. It ends up being just another delivery means. Nice, but not excellent.

If the looking is done, and that fact gets known, then radio ends up being a focus point. Excellent and relevant and far more valuable, IMHO.

Go check out the DTV scene. It suffers from content being locked up on major networks, but otherwise is all set to deliver nicely. Radio could go here, building with their alphas while not disturbing the existing revenue sources.

radio already has the royalty free non exclusive rights to use unlicensed (ascap/bmi) music.

I don't see how this is any different than what currently exists.

This is just putting the permission in a legal form that can be broken by either party.

the unsigned artist gets a chance at airplay which would promote the artist and their gigs, where they WOULD make money. sounds like free exposure to me. The radio station benefits because the established defacto rule of radio stations not paying performers or labels for the music they play continues to be in effect. The one and only benefit financially to the CC station would be that they dont have to pay BMI/ASCAP for songwriter royalties.

The only question is can the artist leverage any of this airplay into money making gigs.

correct me if i am wrong on this. sounds like a win win deal to me.

and what HDTV digital tuner card did you buy? hardware or software based? I've been looking to get one of these.

Sorry for the length, but I just gotta tie in one more idea:

Back to the subscription podcast. If radio were to set the expectations I detailed above, people would get used to consuming content that way. It's live when wanted, queued when wanted and lower hassle overall than Internet stuff is.

Radio again competes on ease and bang for buck.

Podcasting really is just an audio production packaged for consumption on portable media players. People are already paying for these, but exposure rates are low, obtaining the podcasts is not standardized, nor is payment.

So, let's say we do the program guide thing. Radio then gets some structure and we end up with people doing exactly what I wrote above, like they do with TV today.

The podcast producers then could deliver their shows with ads on the radio. Listeners tune live, or queue for playback later either on their tuner, computer, or portable player. No biggie, nobody cares.

Those wanting the shows sans commericals could go to the radio websites and subscribe to them commerical free! One payment system, one standard means of obtaining the podcasts.

This means a tech build out service that adds value to the content delivery chain, while also building on the overall radio value in general.

Now we've got a serious promotion effort that leverages both broadcast and Internet at the same time! Damn cool stuff, IMHO.

This kind of thing will compete very nicely with what is happening on the Internet right now. Sprinkle some strong branding on the whole thing and you've got a very serious competitor in the new media space that delivers on both traditional media forms and new media forms.

Some stuff that could be done:

-subscribers get the podcast before it is aired live

-subscribers get it commercial free

-subscribers get to talk about it, etc...

-subscribers get bonus content.

eg: talk show extras when non-subscribers are hearing commercials.

Everybody gets it live over the DRT (digital radio tuner). Everybody gets to time shift, queue, rip, mix, burn to their portable players and media recorders.

-subscribers get the full program guide, well in advance of what non-subscribers see

eg: over the air program guide good for a coupla days in advance, internet subscription comes with program guide viewing farther into the future

-subcribers get to recommend shows they like, or suggest new ones they find elsewhere

eg: they go digging, find something cool. So they point to it, and say, "I think this is cool!". If it's actually cool, they get a cookie!

-subscribers get to pre-rate content and have a say in what airs and what doesn't

eg: Deliver teasers to them, rate it or hate it, with comments

To be really clear here, I'm not talking about pay radio. That's not where this should go. I'm talking about digital radio, with program guide being free. You subscribe to the programming and get that paid programming, commercial free over the Internet, with bennies.

It's a melding of two worlds into one strongly branded venue that competes on many levels, not just one or the other.

Right now, the subscription podcast is a mess. Lots of venues, lots of payment systems, hard to find new content, time consuming, etc...

If radio were to leverage itself in this way, the result would be a focused affair that eliminates many of those problems. If done now, it will snuff out competitors who are likely to get it right over the next 5 years and become viable. If this happens, the barrier to entry for radio gets substantially higher and radio also looks "old".

Notalent: I got a USB device at Fry's.

It was $80, came with baseband video input cables, a little USB extension cable and a small magnetic antenna.

http://base.google.com/base/a/30449/D17963097097007110648


Damn good little unit. The only downside is the non standard antenna connector. If you want to hook your own antenna up, an adapter is necessary.

This was the only package there that included the baseband cables. IMHO, this is a big deal because all the little USB devices have a small connector that looks a lot like the ones on digital cameras. Those are hard to source, meaning one cannot capture baseband without having to also purchase a high-markup "optional cable".

The FM tuner on this guy is near useless without an external antenna. Aside from that, video quality on both capture and DTV playback is solid. It's not pro-quality, but totally decent.

(I've an SGI I keep around for pro-quality NTSC capture. Nothing beats that old thing --but nobody seems to care either!)

The big value add, I've not tried just yet is the included remote and software!

One could buy one of these as a PCI card, setup a PC in the living room and use it like people use cable boxes! Said PC would receive the over the air DTV, function as a PVR, play DVD movies, and burn captured content from either DTV or baseband onto DVD media.

Hell of a deal at $80 or so. A deep discount PC plus one of these things would make a nice addition to the entertainment room for about $400 --and you can surf the net, play games, etc...

I'm totally tempted to do this, load on some retro game emulators and have some serious fun. Watch TV, play movies, burn DVD, play Pac-man!

The media software that comes with the device is a very nice Direct X application. Runs full screen and is dead simple. No brainer to use for even older people. (And I would set the PC to run this on start up. Just power on, wait about a minute and it would display on the TV, full screen, easy cheezy.

Notalent:

I've a big problem with: modify, adapt, distribute.

The rest is likely no big deal, depending on how the artist sees things. Maybe nobody cares. I'll find that out, after some discussions.

My big concern is no limiting language on these terms. Let's say an artist is selling their tunes direct. Would they want to also have CC handing them out for free?

It's not a show stopper. I came across that way, I realize. It is a point of some discussion.

i am having problems with the hd on knrk. anybody else?