How Do I Like My Radio Delivered?

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How Do I Like My Radio Delivered?

Jim Griffin asked an interesting question in the comments section of my initial Internet Radio Rocks post:

If you had the choice between access to Internet radio, satellite radio, HD radio, AM/FM radio or various "pull" forms of digital media (MP3 player, Rhapsody, etc.), how would you rank your choices? To which would you turn first?

The answer to this is, of course, "it depends".

I am on an Internet radio binge right now. I am listening to Radio Paradise all the time. It's an amazing listener supported internet radio station that plays great music all the time.

But I can't get Radio Paradise in my car, yet.

So when I am in my car, I settle for traditional AM/FM. I used to have an HD Radio in my car, but when I traded it in, I got a car that doesn't take a aftermarket radio so I am back to traditional AM/FM right now. I like HD radio better because I like the HD2 channels like Country 103.5-1 and Deep Cuts Classic Rock 104.3-2.

I have never personally been a big fan of Satellite Radio because I don't spend huge amounts of time in my car and the local radio stations like WFUV and WBGO work fine when I am in NYC and WEHM is great when I am in Long Island. But I think Satellite is great if you are a Stern fan or if you spend a lot of time in your car.

I go in phases when I want to control my music and when I want someone else to play music for me. When I want to control my music, I tend to listen to my music collection or Rhapsody. When I want someone else to play music for me, I tend to listen to podcasts or Internet Radio.

So the bottom line is I don't have one mode of listening. I mix and match it a lot. I'd be interested in what others have to say on this subject.

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Posted April 15, 2006 in My Music , Venture Capital and Technology

Comments

I spend my working life at the moment between Sydney (Australia) and San Francisco. Was in the music biz, was a shareholder in the first commercial FM station in Sydney, and also had an on line radio start up called Big Fat Radio... but mainly I am a consumer of content and media. In Australia I tend to listen to AM radio because that is where the best news is (and let me tell you, the ABC in Australia has better balanced world news than any US radio station - up there near the BBC amazingly enough). Recently in the US I rented a Caddilac which had XMR and it was dreadful from a qualitative point of view. Lots of static and poor fidelity in general both with voice and music content. From a strictly quality point of view it leaves me cold.

Internet radio - have played with Last FM, Pandora and a lot of others.... I like both of these by the way. But I find that the things that I listen to most regularly are podcasts. You get the quality of content and quality of production and you get to place and time shift the content.

According to Bridge Research there is going to be a 15% erosion of audience from radio to podcasting over the next 4 years. I would have thought it would be higher than that...

Posted by: Chris Gilbey | Apr 15, 2006 7:50:10 PM

Glad you're likin' RP. I've been a supporter and fan for years now. You know you can stream it over Sonos, right? In my car, I listen to Sirius. Its 125+ stations are enough to keep me occupied, no matter what I'm in the mood for.

Posted by: Marc James | Apr 16, 2006 12:48:35 AM

I'll answer my question: Today, I prefer satellite radio, especially Sirius, for the sense of community it brings and the focus on intelligent talk.

Tomorrow, I feel internet radio growing on me as both a delivery mechanism and a source of diverse mind candy -- we'll need ubiquitous (or nearly so) IP to make a true radio substitute, but statistics and common sense say internet radio is poised for and experiencing major growth.

Traditional radio (AM-FM) and HD pale by comparison. I have an HD radio in my car along with Sirius, and after the first week I have not used the AM-FM or HD equivalents for anything more than checking HD for advances that I haven't yet heard.

Now the surprise: I actually find myself listening to satellite radio at home, so I bought both XM and Sirius portable radios.

The iPod doesn't compete well. For me, pull can't compete with good push. I like the community megaphone, the shared experience and fact set. I don't need Channel Me; I adore Channel We.

Posted by: Jim Griffin | Apr 17, 2006 11:27:21 AM

A VC

Musings of a VC in NYC