From Inside Radio:
Multigroup Microsoft deal puts radio deeper into digital downloads. By 2012, one-third of all music sales will be by digital download according to Jupiter Research, and radio is on-course to be a growing factor in that equation. The latest move giving radio a larger piece of that business is an alliance between nine of the biggest broadcast groups to begin encoding both analog and digital stations for tagging, allowing users of Microsoft’s Zune MP3 player to instantly tag and use Wi-Fi to download songs heard on the radio without ever plugging into a computer. That’s something the Apple iTunes tagging on HD stations requires. “Radio’s decision to push the digital envelope doesn’t mean our analog broadcasts need to be left behind,” says Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan.
Mr. Hogan understates the point. The key portion of that paragraph is “encoding both analog and digital stations.”
In other words, say goodbye to the exclusive association of tagging with HD Radio.
It is likely that this capability will be Apple-powered in the not too distant future, too, thus making any analog radio station “tag-friendly” on iTunes and a source of discovery and download for the listener and revenue for the broadcaster.
I’ll have more on discovery engine solutions later this week. For now, I leave you with this:
Fish where the fish are. And that’s on the stations that everybody already listens to.