Streaming Services in the US Gaining Subscribers
Muve Music, a music subscription service that is a division of Cricket Wireless, recently announced that they have more than a million subscribers in the US. Cricket sells prepaid, no contract wireless service for smartphones and cellphones.
The million mark for subscribers in the US is a number that in the past year Spotify and Rhapsody have mentioned as well. Other subscription services that are a factor are Pandora, with their Pandora One service, MOG and Rdio. No one really knows how big those services are, although I’d guess that Pandora One is well over a million, and MOG and Rdio are under. Sirius XM also sells subscriptions as add-ons to their satellite music customer base.
According to a recently released annual study of music sales by IFPI, the number of people paying to use subscription services grew 44 per cent in 2012 to 20 million globally. Subscription revenues are expected to account for more than 10 per cent of digital revenues for the first time in 2012. (again, that’s a global report). Subscription services are credited with replacing illegal download activity, and also with replacing music download sales.
With several services in the US hitting the million subscriber mark and subscription based revenues projected to make up 10% of digital revenues for the music industry, it’s certainly become a viable business model for streaming. The upcoming RAIN Summit in Las Vegas on Sunday April 7th will feature several speakers from subscription based streaming services, including Rhapsody CEO Jon Irwin, who will deliver a keynote speech. Speakers from SiriusXM and Spotify will join panels as well.
For more information on RAIN Summit West and to register, click here. See you there!
The Best Internet Radio Stations
Entries are now being accepted for the RAIN Internet Radio Awards. The third annual awards will recognize excellence in online radio in four categories which have been defined to give all stations, big and small, broadcaster and pureplay, a chance.
- Best Overall Online Radio Service
- Best Streaming Broadcast Station
- Best Overall Digital Strategy
- Best Single-Stream Webcaster
The RAIN Internet radio awards are the awards for our industry, designed to search for and celebrate excellence. Winners get bragging rights for a year.
The awards will be presented on Tuesday September 18th at RAIN Summit Dallas, and while you do not have to be present to win, we certainly hope you will be there.
You can enter the RAIN Internet radio awards for free by simply answering a few questions about your station.
Celebrate innovation and excellence by entering the awards today. For more information click here.
Internet Radio’s Listeners Are Engaged
Targetspot has released a new whitepaper that examines the behavior of digital audio listeners with regard to discovering new music, giving and receiving musical recommendations, and music purchasing.
The paper points out that Internet radio listeners are an engaged bunch, 80% listen 1-3 hours a day. What’s more, 73% listen to more than one station a day and 46% often check out the name of the song or artist playing. 
Other indicators of the level of engagement with new music that Internet radio listeners have include:
- 69% of Internet radio listeners have decided to purchase a song as a result of hearing it on an Internet radio station.
- 42% rate songs on Internet radio stations
- 38% recommend songs, artists or stations
- 32% check out what others are listening to online
- 57% search for new music
- 28% click on ads
- 32% buy songs online
- 22% buy albums online
Targetspot’s Study: Excellent Data on Impact of Internet Radio Ads
Adding Internet radio to the media mix increases the overall effectiveness of an advertising campaign, according to new research presented during the RAIN Summit in Las Vegas last week by Targetspot CEO Eyal Goldwerger. TargetSpot research found a 3.5X higher ad response rate when adding Internet Radio to a Broadcast Radio campaign, and a 2X higher ad response rate when adding Internet Radio to an online campaign.
Targetspot’s research was done by third party Parks Associates and represents the first in-depth independent study on the effectiveness of Internet radio advertising. Goldwerger unveiled the whitepaper based on the results, entitled “Internet Radio Advertising Impact”, to record attendance at the RAIN event during NAB Show Week.
It’s a deep meaty piece of research that provides excellent validation of the effectiveness of Internet radio advertising. Highlights:
- Users who listen to Internet Radio are twice as likely as Internet-only users to respond to an Online ad.
- The use of Internet radio in an ad campaign can increase ad recall by as much as 2.3%.
- Broadcast Radio ad recall and response rates significantly increase (3.5%) when combined with Internet Radio use.
- Consumers are more likely to take action on a broadcast ad if they also listen to Internet radio.
- In many cases, Internet radio ads combined with broadcast radio ads result in more than twice the ad campaign recall.
Register Now For Internet Radio’s Biggest Event of the Year
Internet radio passionistas will convene at RAIN Summit West on April 11th during NAB Show week in Las Vegas at the Renaissance Hotel.
RAIN Summits are the premiere educational and networking events for Internet radio, and this 9th annual event in Vegas promises to be the best yet. Panels such as Compelling Content, What’s Driving Internet Radio, Legal Update, Upward Mobility and others will cover topics ranging from growing your audience to avoiding legal pitfalls, mobile and in-car streaming, and more. 
Speakers will include execs from CBSRadio, Pandora, Emmis, AOL Radio, SomaFM, Digitally Imported, Cox, Katz360, Targetspot, Triton Digital and many many more. Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to listen and network with some of the smartest folks in the business.
RAIN: Radio and Internet Newsletter Publisher Kurt Hanson will present his annual Future of Radio speech. Registration includes the full day agenda plus lunch and the end of the day cocktail party by the pool.
For more information and to register, click here. See you there!
Study: The Future Looks Good For Internet Radio
There were many highlights in the full day of programming presented at RAIN Summit West last monday during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Two research studies were presented that provided excellent data on Internet radio and digital audio’s growing audience.
Radio Futures 2010 is an independantly funded study on audio platforms and usage in the US, UK and Canada done by Vision Critical. Senior VP and Managing Director Jeff Vidler presented the study, which makes a strong case for the future of Internet radio in the US. Nearly a quarter of the respondents (22%) indicated that Internet radio is playing a bigger role in their lives in the past couple of years.
Radio Futures 2010 Study by Vision Critical
When asked to list the features of online services that are most appealing to them, 53% said streaming songs on demand was most important, followed by radio with customizable features such as selecting and deselecting artists. Radio that streams music mixes designed by music experts was the least popular feature with listeners.
Also of interest, smartphone users are more likely to use a web based app to listen on their device than a broadcast service on the same
device. 31% of smartphone users in the US listened on a web only app, while only 19% tuned in with a broadcast radio app on their smartphone, causing the study to conclude that IP delivery is a preferred audio platform for mobile smartphone users.
Can’t Get to SXSW? Then Stream It..
In the category of cool and trendy, a couple of stations are offering SXSW channels featuring music by all the artists performing at the massive music and social networking event in Austin Texas this week. These are great ways for stations to expand their relationships with listeners by giving them more cool stuff they want to hear.
AccuRadio’s Future Perfect Radio is offering a “radio burrito” packed with artists performing at SXSW 2010. Slacker is hosting a channel with a similar theme, programmed by FILTER, an online magazine about “good music”.
Meanwhile NPR Music is streaming several live performances at the event, including opening night performances from Spoon, Broken Bells, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, the Walkmen, and Visqueen. The concert will be emanating from Stubb’s Bar-B-Que. They’re also featuring a second live broadcast – this time featuring “prominent up and comers”.
NPR will make both shows available through live webcasts and live streaming via its iPhone app as well as broadcasts on its’ member stations. They are also offering a free 11-song NPR Music Sampler of SXSW bands available for download via Itunes or here.
NPR’s GM of Digital Media Kinsey Wilson is set to present a keynote speech at the upcoming RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas on April 12th. The event is a daylong conference on Internet radio related topics featuring many top pros in the industry.
Internet Radio’s Finest to Gather in Toronto, Las Vegas
RAIN: Radio and Internet Newsletter has announced dates for two exciting, informative and prestigious industry events. On March 12th in Toronto during Canadian Music Week, RAIN will host its first Canadian RAIN Summit, featuring interesting speakers and topics related to Internet radio both in Canada and the United States.
On April 12th, RAIN will host its annual flagship event at the Renaissance Hotel in Las Vegas. This event takes place during and is an official co-located event of the NAB Show. It’s the premiere educational and networking event for Internet radio. Broadcast radio executives, Internet radio entrepreneurs, and sales and technology visionaries convene at the Renaissance Hotel adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center for engaging panels and presentations on technical and legal aspects of the business, programming expertise and business strategies. All RAIN Summit registrants will also receive access to the 2010 NAB Show exhibits.
Join RAIN publisher Kurt Hanson and a slate of industry leaders for a full day of information and networking in Las Vegas, or an afternoon’s worth in Toronto – or both! Then end the day socializing with other broadcasters and webcasters at the famous RAIN Summit cocktail party.
Get more information about the Toronto RAIN Summit here, and preliminary info on the Las Vegas event here. See you there!
