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What the CBS Radio/Last.fm announcement REALLY means

Posted on: Apr 02, 2008 in Internet Radio

From Radio Ink:

CBS Radio’s broadcast stations will be streamed to Last.fm users and CBS Radio’s streaming audience will have access to Last.fm’s library of free, on-demand music under a new deal announced Tuesday. The new partnership will also include new content and features for both Last.fm and CBS Radio websites, and will, CBS said, “open the door to cross-promotional opportunities throughout their respective platforms.”

What’s being missed in this announcement but is very much between the lines is this:

CBS Radio listeners will be able to create customized versions of their favorite CBS stations online. Undoubtably, KROQ (for example) will soon enable you to create “myKROQ, powered by last.fm.”

This will usher in an era where there is no such thing as a “station stream,” per se, since the stream will vary based on the tastes of the listener that “programs” the stream. There will be as many “streams” as there are listeners interested in hearing them, each branded by your station.

Further, it’s only a matter of time before this capability is shopped to groups outside CBS – by last.fm and others.

For your consideration, what does “radio” mean when one station can have infinite flavors?

3 Comments;
  • http://wholewheatradio.org Jim Kloss

    last.fm intrigues me, but from a purely online webcast station experience, our listeners *want* to know they are not alone in their listening experience. That’s part of what differentiates a “communal listening experience” from just putting on a CD for a “solo listening experience”. They are different animals and each has its place. I believe they can co-exists and that there will always be a large audience for shared streams.

  • George

    Today’s announcement that the labels and MySpace are forming MySpace Music is also intriguing.
    I really think it’s a deal that COULD have been done with radio. If the labels weren’t so hell-bent on fighting radio. And if there was a way to do a deal with “Radio,” as opposed to doing deals with individual radio companies.
    As big as Clear Channel is, it simply isn’t as omnopresent as MySpace. Which really puts it in context. It’s all just very interesting that the recording industry doesn’t like big radio, but it does a deal with one of the biggest social networking sites, which is a small part of a much bigger media company. Which tells me their problem isn’t big radio. But rather the fact that they aren’t financial partners. Although in a way they are. Just not in a direct way.

  • http://www.mediadude.com Steve Burgess

    I agree with Jim’s comment about the “communal” listening experience. There is also a lot to be said for the sense of discovery and deja vu one gets from a “station” programmed by a human, to humans. This is lost on last.fm. Of course, it’s lost on many of the voice-tracked, selectorized stations of today as well; but creative humans – for now – provide an emotionally engaging experience that na algorithm cannot. Of course, in the absence of talented humans, the algorithm wins.

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MRM President Mark Ramsey has worked with innumerable television and radio broadcasters over his career, including all the biggest names, from Clear Channel, CBS, Bonneville, Sirius XM...

Mark Ramsey