Quick Hits: All Songs Considered has a birthday; a radio roundtable; ads for subs?

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web.


A pureplay birthday for All Songs Considered: The popular NPR show All Songs Considered ran its first episode 15 years ago this month. In honor of the milestone, NPR has shared that original show online in its full glory. The accompanying article reflects on how important that early switch to Internet broadcasting was to the network and the show.

A roundtable on radio’s future: Billboard recently hosted a Radio Roundtable, gathering five leaders from the radio industry to talk about the unique and unusual challenges the field currently faces. Charlie Walk of Republic Records, Tom Poleman of iHeartMedia, Michael Martin of CBS Radio, Steve Blatter of Sirius XM, and Anya Grundmann of NPR Music each shared their insights.

Could a music subscriber also hear commercials?: An L.A. Times article speculates that profit-eluding music subscription services might eventually succumb to the lure of advertisers wanting to reach subscribers. Music subscription has historically been an ad-free zone — that is part of what consumers pay for. But in the video realm, Hulu stands as a model of subscription-p;lus-ads that music service might emulate.

Brad Hill