Web and New Media: Sharing and streaming video

See Web and New Media: Sharing and streaming video for the full post.

Webcasting rates

It's American, but still interesting reading...
Summary of the Determination of the Librarian of Congress on Rates and Terms for Webcasting and Ephemeral Recordings
Also: http://www.copyright.gov/carp/

Web and New Media: Web video and FLV encoders

Web and New Media: Web video and FLV encoders

The death of music radio?

Headline results from a recent piece of commercial research raise some interesting questions about whether the listenership for music radio is likely to disappear. The press release is at www.bridgeratings.com - the background at http://www-cntv.usc.edu/friends_alumni/MMS091505.pdf

Quoting the Bridge ratings press release:

85% of the total sample would choose their MP3 player over traditional radio as their preferred option for music.

* There is a clear generational difference between 12-17 and 18-24 year olds.

* For music listening, the Internet is preferred over traditional radio.

* MP3 use far out-paces radio use.

When given a choice between listening to music over the Internet or traditional radio stations, 54% prefer the Internet while 30% prefer radio.

This preference is more pronounced among 18-24 year olds.

Whether it is bad news for music radio, I'm not so sure.

Firstly, what the figures do reveal is that the internet is not being used mainly to access programming from over-the-air music stations. This is more than just a new form of distribution.

Secondly, while those interviewed liked MP3 players and the form of music choice it gives, they also clearly like finding new music to put on the players, and don't find radio always offers them this. However, the commentary suggests that those interviewed liked the ideas of Pod-casting.

Whether this just reflects the respondents wanting to show how trendy and techno-savvy they were, or whether this actually represented listening practices is a key question in my mind. Download charts still tend to reflect radio playlists to a large degree, even if the differences are in themselves very interesting.

What the headline figures don't tell us (and I don't know if this question was ever asked, because I can't get at the full research) is why there is a preference for online music sources, over over-the-air radio (or its internet simulcast).

Could it be that music radio is still caught in a Hotelling nightmare of middle market safe playlists, when the web offers vast quantity and the opportunity to get individualised listening? Perhaps music radio is under threat because its not currently about music, and that's what a proportion of potential listeners want.

Surely the danger for music radio is that not enough people in radio are thinking fast enough? The internet turns the logic of radio economics on its head, and the web offers a degree of accessibility, new commercial models, and interactivity that should be exciting us, not making us fearful.

On the other hand when I surf for music (although I think the idea of surfing is now redundant) I constantly see opportunities for the application of music radio programming skills, and the ability of a good presenter to communicate.

So some of the basic practices of music radio have a new more interesting home if only radio people understood the way the new forms of distribution work as a political economy and a culture.

I've met lots of professional radio people who understand that they provide content, not broadcasts. But unless they understand that that does not mean just distributing current radio output on line (with a few add-ons, and the odd Pod-cast) then the future of music will not be nurtured by radio people.

Tim Wall
Chair, Radio Studies Network; Radio Scholar, UCE in Birmingham;
Director, Online Music Enterprise project

Web and New Media: TV shows on the web in America

Web and New Media: TV shows on the web in America

Web and New Media: A resource for those wanting to learn to stream

Web and New Media: A resource for those wanting to learn to stream

You may find this useful...

I recently set up a blog for the web and new media part of the department - you'll find tips on web design, new media theory, and anything else remotely useful to those interested in, well, web and new media...