Digital Brand Media and Marketing Group Inc (DBMM)

[hat12trick]

Just to clarify, technically he's not talking about the threat to terrestrial radio, but rather the fact that it remains a dominant force in the music business, despite the growth of streaming and satellite radio.

It all stems from this earlier response...

Not a shock, I run a digital co. & listen to 20+ hours a week. Seriously? 93% of Americans Listen to Broadcast Radio http://t.co/sl136wTq

— Ed Donnelly (@aderra) June 13, 2012

to this Digital Music News article:

http://digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120612radio

Seriously? 93 Percent of Americans Still Listen to Broadcast Radio...
Wednesday, June 13, 2012

That's according to the latest stats shared by Arbitron, whose half-year report shows a substantial gain in listeners year-over-year. The tally shows that roughly 93 percent of Americans over the age of 12 - ie, 242.1 million users - tune into traditional, broadcast radio at least once a week. The broader US population is now pushing past 313 million, with a substantial chunk (ie, approximately 15 percent or so) under the age of 12.

This is exactly what it sounds like: old-school, broadcast radio, not satellite, internet, or mobile-based streams. Actually, we thought there was something wrong with that stats, but Arbitron confirmed that this indeed refers to traditional broadcasting. "This data is for only over-the-air broadcasts," an Arbitron executive told to Digital Music News.

And they also told us that nearly 600,000 new listeners have joined since last year. The 18-34 set was a strong contributor, though the overlapping 25-54 demographic displayed declines.

All of which seems to raise the question: why the near saturation, especially given all the complaints people have about this format? This isn't the first report to show this extreme level of usage, despite lots of repetition, lots of breaks, and stunningly little format variety. And, despite huge competition from satellite radio, Pandora, and non-radio formats like Spotify, all of whom are encroaching upon the dashboard.

Perhaps out of all the possible explanations, convenience and ease-of-use is the strongest. Radio is something you just turn on, it sits on your dashboard, and it doesn't require subscriptions, contracts, or apps. On top of that, there's a common listening experience that remains completely unmatched by Pandora, Sirius, Songza, or even Turntable.fm. Because no matter how schlocky and repetitive, there are probably millions dialed into the same call letters at any given moment.

There's comfort in that.

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Most important, notice how all of this is related to Cord Pereira's recent blog post which points out how alliances between digital and terrestrial radio can help fuel digital growth and financially benefit both participants:

http://testret343.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-machine-label-group-and-clear.html

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Big Machine Label Group and Clear Channel Announce Groundbreaking Agreement to Enable Record Company and Its Artists to Participate in All Radio Revenue Streams and Accelerate Growth of Digital Radio - MarketWatch

BrandEntertain Takeaway: If you counted out traditional over-the-air radio, think again. Radio is live and local. Pure digital networks are not. Radio has been hampered by out-of-date Payola Laws. But great news - Record labels and publishers are working with digital/online radio now, and this has cleared the way for traditional radio groups (like Clearchannel) to make a move building their own digital side channels and using their terrestrial radio stations as a promotional platform to steer listeners online. It was just a matter of time.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/big-machine-label-group-and-clear-channel-announce-groundbreaking-agreement-to-enable-record-company-and-its-artists-to-participate-in-all-radio-revenue-streams-and-accelerate-growth-of-digital-radio-2012-06-05

June 5, 2012, 8:07 a.m. EDT

Big Machine Label Group and Clear Channel Announce Groundbreaking Agreement to Enable Record Company and Its Artists to Participate in All Radio Revenue Streams and Accelerate Growth of Digital Radio

Big Machine Becomes First Record Company to Share in Clear Channel's Terrestrial Broadcast Revenues

"For years, record companies and media companies have looked for a new way to do business together that would bring our interests into line," said Scott Borchetta, President and Chief Executive Officer of Big Machine Label Group. "In Clear Channel, I found partners who shared my big-picture view of how we could structure an agreement to benefit all involved. Not only does this partnership enable Big Machine to participate in terrestrial broadcast revenues, but we are also helping to grow digital radio -- a great opportunity for all of us and a breakthrough opportunity for Big Machine artists."

"Scott Borchetta has reinvented the music business in many important ways over the years, from distribution and artist development to promotion and advertising," said Bob Pittman, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel. "Focusing that same creativity on how best to grow the music business, Scott has developed this new model with us to let his labels and artists participate in the revenue of broadcast radio immediately and in digital radio as it builds. This is a big step, but we think this investment is an opportunity worth taking to align our interests in all of our revenue streams and grow digital listening to its full potential with record labels and their artists as our partners. This landmark agreement creates a structure that makes sense for both our companies -- but most of all for music fans."

"Today, 98 percent of our listening is terrestrial broadcast and 2 percent digital -- with record labels and artists only paid for the 2 percent," said John Hogan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. "This new agreement expands label and artist participation from just digital to terrestrial broadcast radio revenues in one comprehensive framework that will give all of us a great incentive to drive the growth of the digital radio industry and allow everyone to participate financially in its growth. This market-based solution helps bring the best in music to radio listeners wherever they want to hear it."