Personalization is a rainbow extending all the way from “lowest common denominator” to “all mine.” The former is what you get on the radio while the latter is what you find in the iTunes store. SXM’s version of personalization, which appeared in the iTunes store this past weekend, is closer to the former than the latter, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Want to skip songs or create your own custom channels? Sorry, Charlie. This isn’t the place for you (assuming you’

It’s largely off the radar for most broadcasters but I have noticed something interesting in the past year or so: Satellite radio is getting more important to consumers. I do regular proprietary research studies for broadcasters all over America, and one of my basic measures is the “favorite station” metric. For the many music stations I have conducted these studies for in markets large and small, the majority feature “SiriusXM” as one of the top 12 “favorite stations or serv

Okay, so I have weird tastes.  I’m the guy whose favorite dishes in restaurants are discontinued for lack of interest.  And my music tastes are just as irregular. But thanks to the Internet you can find anything nowadays, and thanks to personalized radio services you can create what you want out of nothing if you so desire. It so happens that there’s a channel on SiriusXM that gets close enough to one thread of my weird tastes.  Also,  I created my own version on one of the p

It hasn’t gotten a ton of attention, but SiriusXM’s recently revised mobile apps add some functionality which I think makes a dramatic difference in the quality of the user experience and also transforms the meaning of satellite radio online using the familiar metaphor of the DVR (not new for the conventional satellite radios, but certainly new for their streaming versions). It’s no longer simply the mobile way to stream most SiriusXM channels via the Internet.  It now allows

“Brands don’t necessarily need more choices, they need more choices that are personally relevant.” That’s from advertising giant John Winsor, head of ad agency Victors & Spoils, the former VP/Executive Director of Strategy and Innovation at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and soon to be interviewed for this blog. Think about what that means. Especially in a world of blossoming choices – a world where anyone can copy your playlist song for song if they wish. How do you keep your a

In a first for the radio industry, the opening session of an upcoming industry event is being streamed LIVE online and you can watch it from the comfort of your own desk – for free! I’m talking about the first annual Worldwide Radio Summit next week in LA.  It’s brought to you by All Access. I am moderating the opening session, and you are invited to watch.  Here are the details: KEYNOTE PANEL: THE FUTURE OF “ALL THINGS RADIO” 9-10:30 am PT, Friday April 29, 2011 Our panel of

“There’s an app for that.” You’ve heard that phrase countless times. But there’s an important lesson wrapped up in that phrase. Consider this:  There’s an app for what? And the answer is “whatever problem a consumer happens to have.” Apps are generally solutions to problems.  They’re not simply tools for you to amplify your brand – in fact they may not be that at all.  Apps are not necessarily about your brand, they are about your consumers. Even if they are in the presence o

Rumors are rumors, but patents are real. Whether the technology produced by these patents arrives in the forthcoming iPhone 5 or a later version is anybody’s guess, but it sure makes sense to me that we’ll see this sooner rather than later (although it’s also possible that we’ll never see this). Back in December, Apple quietly submitted a patent application that altered the radio experience for its users and introduced three new elements to the iPhone:  FM, AM, and Satellite

Pandora and other online radio pure-plays want to be in the car, and that will mean trouble for Sirius/XM, right? After all, Pandora et. al. are free while Sirius/XM is not. Not so fast. Here are five reasons why that logic could be all wet: 1.  Sirius/XM is destination programming.  For Pandora, the destination is me. That is, personalized radio services solve one problem really well, but they don’t solve all problems equally well. Tons of Sirius/XM listenership is for profe

It’s an on-demand world. How many times have you heard that? Consumers – especially younger ones – can’t begin to fathom anything as quaint and antiquated as “appointment viewing” or “appointment listening” because everything and anything they want is available now, in one form, another, or all of them at once. If there’s any brand that imagines an alternate universe where none of this is true, it’s Sirius XM. Content is their mantra over at Sirius XM, and there are more than

From Inside Radio: Analysts: Sirius XM “would be fine” without Stern. The satcaster’s high penetration in automobiles and partnerships with carmakers will keep its subscriber rolls strong for years to come, according to analysts. “The company’s in a pretty good position and their operations would be fine and continue even if they lost subscribers because of Stern,” BGB Securities analyst Murray Arenson tells Reuters. Despite the “Where you go Howard, we go” mindset of many of

But in the midst of this growth, Sirius/XM has lost something which has gone virtually unnoticed:  Portable units. Maybe these things never sold that well in the first place.  I'm talking about the Stiletto 100 and the Stiletto 2.  They were, after all, clunky and poorly designed alternatives to mp3 players – satellite radios with iPod-ish capabilities.  But what these units did that no other Sirius units do is record not just songs but long segments of programming – it's the