One of America’s leading music industry scorekeepers recently held a roundtable with execs from radio and recording businesses – and found that cooperation is more important than ever.
Billboard also found that traditional and digital platforms, not to mention interaction between media from different parts of the world, are proving useful.
In on the Billboard discussion: Charlie Walk, executive vp of Republic Records; Tom Poleman, president of national programming platforms for iHeartMedia; Michael Martin, senior vp programming and music initiatives at CBS Radio; Steve Blatter, senior vp/GM of music programming at Sirius XM; and Anya Grundmann, executive director of NPR Music.
Walk said it right off the bat: “There is no room for error, so labels and radio are partners more than ever before.” He noted that radio is able to focus more on hits now than before because there are more readily available sources of information. Things like what played well in Europe or on popular podcasts.
Blatter added that a quick check of download activity for songs in rotation tells whether a song should be emphasized or dropped.
Billboard suggested that formats are less regimented than before – there is no Top 40 sensibility as before and Poleman said that was great – “You never know where that next left-field sound is going to come from, whether it’s Mumford & Sons or Sam Smith or Iggy Azalea or Tove Lo.”
Martin agreed, saying “We kept stretching and the lane got wider. We used to have the old-school music schedule rules. We’ve thrown them out.”
Grundmann noted NPR’s role in casting a wide net for musical content. “At NPR, we’re committed to giving that broad multigenre scope where we’ll celebrate jazz along with hip-hop, along with telling the stories of folk, country, Latin and how they’re all speaking to each other across boundaries. We can’t underestimate the curiosity of the audience. The younger generation, especially, is incredibly curious around music exploration.”
The difference between radio and services like Pandora was explained. Poleman said, “Radio is completely different from playlist creators such as Pandora and Spotify. It lets you engage with the world and find the music, news, traffic, sports, gossip, weather, events, DJs and talent, etc. that you’re interested in, and helps you be part of what’s going on. Playlist creators — or music collections — are the opposite. They’re for when you want to escape from the world and be alone in an environment you create. Music collections have existed in some format or another for decades (45s, albums, cassettes, cds, ipods, MP3 players, etc.). With iHeartRadio, we do both.”
Martin noted that radio and satellite are both important for breaking music and helping their audience learn what’s out there. And added that they must take advantage of all platforms. “It’s our job to take the product that we curate for the radio and deliver it in every possible way that the audience is consuming it. Radio would die if it stuck its head in the sand and refused to acknowledge the technology.”
Walk summed up his feelings from the recording side of the equation, and acknowledged the need for exposure. “Honestly, finding the next artist. I’m less concerned about the platforms. As long as these guys continue to reinvent and create great places of curation, we’ll hopefully be able to feed those platforms with amazing talent.”
The article on the Billboard roundtable appeared here: http://shop.billboard.com/products/billboard-back-issue-volume-127-issue-1
RBR-TVBR observation: Not to put too fine a point on it, but the clear takeaway from this conversation is that radio and records need one another.
Maybe it’s time to stop squabbling over royalties, find a fair way to compensate artists, and spend the rest of the time maximizing business results to the benefit of both industries?
