The Streaming Invasion

On July 14th, 2011, the way Americans interact with music (and musicians) changed forever.

It was the first day that I (and my fellow Americans) could sign up for a premium subscription of Spotify, which I did. I had read the hype coming from the UK about this new streaming service. More freedom than Pandora. It was like having access to the entire world's music, and I could listen to whatever I want, the moment I want it. As a music fan, that was pretty exciting to me.

As a broadcaster, I recognized that my excitement would be shared by many others like me, which could spell trouble for terrestrial radio. (In this article, I'll be using the word 'Spotify' to refer to pure-play services, including Spotify).

I've heard Spotify described as the 'new record store' for your listeners. Not only do I disagree, but I think that's a dangerous opinion for a broadcaster to have. Spotify won't necessarily kill radio, but it will change the way some of us think about radio...and if we don't understand what we're dealing with, we have no chance of keeping up.

Spotify is not the new Record Store. It's something totally new.

'Record Store' represented a certain model of consumption. They had a big building full of stuff you wanted. You went to that building, gave 'em some of your cash, and brought home the stuff you wanted.

Record Store existed in a separate space from you and your home. You didn't live in Record Store, and Record Store didn't keep inventory in your home. It also existed in a different space from an information perspective. Record Store didn't know much about you as an individual, and you did not communicate directly with Record Store.

Spotify has changed all of that. Its existence overlaps your own. It's not located in some building downtown; it's in your pocket. It feels transaction-free; sure, you pay a monthly subscription, but how often do you think about that when you open the app?

When a new album comes out, you don't have to track the date on your calendar and head to the Record Store. Spotify won't just notify you of the release - it will literally deliver it to your pocket while you're not looking, and then when you open the app...Tada!

But it's in the intangibles that you'll find the real novelty of this consumption model. Spotify may know more about your audience, on a far more granular level, than you do. What would cost you thousands of dollars in research, they can aggregate instantly. Spotify may know more about your musical tastes than you do. Not only does it know what songs you like best, it knows what time of day you prefer certain styles.

It knows how your tastes may change from weekdays to weekends.

Oh, and remember how we used to make mixtapes for our friends back in the day? Yeah, Spotify not only allows people to share their playlists, every member is their own Music Director over their own cluster of stations.

But I come with good news. Spotify has clear weaknesses, and they line up perfectly with radio's strengths.

For now.

Because right now, the extent of your streaming experience is generally tap a song, and listen to it. And that's about it.

In a recent Billboard interview, Jimmy Iovine and Zane Lowe from Apple Music talk about the future of the streaming experience.

Iovine: "There has to be much more engagement between the artists and the audience. We have big plans and a long way to go."

Lowe: "We need to put context and stories around music. The song itself is obviously the primary passion point -- it's a key that opens the door. But what's inside the room that is going to make a fan a super fan? Music has become quicker, faster, and there's more of it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't create a story around something that is beautiful and that lives and breathes."

Sounds a lot like radio, doesn't it? Great broadcasters are masters of engagement and context. They know how to connect the artist with the listener, whether it's through a quote, a story, sound clip or full interview. They know how to frame a song - how to clear the path in the hearts of the listeners so they can fully receive the emotional impact of a song. A great broadcaster is a master storyteller, able to fill the room with ideas and feelings.

These are all things that Spotify is terrible at. And they are working to close the gap. But in a service that puts all the control in the hands of the listener, is it really possible to surprise and delight them? Basically, when the menu is 100% ala carte, is there room for the Chef to be a Chef?

But I'll add a few more things to the list of radio strengths (and Spotify's weaknesses).

When Spotify adds a song to their library, they can push it out a number of ways. They can have it automatically play when somebody's playlist of similar songs comes to an end. They can put a big banner at the top of the login page. They can run ads on the internet to drive traffic to the song.

But when a radio station plays a song on the air, for the entire duration, it is the one and only song being played. I know, 'DUH', right? But think about that! Everything that station has is riding on that one song for 3.5 minutes. The brand, the ministry, the reputation, the relationship with donors, the very livelihoods of each staff member-all of that is being bet on the success of the song currently coming out of the speakers.

That is a ton of trust. And it's being communicated to the audience. The listeners know that this song has become a part of their favorite radio station, and that means something.

There's something else about that one-song-at-a-time experience. We live in a culture that is increasingly personalized. We don't even watch TV shows at the same time anymore. We pre-record them, and we each watch them at different times. The list of shared moments is growing smaller and smaller. With Spotify, we experience our favorite music all alone. It does give you some great ways to share music and send it to your friends...so they can experience it all alone, too.

Radio is a shared moment, and that's getting harder and harder to come by. When your listener is singing along to the song you're playing, they are singing along with thousands of others at that same moment.

Sure, they may be alone in their cars or at an office desk. But a great broadcaster knows how to draw the listener into the moment, so they don't feel alone. It's part of why radio makes us feel like we're 'plugged in' to something bigger than ourselves. It's why we call it a companionship medium. We've spent a lot of years training jocks to speak to the listener as an individual; it may be time to start re-thinking that concept. When the rest of your life is lived in personalized isolation, maybe it's good sometimes to feel like a part of a group.

One more thing: Remember when you would type 'Chris Tomlin' into Pandora, and you'd get 10 minutes of Tomlin, and then find yourself listening to Coldplay? In fact, virtually every CCM artist 'station' on Pandora eventually included Coldplay. Which is frustrating to the listener, because Coldplay does not sing about Jesus. Of course, the Music Genome Project had no clue, because out of the 450 attributes that it uses to classify songs, 'Jesus' isn't one of the markers. Radio is music for humans, by humans. We understand the emotional threads in the songs, and how they connect to one another. Pure plays are getting better at this than Pandora was, but the advantage is still currently radio's.

Ultimately, the future strengths of radio do not include having first access to brand new music. That ship has sailed. Making exclusive deals with labels to lock out fellow Christian radio stations in an attempt to consolidate power will turn our little industry into The Hunger Games.

Oh, and it won't win us anything in the long run, because Spotify and other pure plays will always be able to do the 'new music first' thing better. They can sneak new music (that they know you will personally and individually love) into your pocket when you're not looking, remember?

Let's move on from that and focus on how radio's strengths line up so beautifully with Spotify's weaknesses.

Let's focus on playing the very best music, yes - but once that opens the door for the listener, let's be sure we continue to give them lots of reasons to stay in the room. Create stories that live and breathe. Build and nurture a relationship with your listener. Share moments with them.

Don't be a jukebox. Be RADIO.