Online Radio & Free (Legal) Music

One major competitor to terrestrail, satellite and HD radio formats is online radio. Countless online radio stations can be accessed for free using audio software such as iTunes, or web sites like Pandora. Purchasing an HD radio receiver loses some appeal when you could just plug in your computer and hear endless online radio, free of cost. Additional upsides to online radio are the innovative formats that are taking hold. Pandora, for example, allows users to input their favorite genres, artists, or individual songs into the programming options, and the website will automatically match the selected items to other similar songs.


This, in effect, allows you to create your own customized radio stations with music that shares common themes with your favortite artists. Additionally, as you listen to each songs it selects, you can tell Pandora to either play more songs that are similar to it, or to play less. This keeps the customization process going throughout your listening experience. This radio service is free becasue the website earns revenue from advertising. The concept of free music is one that many predict will play a large role in the future of music. With falling cd sales, and the constant threat of illegal downloads and file sharing, some have pondered offering free albums, which would ultimately result in higher artist popularity.

This would in turn be reflected in sales via merchandise, tours, etc. This week, world famous alternative band Radiohead announced it would be offering its latest album for whatever consumers wanted to pay for it. The amount charged to your credit card is completely up to you, which includes for free of course. In this LA Times article, Radiohead is being praised as a trend setter in the industry. "This is all anybody is talking about in the music industry today," said Bertis Downs, the longtime manager of R.E.M., the veteran alt-rock band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. "

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This is the sort of model that people have been talking about doing, but this is the first time an act of this stature has stepped up and done it. . . . They were a band that could go off the grid, and they did it." Radiohead's latest news has been one of the most popular blog topics of the week, and many are saying it could be mark a watershed for the music industry.

It is no question that the music industry, which includes radio and its new formats, is one that is constantly changing. New developments like Pandora online radio and free downloads will both impact radio for sure, and marketers will have to adjust accordingly.