Today I’m proud to announce something new: A new division of my company, Mark Ramsey Media. For many years we have served the research needs of all broadcasters everywhere. That will not change. Christian broadcasters, however, are a special subset with special needs and – in many cases – a business model driven by fans, not by ratings. Over time, my company has become the leading strategic research firm for Christian radio. So now we’re doubling down with a new division buil

The title of the (somewhat cheeky) Washington Post piece said it all: “We can’t take any more of 2017, so we’ve turned to the Hallmark Channel in desperation.” Most radio broadcasters seem to think that Christmas is about Christmas music, but it’s not. And while Christmas is ultimately about the birth of Christ, that’s not the meaning I’m talking about either. Christmas is a time of hope, of kindness, of togetherness, of love, and of nostalgia. And in an era of political divi

The routine is familiar: At least one radio station in every market flips to “All Christmas” music around Thanksgiving, thus dominating the Nielsen ratings before and during the holiday period. The interpretation: Everybody wants to hear Christmas tunes during the holiday season. So let’s go all in and market the heck out of it! But what if something else is going on here? What if Christmas music is the thing you hear when you’re in the right place rather than being the thing

You’ll never guess how much music matters to Millennials! And… What happens when Stars ARE the Network? It’s episode 29 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, Playboy says “goodbye” to nudity, Meryl Streep thinks there aren’t enough female movie critics, and there’s actually something called “Paranormal Date.” Brand authority Tom Asacker and Media Strategist Mark Ramsey go inside what’s really happening in media. Listen

Nobody had ever done this before. What if you take the leading programmers to one popular format and ask them a slew of in-depth questions about the way they program their stations, how they conduct fundraising, how they market and what they spend, how they perceive the priorities for their brands, etc? Then what if you correlate all that data with ratings outcomes? This gives you the ability to see what best practices – what “secrets of success” – characterize the highest-ra

If you aren’t the exclusive provider for something meaningful, you’re sunk. In April, I shared Bloomburg’s report that Apple Music’s strategy would be to secure new music exclusives from some of the industry’s hottest artists, and I wrote about how exclusives were set to power the next generation of online radio competition and, by association, all radio competition. Now there’s a report that this strategy is beginning to unfold, big time: Apple [has] started creating their o

What’s in store for Spotify now that we’re living in a post-Apple Music world? That’s what I discussed with Brian Benedik, Spotify’s North American VP for Advertising and Sponsorships at hivio 2015. Some of the questions Brian addresses: In its news releases Spotify seems to refer to “audio shows” rather than “podcasts.” Why? Spotify has added entertainment, news, and video clips to its wealth of music. What have you learned about consumer interest in these additions? How hav

The shape of Apple’s new live-streaming radio station Beats 1 is coming into focus, and it’s full of exclusive celebrity content: The New York Times reports that Elton John will have a regular show on Beats 1 titled “Elton John’s Rocket Hour,” and it will play old and new music. Other musicians with shows on Beats 1 include Pharrell Williams, Drake, Josh Homme, St. Vincent, Jaden Smith, and Disclosure. Pharrell isn’t just a presenting a show, though. His new single “Freedom”

Is the new Apple Music a mess? And… The new marketing muscle of your favorite movie stars. It’s episode 21 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Kaitlin Jenner’s first name, the mismatch between social media performance and actual TV ratings, and the journalist who tricked media outlets into believing that chocolate makes you thin. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the pl

In part one of the slicing of Apple Music, I looked at the all-you-can-eat streaming service itself. Today, in part two, I go inside the strategy behind Apple Music’s streaming radio station, Beats 1. What is Beats 1? It is “Apple’s first 24/7 worldwide radio station.” Special? Innovative? No (and does Zane really not have his own board op?). That’s despite the hyperbolic and breathless reception this initiative is getting by some tech-heads who should know better. Take MacWo

As is now widely known, Apple Music is comprised of three key elements: iTunes – but on demand and in the cloud (a la Spotify), a worldwide radio station, and a social network that connects fans to artists and their content in whatever flavor it exists. I’m going to analyze each of these pegs in Apple Music’s new stool. One at a time. Today, the on-demand piece. When Apple introduced the iTunes store in 2003, there was no elegant (let alone legal) ecosystem for getting the so

Memo to music labels: The “value” of music is defined by consumers, fans, and listeners, not by you and your minions. From Billboard: A renewed focus on the value of music comes as a transition point for the record business. Rob Wells, Universal Music Group’s president of digital who brokered deals with “freemium” services like Spotify, left the company in late February. Now the company is rethinking the value of unlimited free streaming, according to a label source. At the s

Why would Apple hire a well-known radio DJ? This past weekend Apple plucked popular British DJ Zane Lowe from BBC’s Radio 1. Lowe is famous for his artist interviews and for what Rolling Stone describes as his “keen ear for emerging new music.” It’s assumed that Lowe will work on iTunes Radio and its music products, of course. But not simply behind the scenes. He will be more than a “master curator.” How do I know? Because there are many folks in the world who have an ear for

It’s called Amazon Echo, and like so many tech gadgets made by Amazon it’s more of an interesting idea than something which is necessarily likely to leap off the virtual shelves. Writes Amazon: Amazon Echo is designed around your voice. It’s always on—just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo begins working as soon as it hears you say the wake word, “Alexa.” It’s also an expertly-tuned speaker that can fill any room with immersive sound. And – more to the

A recent Piper Jaffray report focused on the behaviors of teenagers and the consequence of trends in those behaviors. One of the questions asked teens what percentage of their time was spent listening to music in the following categories: mp3’s, Pandora, local radio, other streaming radio (e.g., Spotify, Songza, etc.), CD’s, or SiriusXM. The result: About 16% of teen music listening time is spent with radio. Pandora’s share was slightly higher, while mp3’s were more than twic

Here’s a special post for my clients and friends in Christian radio…. Typically, there’s a distinction in that space between music and “teaching.” We have “teaching programs” and sometimes refer to them as such on- and off-air. But what if there’s no such thing as “teaching programs”? What if, instead, there are only programs that happen to teach? This is no small distinction. Do I, for example, seek a show out because it is a “teaching program”? Or do I seek it out because i

Why does any consumer behave in the way that she does? It’s because she has a problem and she wants a solution.  And the more effective, convenient, and simple that solution is, the more she will gravitate towards it. A “problem” doesn’t necessarily mean some vexing dilemma.  It could be as simple as the desire to hear a familiar voice on the way to work. The great thing about technology is that it creatively enables a whole host of problems to be solved in clever and powerfu

MusicFIRST really needs to have their heads examined. They’re in a tizzy because, allegedly, Pandora executives have done what executives at companies post-IPO do – cash out some shares.  And since these folks own a lot of shares, that can add up to a lot of money. But what does this have to do with the central question of onerous music royalty rates and the Internet radio industry’s long-term ability to profit in the face of them? Forgive the Econ 101 lecture, MusicFIRST, bu

We are witnessing the dawn of a new age:  The rise of radio as a feature. That means “radio” isn’t simply a media category run by media institutions.  It is now a feature of other categories – a feature of brands themselves – brands which are capable of monetizing that feature in the same way traditional broadcasters do – with ads. This is another manifestation of one of my regular themes:  Brands are now media.  Brands are becoming “mediacized.” In the wake of unconfirmed go

Every now and then I read something which is so totally off the wall it demands a thoughtful response. So it is with Bob Lefsetz’s recent screed on Pandora. Lefsetz, who is more a lightning rod than a beacon for insight, is a former music industry exec who has so many chips on his shoulder, his shoulders are virtually all-chip.  WIRED described him thusly: “Blogger (and digital-era pamphleteer) Bob Lefsetz couldn’t make it in the music biz—until he started ranting about how i