The only surprise is that Union Jack, the new national digital station from the people behind Britain’s Jack FMs, specializing in all-British music, didn’t materialize sooner. Such is the obviousness of the concept. But it did need a place to live on the UK digital multiplex. Continue Reading
On Monday, Pandora announced the debut of three charts through its Next Big Sound unit: Trendsetters, Predictions, and Top Spins. We decided to look at the first Top Spins chart against The Big Picture (Mediabase) and against this week’s CHR/Top 40 airplay. These are the stories that emerge. Continue Reading
Radio has been selling music for a long time. Just not directly. No broadcaster claims it as a primary goal, compared to generating ratings and advertising revenue, but radio’s ability to create a sales story is certainly at the heart of its resistance to the latest music industry call for a performance royalty. No matter where you land on that issue, radio is more valuable to the music business if it can demonstrably generate purchases, and if there are still purchases to generate. Continue Reading