Inside Music Media

Economists predict a recession in the next 12 months.

The stock market is acting funny.

And the U.S. is overdue based on the average lapse between recessions.

What a lousy time to have a recession.

Digital money that used to go to radio is going to that not ready for prime time player. And no radio station has an effective firewall against digital.

Millennials have come of age without an enduring relationship with radio.

Our four biggest radio groups are doing some of the worst broadcasting at the precise worst time.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Independent, locally focused radio groups can follow a plan to make their stations recession proof now in anticipation of what’s to come.

Here are a few thoughts I’m putting together for my New Radio Conference in Philly seven weeks from now.

The 3 things that will win over any Millennial to radio if your station does it soon and consistently.

Mastering digital revenue without having to rely on streaming which doesn’t make money for radio stations.

How to do a Millennial Radio Makeover. Former Cox and CBS programmer Dan Mason will join me in sharing the actual things Millennials want from your station.

Why you must blow up your present content model and replace it with the one that cooperates with shorter attention spans. Take a look at the radio station of the future that doesn’t look or sound anything like what is on the air now.

3 prizes that will even make an 18-34 Millennial keep listening – I’m going to identify them and tell you how to own it.

Stop selling radio spots for undervalued prices. Go ahead, take the money if you must but create this new class of advertising that starts with a heavy premium advertisers will be willing if not anxious to pay.

Change the way your station talks to audiences – from something from the past to this approach which is hyper authentic.

Prevent user-generated content (i.e., things posted to apps and social media by audiences) from competing with your on-air content.

How to deal with short attention spans. Today’s audiences don’t even listen to favorite songs all the way through. How to deal with it.

Bring your morning show into the 21^st century. Fix this and you’ll have a banner year. The morning show of the future does not have traffic or weather (except in unusual circumstances) but if you add replacement features Millennials like, you’re back in the game.

Learn how to get your air people to talk on-air the way they tweet so Millennials can finally relate to them.

You’ll rip up your plan from 7pm to 5am when you see what happened when this station went rogue with just one show. It’s like having two moneymaking stations on the same frequency.

What’s better than podcasting at actually making money for your station.

Stop losing audience you actually have. Researcher Richard Harker did a study of how much audience Sean Hannity’s talk show lost due to Nielsen PPM. Harker and Hannity will be in Philly to tell you and suggest ways to recapture what you deserve.

Explore new forms of revenue such as subscriptions and product placement. Digital competitors do this and make a bundle. Here’s radio’s way forward.

How radio can create binge content that audiences are demanding from content providers like Netflix. You’ll marvel at how this approach is a natural for radio.

How to compete better against popular streaming music services so radio can take back the music listener and get them to log longer quarter hours listening.