Trick.
Buy an HD radio and you get many new channels of music and radio programming. No. Buy an HD radio and get taken for a fool. The radio operators, however, won't be taken for fools. They're investing relatively nothing in the future of HD (wisely for them) and propping up the HD proponents with a meaningless HD initiative. (HD is the equivalent of trick or treating and returning home with an Apple that has a razor blade in it).
Treat.
Roku. This is the Internet radio that allows you to program thousands of Internet radio stations into it and listen (depending on the model) through you stereo system or speakers. Talk about a wide variety of programming. (The equivalent of getting a candy bag full of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups).
Trick.
RIAA settling out of court for about $4,000 per victim in their crusade against the natural phenomena of downloading and file sharing music you don't own. The $4,000 doesn't begin to pay for the cost of suing consumers nor the cost of litigation when it comes to that. But the real trick is on anyone who thinks suing customers will stop or slow down illegal piracy. (I'll report back and you decide when the new piracy numbers become public).
Treat.
The return of WCBS-FM, New York. This is a double treat. On one hand, listeners get a beloved radio station back that Joel Hollander's people didn't know how to value and update. On the other hand, it is a victory for everyone in radio who knows you can only program to the audience God gave you. That would be Gen X and baby boomers. Gen Yers are preoccupied with other things like iPods, social networks, digital downloading and mobile phones.
Trick.
That diary-based radio ratings are more accurate and reliable than the Portable People Meter. Are you kidding? I want to be WCBS-FM when the PPM kicks in and they get credit for all the listeners they've always had but were never recorded manually in the diary. (I guess I'm saying the diary argument is the equivalent of a burning bag of dog dirt that is thrown on the front porch of an old grumpy person's house and when you ring the doorbell they run out and stomp out the fire and the...well, you get the picture).
Treat.
The iPhone, Blackberry, Treo and other smart mobile devices that let us bring the world we have at home on the road. One of my great readers just sent me an adapter for my outstanding ear phones that wouldn't work on my new iPhone. Now, I'm in heaven again. My students at USC will never give up their cell phones. Well, you'll have to fight me for my iPhone. (And I'm from New Jersey).
Trick.
That satellite radio is different from terrestrial radio. Satellite radio is terrestrial radio. Satellite even brags about no commercials (like terrestrial brags about more music) and when you listen to some satellite news and programming channels, it's full of commercials. The really bad -- per inquiry type. Satellite missed its chance to make a good first impression as a real alternative to cluttered, hyped, boring commercial radio.
Treat.
The four satellite channels I pay $12.95 for just so I don't have to listen to consolidated commercial radio stations. It really hurts this ex-radio program director to hear what has become of a once vibrant medium. Even consolidation shouldn't make radio sound so uninspired.
Trick.
The sale of Clear Channel will mean the end of the Evil Empire. No! It means the beginning of the Dark Ages. What do Wall Street investors looking to buy and resell properties have to do with good radio? These folks -- the Bain and Lee people -- are so different (I'm being sarcastic here) that they actually said they like the way John Hogan is running Clear Channel. Now ask the managers and see what the predominant assessment is. Lee and Bain -- or as I call them -- Less is More.
Treat.
iTunes instead of CDs. Being in radio I, like you, have a lot of CDs and vinyl. What a pleasure to be able to pay 99 cents to download what I want on my iPod from the iTunes store. In fact, it's easier to just buy the tunes again (are you listening record labels?) than go find the CDs to download. And iTunes reminds me of when I added new music on my radio stations on Tuesdays -- they are more excited about it in their email than terrestrial radio stations are on the air.
Well, another Halloween edition of Music Media Trick or Treat comes to an end.
Time to take off the costumes and stop the childish pranks -- and I'm just talking about the media executives!
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