ADIATR

Radio for the Digital Age

by @dubber & @webgypsy

The challenge
Radio is crucial to the music industry. It promotes music to the masses and largely determines the taste of the public. The problem is that the channel to make and promote music is controlled by a few large stations. Can you develop an alternative to radio that allows independent labels to promote their music to the public?

The solution
RADIATR is a mobile application and web interface that has all the strengths of traditional radio programming, and engineers out all the weaknesses by taking advantage of the affordances of digital technologies and the online, mobile environment. By providing a conversational medium that maximises DJ influence through intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, giving independent labels and artists direct promotional access to influential tastemakers, and incentivising a wide range of engaging and leave on all day listening experiences for audiences, RADIATR reinvents radio for the digital age.

Desirable outcomes
The ideal solution to this problem is one that uses the affordances of the online and mobile environment in a way that fulfils many of the same outcomes of traditional broadcast radio. There are some things that work about radio broadcasting, which is why the music and radio environments have been so symbiotic for so long - but they do have the problem of being based on a broadcast (one-to-many) model in an environment of scarcity - both of channels, and of hours in the day. As a result, very few people have been able to participate in radio, and the playlists are necessarily narrow. However, in the digital age, the dominant paradigms are conversational and participatory (many-to-many) and characterised by abundance. There is no shortage of space, of time or content. That said, to throw out the things that make radio work for music promotion in order to make the most of these affordances misses the point - as do current radio replacement services such as Pandora or Last.fm which simply mirror aspects of the broadcast model (a centralised music source and passive listener relationship). Its important to identify some of the things that make radio work for music promotion and ensure they are factored in or at least emulated in the new model. These include trusted recommendation and curation of music; repetition and playlist-style rotation; and a coherent format that makes sense of the channel as a single text. Eclecticism is sometimes desirable - but more often, people want some reliability and consistency in the playlist. They dont necessarily need to know whats coming up next, but they will want to know that it will make sense in the context of what comes before and after it. Spoken content is arguably as important as musical content in terms of recommendation. Simply playing a tune is one thing, but adding information about the artist, speaking enthusiastically about the tune - essentially saying check this out - youre going to love it is far more powerful than simply pressing play. Especially when the person doing the recommendation is a trusted source.

The passive nature of radio listening should be a possibility of the new radio (rather than the core mode) - but genuine participation should also be possible - even encouraged. Music radio listening is environmental, it is portable and it can form the basis for soundtracking public spaces (eg: shops and service stations) as well as private listening. The online environment suggests a participatory and interactive mode, but music listening (especially radio music listening) leads us to also seek a put it on and leave it on mode of consumption at times. Our ideal solution should make this seamless: continuous and dependable, but interesting and entertaining too. Music fandom attracts enthusiasts. Some people are experts in particular genre fields and have good taste, good information and interesting things to say about the music they love. Our solution encourages expert music fans to indulge their enthusiasm, share their passion and spread the word about music they love. Your music. If there are people who are taste leaders or making decisions about what gets played and when, there must be a clear pathway to promo these people. Access to content and incentivisation to play the tracks should be built into the system.

How it works
At its simplest level, a listener simply launches the application, selects a favourite channel, and then listens to RADIATR. Music they like is played and knowledgeable DJs tell them about the music. The application will run in the background and they can simply leave it on all day if they wish. If they like what theyre hearing, they can high five the DJ for his/her choices, buy the song, share the track on Twitter, Facebook, on Tumblr, via Email or elsewhere and if a dud track comes up, they can boo the DJ. If they choose to engage further, the app also functions as a chat room environment. This is where the strength of the application lies. Each channel is also a chat room, and the group is hierarchical. Anyone with a pro account can set up a channel and invite friends to DJ as well. However, setting up a channel does not guarantee listeners, and obviously some channels will be more popular than others. The moderators of each chat room are the DJs for that channel. There is mobility within the group, and by demonstrating knowledge and reliability within the chat room, participants can be bestowed with moderator status by current DJs at first on a probationary basis, then after a certain number of high fives, their DJ status is secured. Only one DJ plays at a time, and they may choose up to five songs in a row (or play for 30 minutes, whichever comes first) before handing on to the next DJ.

DJs can play anything they choose and if the song they wish to play is not currently hosted on the central server, cue-ing the track on their phone uploads it, as long as it has appropriate metadata that allows for listeners to see who the song is by and what its called. Other DJs can request to cut in if they think they have the ideal next song or feel they can do better than the current DJ. DJs can also lose their playing privilege if they receive too many boos. The DJ who is on air can also speak to the audience, straight from their mobile device, while the song is playing. Playback volume on the music is ducked 50% when the microphone button is pressed. In the chat room, moderators and listeners discuss the music, the talk content provided by the DJ on air, and other relevant issues. Usual chat room rules apply and each channel will have its own rules and etiquette. Moderators have the power to kick or ban users from their channel. When the current DJ agrees to pass to the next, their first cued song will play and their section of the show will be on air. Statistics about influential DJs, their audience sizes, the amount of high fives they receive (a measure of esteem) and other metrics including their most played tracks and the tags pertaining to the music that they play is made available to members who have joined as labels or artists.

Promoting independent music

At a range of different price points (including free), labels and independent artists can promote their music to influential DJs on relevant channels to attempt to reach those audiences. Using a web interface, it is possible to upload music, target specific DJs and communicate with them directly about your catalogue. There is no compulsion for the DJ to play those tracks, but they are financially rewarded if they do through a cut of sales of the track caused by their promotion. The flipside, however, being that if they play tracks that are not of interest to the audience, they will likely receive boos, and may lose their DJ privileges in the group. In this environment, DJs will only promote and play tracks they genuinely believe will be of interest to their audience.

Key tastemakers will be identified to start channels on the platform across a range of genres, and they will provide the early user base for the application. However, once this core base is established, users will be able to create their own channels and DJs will be able to participate in multiple channels (though not simultaneously).

Through a web interface, statistical data about the numbers of plays your overall catalogue (or individual tracks) have received will be accessible. In addition, the number of listens or impressions your music receives, the amount of direct sales caused by airplay and other useful market information will be returned to labels and artists each week. Labels and artists can identify and communicate with influential tastemakers for their specific catalogue, and new tracks can be uploaded and submitted to relevant and specifically targeted channels and DJs. The web interface provides useful information about most popular channels for your genres and scenes of music, but also about up and coming channels, DJs with significant influence over listener purchasing decisions, relevant channels that have more chat room activity, and so on.

Submitting a track makes it available to your selected DJs. It is stored on the central Radiatr server automatically, as well as made available as a download for your targeted DJs.

Commercial and commercial-free

Access to commercial-free channels requires a paid subscription to the RADIATR service. There is also a handful of channels run by Radiatr - and some that are leased to commercial radio brands - which intersperse an advertisement between (for instance) every third or fourth song. This allows for a free user experience closely akin to commercial radio, but still providing promotional opportunities for artists and labels. The advertisements fit in between songs and DJ spoken content - and do not interrupt them. They are also specifically targeted to the audience and relevant to the lifestyles and musical culture of the target demographics of these larger, more corporate channels. The full spectrum of channels is available via a small monthly subscription and for a slightly higher fee, users can set up a pro account, which also enables them to create their own channels, earn the right to participate as DJs in established channels, build their own audience and become tastemakers.

Fair play
Revenues made by RADIATR through subscription, advertising and paid label promotion are distributed equitably, transparently and in accordance with law. Statistics about audience size and time spent listening, as well as granular data about exactly how many (though not which) people heard which song are delivered to Performing Rights Organisations as well as to labels and artists themselves. DJs are incentivised to introduce their listeners to the new independent music that they love through a revenue share programme during the first month of that records release, but they will not be tempted to simply play music for pay because of the competing incentive of kudos and influence within the community. The value of the personal recommendation is key, and this is a primary ongoing asset for the DJ, far more than the promise of revenue percentages.

Audiences are given genuine recommendations by tastemakers who believe in the music they play while record labels and artists are given the opportunity to directly connect with those tastemakers.

Radio solved.
By providing a platform that incentivises DJs and tastemakers to promote independent music in their specialist area; a place where audiences can either engage with the content and get involved with the conversation, or simply have the channel on in the background like traditional radio; and a direct route for labels and artists to promote to the people who genuinely matter rather than a handful of inaccessible gatekeepers, RADIATR provides a solution to radio promotion for the digital age. For more information, contact dubber@gmail.com