Traditional DJs 'will survive internet radio revolution'
"Much of the "generic noise" of traditional radio could be replaced by online and streaming programmes specifically aimed at people's individual tastes."
Music conference hears there will still be a role for radio-style DJs despite wealth of online streaming programmes
-By Alexandra Topping, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 16 May 2010
From the late 60s until his death in 2004 John Peel was the undisputed king of new music, a trusted voice that led thousands of people to buy their first records.
But, thanks to digital advances, a new wave of bedroom DJs, with little more than a laptop and a broadband connection, could shape our musical tastes in the future, according to industry professionals.
Much of the "generic noise" of traditional radio could be replaced by online and streaming programmes specifically aimed at people's individual tastes, said Dave Haynes, a vice-president of SoundCloud, a platform that allows musicians to easily share audio over the web.
Speaking on a panel about the future of radio at the Great Escape, a music conference and festival in Brighton this weekend, he added that strong guiding voices leading people to the best new music would be more important than ever, as listeners' choice widened.
"John Peel was not just a radio presenter but the leader of a tribe, and I think in the future what we will see is not one but lots of mini John Peels leading their particular tribe," he said.
A growing range of radio services are being launched, which can be listened to on demand and encourage listeners to be more interactive and vote to hear their favourite songs on air, or create their own shows.
New start-ups like Playdio – a combination of playlist and radio – let anyone try their hand at being the next big name radio DJ. The service lets users create their own radio shows by making song playlists interspersed with spoken links, which can then be listened to on streaming services such as Spotify.
Last year Absolute Radio, formerly Virgin, launched Dabbl, a online and digital station which allows listeners to vote on what songs they want to hear, encouraging more audience control over material.
Speaking before the Great Escape, Clive Dickens, chief executive of Absolute Radio, said radio was well placed to face the digital revolution: "The most downloaded apps are radio apps, the most downloaded podcasts are radio shows. Dabbl is an example that if you are growing up in a digital economy you expect more interaction."
Another new service, Mixcloud, claims it is "making radio more democratic" by allowing anyone to upload a "cloudcast", which range from radio shows, podcasts and DJ mixes, with listeners deciding who gets exposure. Friends recommend cloudcasts to each other, and the site – which bills itself as YouTube for radio – shows what its users are listening to, commenting on and uploading.
Danny Ryan, founder of Playdio, which launches next month, said that the future of radio was not on digital radio (DAB), which he said was already "old and tired", but would be almost exclusively online. "The great switchover at 2015 will probably see domestic internet radio become more commonplace. It is simply a superior platform," he said.
Phill Jupitus and Phil Wilding have signed up to make shows for Playdio, while other less well-known names such as Talc – whose day job is as a backing band to the stars – are also getting involved.
But despite his excitement about new forms of radio, Ryan insisted that services like his will not supersede "live" music and conversation, provided by people who are passionate about music and the medium.
"People don't only want just a playlist of good music, they also want to be led through it by characters who entertain, and who's taste they trust."
That appears to be borne out by Rajar figures, which track radio consumption. They show high-profile radio personalities like Radio 2's Chris Evans and Radio 1's Chris Moyles both increasing their listeners. Evans's breakfast show attracted 9.53 million listeners since replacing Terry Wogan at the beginning of the year, up from Wogan's last audience of 8.1 million.
Radio audiences are also at an all-time high, with 90.6% of the British population tuning into a radio station every week, and the number of people listening to digital radio up 19%. Even the future of 6Music looks more hopeful, as figures revealed that the threatened BBC station has doubled its listenership to more than a million.
John Kennedy, a DJ on XFM and also on the Great Escape panel, said DJs were still vital to help people discover music from different genres. "That random factor is very special," he said. "People like not thinking sometimes, they can just switch on the radio and not think about it ... it is very important for both the BBC and commercial radio to embrace change and discover how new technology can work for them. But I think radio still has a vital role as a companion for people."
Sean Adams, from Drowned in Sound, a music webzine, said strong radio personalities were vital to counteract the ghettoisation of music – where because of digital radio services people only listen to the type of music they already enjoy. "We now have a billion ways of getting our music. That can be massively damaging because people aren't listening to music that they may not like on first listen, and there is this problem of the web making everything bland," he said.
"The web has enabled everyone to be a DJ and in some ways that has diluted the need for [them] but people are still looking for direction and gatekeepers. The need for an established medium has changed but that doesn't mean we don't still need people like John Peel."
Internet Radio Revolution
Music conference hears there will still be a role for radio-style DJs despite wealth of online streaming programmes
-By Alexandra Topping, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 16 May 2010
From the late 60s until his death in 2004 John Peel was the undisputed king of new music, a trusted voice that led thousands of people to buy their first records.
But, thanks to digital advances, a new wave of bedroom DJs, with little more than a laptop and a broadband connection, could shape our musical tastes in the future, according to industry professionals.
Much of the "generic noise" of traditional radio could be replaced by online and streaming programmes specifically aimed at people's individual tastes, said Dave Haynes, a vice-president of SoundCloud, a platform that allows musicians to easily share audio over the web.
Speaking on a panel about the future of radio at the Great Escape, a music conference and festival in Brighton this weekend, he added that strong guiding voices leading people to the best new music would be more important than ever, as listeners' choice widened.
"John Peel was not just a radio presenter but the leader of a tribe, and I think in the future what we will see is not one but lots of mini John Peels leading their particular tribe," he said.
A growing range of radio services are being launched, which can be listened to on demand and encourage listeners to be more interactive and vote to hear their favourite songs on air, or create their own shows.
New start-ups like Playdio – a combination of playlist and radio – let anyone try their hand at being the next big name radio DJ. The service lets users create their own radio shows by making song playlists interspersed with spoken links, which can then be listened to on streaming services such as Spotify.
Last year Absolute Radio, formerly Virgin, launched Dabbl, a online and digital station which allows listeners to vote on what songs they want to hear, encouraging more audience control over material.
Speaking before the Great Escape, Clive Dickens, chief executive of Absolute Radio, said radio was well placed to face the digital revolution: "The most downloaded apps are radio apps, the most downloaded podcasts are radio shows. Dabbl is an example that if you are growing up in a digital economy you expect more interaction."
Another new service, Mixcloud, claims it is "making radio more democratic" by allowing anyone to upload a "cloudcast", which range from radio shows, podcasts and DJ mixes, with listeners deciding who gets exposure. Friends recommend cloudcasts to each other, and the site – which bills itself as YouTube for radio – shows what its users are listening to, commenting on and uploading.
Danny Ryan, founder of Playdio, which launches next month, said that the future of radio was not on digital radio (DAB), which he said was already "old and tired", but would be almost exclusively online. "The great switchover at 2015 will probably see domestic internet radio become more commonplace. It is simply a superior platform," he said.
Phill Jupitus and Phil Wilding have signed up to make shows for Playdio, while other less well-known names such as Talc – whose day job is as a backing band to the stars – are also getting involved.
But despite his excitement about new forms of radio, Ryan insisted that services like his will not supersede "live" music and conversation, provided by people who are passionate about music and the medium.
"People don't only want just a playlist of good music, they also want to be led through it by characters who entertain, and who's taste they trust."
That appears to be borne out by Rajar figures, which track radio consumption. They show high-profile radio personalities like Radio 2's Chris Evans and Radio 1's Chris Moyles both increasing their listeners. Evans's breakfast show attracted 9.53 million listeners since replacing Terry Wogan at the beginning of the year, up from Wogan's last audience of 8.1 million.
Radio audiences are also at an all-time high, with 90.6% of the British population tuning into a radio station every week, and the number of people listening to digital radio up 19%. Even the future of 6Music looks more hopeful, as figures revealed that the threatened BBC station has doubled its listenership to more than a million.
John Kennedy, a DJ on XFM and also on the Great Escape panel, said DJs were still vital to help people discover music from different genres. "That random factor is very special," he said. "People like not thinking sometimes, they can just switch on the radio and not think about it ... it is very important for both the BBC and commercial radio to embrace change and discover how new technology can work for them. But I think radio still has a vital role as a companion for people."
Sean Adams, from Drowned in Sound, a music webzine, said strong radio personalities were vital to counteract the ghettoisation of music – where because of digital radio services people only listen to the type of music they already enjoy. "We now have a billion ways of getting our music. That can be massively damaging because people aren't listening to music that they may not like on first listen, and there is this problem of the web making everything bland," he said.
"The web has enabled everyone to be a DJ and in some ways that has diluted the need for [them] but people are still looking for direction and gatekeepers. The need for an established medium has changed but that doesn't mean we don't still need people like John Peel."
Internet Radio Revolution
posted by Rocksanne at 11:54 AM
