Inside Music Media

All in all, they sucked.

That’s not just me.

That’s the general buzz.

What a waste of over 100 million eyeballs and ears.

But I’m not being of much help if I just say they were awful – why is it dangerous to do what the media business is doing at a time of great generational transition?

Some spots were depressing – I’m thinking of Nationwide.

Lindsay Lohan was good, but who knows her anymore.

Kim Kardashian they know, but they know her a bit too well. Enough.

But Bryan Cranston in his Breaking Bad meth outfit as a pharmacist was funny, but I can’t remember the sponsor that paid millions for another forgettable moment.

And the Chevy Colorado commercials were the worst and they should stand as a warning to any of us in the media business to leave the past behind.

You know you want a truck, the commercial said.

No, I want a Ferrari!

And a lot of people want a Tesla.

I have friends who love Mini and for good reason they buy them again and again.

If you’re trying to say I am a man if I drive a Chevy Colorado – which is exactly what they are saying – then I had better have some junk to put in the trunk.

Sexism run wild.

Playing “Rainy Days and Mondays” for the poor wus who jumped out of his car instead of the rock music that was played for the guy who jumped into his truck.

And we obsess about the negative effect Barbie dolls have on young girls.

They can handle that issue – and they’re not buying them, which is why Mattel is in trouble.

But making a man a man because he drives a truck.

Okay, you get the point.

In the media business, we are stuck in the past. Audiences have changed and we have not.

We say and do things that are so yesterday and make a perfectly good medium really irrelevant.

Here are a few of the topics from the curriculum of my next media conference in Philly this March where we’re dropping the ball.

COMMERCIALS
We want to sell more cheaper ads and listeners want fewer ads. If we don’t stop, no matter how great the content is, they won’t listen. Stop. Rethink the revenue model. There are good ideas for this.

DIGITAL
Radio thinks it’s putting the on-air stream (including all those commercials) on digital devices. Hey, while we are at it why don’t we try to make a cellphone a Walkman. They want compelling content and they don’t care if you spent $100 million to buy all those sticks in each market. How would you like to give today’s changing audience the one thing they actually crave when it comes to digital?

SOCIAL MEDIA
They want to be connected to each other – audiences know how to use social media. Too many stations use social media as an add-on. This must change.

ON-AIR SOUND
From all we know listeners don’t care for the way radio stations talk to them with the exception of isolated cases such as NPR. Most stations today fundamentally sound the same as a station in the 60’s – formatically, production, promos, and the way we talk. What if we changed that – now?

CLUELESS ABOUT MILLENNIALS
Just like those Super Bowl commercials. Didn’t we get the message loud and clear from Steve Jobs that we need to aim our content toward the youngest and then the oldest adopt later. Not the other way around. There are 5 things that Millennials care about the most – I will share them with you – and most stations are not doing even one of them. Fact.

SHORT ATTENTION SPANS
We still believe that if a listener likes a song he or she will stick around until we play one they don’t like. That is a killer of a flaw. In fact, most listeners under 35 years old do not listen to any songs all the way through. We must adapt and present our music in ways that cooperate with this sea change in listening.

There’s just a sample.

Here’s the full list of what we will cover at the conference.

And I can promise you our game plan is specific:

Specific ways to balance the need for numerous commercials with good principles of radio programming and to disrupt the way we do radio before our digital competitors do it.
Methods to master digital as a second stream of revenue alongside broadcasting. Things like replacing your website with something better, eliminating podcasts and make money with storytelling and a cost-effective easy way to put your brand on every smartphone in your market without having to stream your station – just to mention a few.
The nuts and bolts of starting your stations own social media network independent of Facebook, Twitter and the next flash in the pan. From there, how to grow your fan base.
A well-defined strategy to change the sound and on-air approach of your radio station for the digital age one coordinate at a time. You won’t want this to get in the hands of a competitor, for sure.
What you need to know about starting your own radio station video business – one that will be unlike anything you have ever seen, will not need salespeople to unlock the revenue potential and that will more than make up for any on-air advertising shortfalls you may run into this year. I’ll show you video examples and reveal winning game plans. And it can all be recorded economically and professionally on an iPhone 6!
From my work as a USC professor in the area of generational media: the critical Millennial checklist. The latest updated research about what the next generation must have in order to listen to radio in the digital age. This is what I use as my business bible and after all, I started a subscription pay site that nobody said would work on the Internet. Thousands of subscribers later, I can thank following this all-important Millennial checklist. What they want from you. On-air content you are not giving them that they would love. A never before aired “contest” that would enthrall them and breed loyalty.
The best ways to deal with short attention spans – so short, that most music listeners under the age of 35 now do not listen all the way through any song. Since music radio formats are based on the assumption that if they play the right songs, audiences will listen – this changes everything. Advances in the way we present music. Desired ways to introduce more music discovery.

This event will not be available by stream or video – only live and in person.

I can’t wait to share my enthusiasm and knowledge with you in Philly March 18^th.

Join the radio executives and entrepreneurs who have already reserved their seats.

Reserve a seat

Inquire about discounted group rates

For nearby hotel information or questions, contact Cheryl @ cldel@earthlink.net or call (480) 998-9898.

Breakfast, lunch and all breaks included. Starting time: 8am. Ends 4pm.

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