Pandora and the Evolution of Radio

All media must evolve to stay relevant in our lives. We’re seeing it now on four levels: news, communication, commerce and entertainment.

The way we get our news is changing, from print to web and apps. We communicate and interact daily on Facebook and text messages. We shop online more than ever before. We’re entertained not by video-rental stores but by Netflix and Hulu. The radio dial we used to turn is now a digital dial.

Shifts in consumer behavior force media to evolve. Today that shift is toward personalization.

Pandora, the leading Internet radio service, is the evolution of FM radio. Its customized radio plays songs it knows we’ll like – it learns our tastes – using Pandora’s Music Genome Project.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on StateCollege.com in Tech Talk, a biweekly column by Eric Zimmett. Click here to view the original column.

Pandora announced Tuesday at the International CTIA Wireless 2012 conference in New Orleans that it has surpassed 150 million registered users, nearly 52 million of which are active listeners. It is now one of the most-used online services in the United States.

In April, Pandora users clocked 1.06 billion listening hours, an 87 percent increase over the same time last year.

Audience measurement and consumer research company The Media Audit revealed last week that Pandora is the No. 1 listened to station in Los Angeles, beating out KIIS-FM.

The Media Audit found that Internet radio has reached 20 percent saturation; which means there’s still plenty of room to grow. Among 18 to 34 year olds, the saturation – or market presence – hits 36.6 percent.

Ways to Tune In:  some of today’s popular destinations for music

• Pandora: Personalized Internet radio service that creates stations based on your favorite artists and songs. Pandora offers free and premium Pandora One, which features ad-free listening for about $3 per month.
• Sirius XM: Subscription satellite radio service starting at $14.49 per month featuring more than 140 channels including 71 commercial-free music channels plus news, talk, sports and more. You’ll need a Sirius or XM radio to use the service, unless you opt for an online-only subscription for about $13 per month. Sirius XM is also available in select vehicle models.
• Spotify: On-demand music. Enter an artist and play the tracks you want to hear. Spotify also features genre-specific stations and the new Playlist Radio. Free on desktop or laptop computers – but to play on mobile devices or tablets Spotify Premium ($9.99 per month) is required.
• Slacker: Slacker plays songs based on your favorite artists or tracks, in addition to genre-specific stations. Slacker has a free level and two premium options: Slacker Plus ($3.99 per month) and Slacker Premium ($9.99 per month), with Slacker Premium featuring on-demand music like Spotify.
• Songza: Songza sets itself apart with its Music Concierge featuring situation-based music, from Waking Up, to Unwinding After a Long Day, or even A Sweaty Dance Party.
• Others: Grooveshark, Rdio, MOG, Rhapsody

According to the annual Infinite Dial study released last month by Arbitron and Edison Research, weekly Internet radio listening jumped more than 30 percent in the past year. The study includes streaming AM and FM stations.

Pandora listeners hit 22 percent of people 12 years and older who’ve listened in the past month, up from 16 percent last year, according to the same study.

New car tech is catching up, too. Including “Infotainment” systems that connect to Internet radio services like Pandora and satellite radio service Sirius XM. Pandora is available in 48 vehicle models across 18 brands and an array of aftermarket multimedia systems.

Cars with built-in iPod sync and audio jacks enable a driver to either wirelessly sync a device or plug it in, playing the audio through the car’s stereo system.

More than 70 percent of Pandora’s listening hours were from a device other than the computer, the company announced Tuesday. This correlates with the growing number of mobile devices and users accessing the Internet – and Internet radio – away from the computer.

In the past two years, smartphone ownership has tripled. The percentage of people who’ve listened to Internet radio by connecting a mobile device to the car stereo has experienced a 50 percent increase in the past 12 months, reaching 17 percent, according to Arbitron and Edison Research.

More than half of users between 18 and 24 years old have listened to an iPod or mp3 player in the car as their main source of music. One in five is streaming Pandora, according to a separate study by Arbitron and Edison Research.

In-car listening is the biggest area of potential growth for Internet radio services. In the next five years, Internet radio will gain more ground in the car. It’s only a matter of time before the technology hits the streets and moves along the adoption curve.

Turning the dial

Like television and newspapers, radio is evolving by adapting to shifts in the way we live – and listen.

The consumer’s desire for personalized media is driving the shift. We’re responsible for the changes that are occurring. It’s happening because we asked for it. Companies like Pandora and Spotify exist because they noticed it before the others, maybe even before we noticed it.

Consumers told them what they wanted; and they were listening. They responded with services that are transforming the radio landscape.

“Mobile connectivity has allowed us to deliver on our mission of providing people with music they love…” said Pandora President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Kennedy.

“The continued growth of Pandora shows that personalized radio is fundamentally changing the way people listen to music.”

Sony’s CRACKLE making noise with free Internet TV service

While Netflix was busy battling HBO over exclusive content and providing an increasingly valid reason to cut the cable-cord, Sony’s Crackle just kept building.

Adding content, signing advertisers and launching on an array of devices including Xbox 360, Roku, Sony Blu-ray players, Sony Internet-connected TVs, Android, iPhone, iPad and more.

Its time out of the spotlight paid off. Now it’s clear that Crackle, which launched in the summer of 2007, is a contender.

Opting for an ad-supported model — the lifeblood of terrestrial radio — Crackle is free on all devices. It’s a proven formula: Free service = more users. More users = more ad dollars. Great method for generating revenue and users.

Other ad-supported services: Terrestrial radio and now Pandora and Slacker, Facebook and websites (see those banner ads? They’re paying the bills.) All ad-supported. 

Crackle’s fresh content and smooth interface makes it feel like mini-Netflix. Hundreds of movies, clips and made-for-TV content. Plus the only place away from DVD you’ll find Seinfeld, which features 10 new episodes episodes each month.

Movies, Clips and TV like Spider Man 3, Ghostbusters, 21, Pineapple Express, Year One, Talladega Nights, Cruel Intentions, Passengers, Joe Dirt, Vacancy, Stranger than Fiction, 8MM, Basic Instinct 2, TV shows like Seinfeld and News Radio.

Crackle reports nearly 300 movies. More than 100 TV shoes and around 50 original TV shows featuring made-for-Crackle content.

Sure the library’s not as vast as Netflix or even Amazon Instant Video, but it’s free and available on a growing number of devices.

Crackle is mysteriosly absent from PlayStation 3, even though Crackle itself is a Sony service. Crackle lists that it’s available on PS3, though only through the PlayStation web browser. It’s not currently available on PS3 in app-form.

Venture Beat reported today, however, that Sony is preparing to announce a new video service for PS3. Rumored to involve Internet channels or apps. (An idea we suggested more than a year ago.) The new service would likely include Crackle.

Some devices as of late now require the Crackle user to login with a username and passord. Which tells me Sony wants a more accurate count of users and active users for advertising.

Like Netflix or Hulu, Crackle users can add content to a queue or choose to subscribe to TV shows.

And its mobile and iPad versions are smooth and attractive.

Crackle’s almost ready for the big leagues. And its timing is near-perfect. Though it’s entering a crowded marketplace, not one has presented itself as a real Netflix competitor.

And I wouldn’t count anyone out.

Tech companies battling for customers

This is a great time to be a consumer. Companies are battling to release the next greatest advancement in technology — whether it’s NFC, Cloud Storage, Streaming Video or even Social Networking — and the consumers are ready and waiting. The instant a company releases a new product or service, the competition follows suit.

And that makes today’s consumer more connected than ever.

Brand extensions are to blame for much of the competition in technology today. Foursquare brings about Facebook Places. Skype leads to Google Hangouts. Square brings mobile payment to the forefront, with PayPal and Google following closely behind. Facebook (and MySpace before that) brought the rise of the social network; Google is now employing a brand extension with Google+.

A Brand Extension is when a company known for a particular good/service attempts to extend its services to another business category beyond its initial range.

Now, the current landscape:

Social Networking

Facebook vs. Google+

Facebook has been king of the social networking world since it overtook MySpace in 2008. MySpace was recently sold to Specific Media and entertainment artist Justin Timberlake. It’s future is still uncertain.

In the limited beta release of Google+, Google goes head to head with Facebook. A similar scenario to its battle with MySpace, only Google+ seems better equipped.

Google+ invites are on the streets as the company seems to be opening up its social network to more users. It’s limited beta at first offered only short windows for invites from current users. The service already is reported to have users in the millions, after a little more than one week on the market. Facebook, meanwhile, recently confirmed it has acquired 750 million users.

Mobile Payment

Square vs. Google vs. Paypal

Mobile payments are a hot topic, and the most popular service is likely Square, which hit $1 million in processed payments after less than a year in business. Square was launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in May of 2010.

Square allows users — whether it’s for personal or businesses use — to accept credit card payments using a smartphone and Square’s free mobile payment device, through which users swipe their actual plastic cards. (Square does not use NFC technology.)

Google unveiled its Google Wallet offering, a partnership with Citi, MasterCard, First Data, and Sprint. Google Wallet is an Android app that makes your phone your wallet. It accomplishes this by storing virtual versions of your plastic cards on your smartphone.

Using Near-Field Technology (NFC), users will be able to pay via their Google-Wallet equipped smartphones simply by tapping the phone on a checkout reader, available at many merchant locations.

And most recently, PayPal bolstered its mobile offering on July 7 with the $240 million acquisition of mobile-payment service Zong.

Zong partners with hundreds of mobile phone carriers around the world and allows users to enter their mobile phone number to make purchases. The charges are then applied to the user’s monthly mobile-phone bill.

Zong was eBay’s second mobile acquisition. The first was Fig Card, a Square-like device that allows users to accept payments with credit cards by swiping them through Fig’s USB-powered reader.

Check-ins

Foursquare vs. Facebook

Location-based applications allow users to ‘check-in’ via smartphone and share their location with other users of the service or other social networks. Users are able to see who else is checked in at a given location (from all users) or friends in nearby locations. By checking in, users receive points and/or badges and can unlock certain specials determined by the retailer.

The most publicized of these location-based apps is Foursquare. Today, there are a reported 8 million Foursquare users, up from just one million a year ago.

With the introduction of Facebook Places and other location-based services like Whrrl, which was acquired by daily deals service Groupon in mid-April, companies are copying Foursquare’s model. And vice versa, as evidenced by Foursquare’s recent inclusion and emphasis on its Yelp-like service directory Explore. Brand extensions are on display everywhere we look.

In June, Fast Company took a closer look at Foursquare vs. Facebook Places.

Video Inside Social Networking

Google vs. Facebook

With Google+, the company introduced Hangouts, a video-calling service. One week later, Facebook announced a partnership with Skype, allowing users to make video calls over the social network.

Facebook Video Calling will feature one-on-one video calls to your friends, a stripped-down version of Skype from what I understand. (Note: that’s not me in the screenshot; it’s a Facebook promo screen.)

The biggest advantage with Facebook Video Calling has when compared to Skype is that users don’t have to sign-up and login to Skype to chat; they simply do so through Facebook.

Google+ Hangouts allows group video chats with up to 10 participants, a sort of live chat room among your friends.

When Google+ Hangouts feature is launched, you can choose whom to invite in the video chat or simply alert all friends (or any other Circle) that you’re hanging out. And then wait for someone, among the Circle you’ve selected, to respond. (Note: that is me in the screenshot below, chatting with no one.)

As you can see at the bottom of the chat window (above), YouTube is also accessible via Hangouts.

I haven’t really discovered how YouTube can be used inside Hangouts. But I did watch Cake’s The Distance. I guess if my friends were on there we could have all watched it together…and then checked all of our reactions?

Google+ Hangouts and YouTube might be useful for work-related presentations. This service encroaches on GoToMeeting‘s territory. Now I’ve just got to find some people who want to have a meeting about Cake.

Cloud Storage

Amazon vs. Apple

On the Cloud, users can store music, videos, photos, and documents, which are then accessible from any computer or device with an internet connection and access to the cloud.

Amazon starts users off with a free 5GB of storage space. The 5GB of free space is about enough space, Amazon says, to store 1,000 songs. This first tier is free and you’ll never be charged for it. If a user purchases a digital album from Amazon’s mp3 store (amazon.com), it’ll upgrade your 5GB of free storage to 20GB. Other pricing/storage options for the Amazon Cloud range from 20GB to 1,000GB of space.

Apple iCloud operates in the same way as the Amazon Cloud Player, with iTunes integrated into iCloud. Everything purchased on iTunes is automatically accessible on the iCloud, in addition to other apps, photos, books and documents.

Streaming Music

Some companies like Amazon and Apple have tied their digital music services directly to Cloud Storage. Others like Slacker and Pandora are offering a more entertainment-centered approach.

Pandora makes things easy for listeners: subscription free and on nearly every device you own.

Pandora got its start on the computer. But the company is making even bigger leaps away from its traditional home on the PC; Pandora is now available on smartphones, tablets, televisions and a select number of automobiles.

According to a published report from Advertising Age, more than 50 percent of Pandora listening accomplished on devices other than the PC.

Slacker, however, is beginning to outshine Pandora in both integration and subscription options. Slacker offers three ways to listen. The first tier, like Pandora, is free of charge (but with ads) and allows users to create a custom station based on a particular band or song. The second is a paid subscription plan that provides unlimited song skips and is ad-free; Slacker Radio Plus is $3.99 per month.

Slacker also has a partnership with ABC News, with news breaks at the top of each hour for subscribers of either Slacker Plus or Slacker Premium Radio.

Slacker’s newest subscription is called Slacker Premium Radio. At $9.99 per month, this service includes everything available in Slacker Radio Plus as well as on-demand music, allowing listeners to search for and play songs on-demand, or songs from a particular artist. Slacker Premium Radio encroaches on MOG’s and Rdio’s territory — a brand-extension of sorts — by offering on-demand music.

It’s an exciting time for both consumers and businesses. Each service is experiencing tremendous competition — which only fuels innovation — as companies vie for the consumers’ time, interest and money.

The customers ultimately decide which products succeed and which ones flop. Therefore the success of these businesses relies much on us, the consumers, and in our experiences with these products and brands and how seamlessly we can integrate them into our lives.

The best technology becomes second-nature, like a brand extension of ourselves.

–

Source: PC Magazine, cbsradio.com, siriusxm.com, pandora.com, slacker.com, usatoday.com, cnet.com, radioink.com, Ando Media, Mashable.com, Mediapost.com, TechCrunch, Tech Crunch TVFast Company, Mashable, Techmeme, CNet, ReadWriteWeb, GigaOm, Engadget, CNN Money, MacWorld, AdAge, All Things Digital, The Next Web, Foursquare, Google, Facebook, Pandora, Slacker, Square, Paypal, Amazon.

My head is in the clouds

Just when I understood the difference between Cumulus, Stratus and Cirrus, everyone’s talking about this new Internet Cloud.

The Cloud

The Cloud has been receiving a lot of buzz lately. But in fact, the Cloud (or cloud computing) is really just a metaphor for the Internet — and personal storage on a network. So it’s not exactly new. In a sense, our email operates on a Cloud. If you’ve ever logged into your email from more than one location, or stored email messages in a folder for viewing later, you’ve accomplished the same thing.

There’s also a distinction between Public and a Private Clouds, as well as hybrids, which I have yet to wrap my head around. That’s why we’re sticking to Public Cloud talk in this post.

If anyone’s an expert in this Cloud bu’ness (particularly public vs. private or hybrid clouds), feel free to shoot me an email at ericsadblog@gmail.com and set me straight.

Nevertheless, the press surrounding it has certainly exploded within the last year. As well as the number of companies developing their own cloud services for the public. Namely, Amazon, Google and most recently Apple.

The Cloud is like a hard drive in the sky, allowing users to store files on a computer network accessible on-demand from any device with an Internet connection. Versus storing documents on a local computer, and thus only accessible from that specific computer.

Users can upload their own music to the Cloud, in addition to documents, photos, videos, etc, in addition to use as a backup service. Or as with Amazon and soon Apple via iTunes, users can purchase music online and save it directly to the Cloud.

The only limitation with the Cloud is that an Internet Connection is required to access it; though files can be saved from the Cloud to a local device (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc) for offline access. But I suppose that’s the same as saying you can only make calls on your cell phone where you have service. That hasn’t exactly stopped adoption of mobile phones.

Cloud Choices – It’s awfully overcast

Clouds come in different shapes and sizes (both real clouds and Internet Clouds). Most companies are offering a free amount of storage space to start (for example, Amazon offers 5GB free) with premium-priced storage upgrades.

Amazon, Google and Apple are entering a heated battle over Cloud services. All three of which are putting emphasis on music storage with the Amazon Cloud Player, Google Music Beta and Apple’s iCloud, which will reportedly feature streaming music and integration with iTunes.

Apple Inc’s CEO Steve Jobs is expected to introduce and fully explain its iCloud tomorrow, June 6, at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. (It’s a cool $1,599 to attend WWDC. If you didn’t buy your tickets, it’s too late; the event’s sold out. I had my credit card ready and everything. Maybe next year.)

Now, onto the Clouds. There are many Cloud services and companies offering Public or Private Clouds for Business. Here are Cloud offerings from three of the biggest players in media in Amazon, Google and Apple:

Amazon Cloud Drive

Amazon’s cloud drive starts you off with 5GB of storage space for free with additional premium plans from $20 to $1,000 per year, billed annually. Users can store “music, videos, photos, and documents on Amazon’s secure servers.” The 5GB of free space is about enough space, Amazon says, to store 1,000 songs. This first tier is free and you’ll never be charged for it.

If a user purchases a digital album from Amazon’s mp3 store (amazon.com), it’ll upgrade your 5GB of free storage to 20GB. Though after one year, if not renewed, users will be bumped down to the free 5GB. It’s not an automatic renewal, so that’s nice in my opinion. We’ve all taken advantage of free offers and forgotten about them, only to be charged for something we didn’t really want.

Other pricing/storage options are as follows, from 20GB to 1,000GB of space:

Google Cloud Apps & Google Music Beta

Google has taken a slightly different approach to the Cloud, offering a sleek line of Cloud Apps for different purposes. And Google’s been at this a while. I’m sure most of us are familiar with at a least a few of its Cloud Apps, whether or not we knew that’s what they were called. Google’s Cloud Apps include Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Chrome, Google Groups, among others.

“Because data in Google Apps is stored in the cloud instead of on employee computers, multiple users can access and contribute to projects simultaneously without worrying about using the same operating system, software, or browser. For example, instead of collaborating on a document by sending back and forth revision after revision as attachments, documents are stored in the cloud with Google Apps. Coworkers can access the web-based document simultaneously in their browsers, and even make changes that other authorized users can see in real-time. Eliminating attachment round-trips by storing data in the cloud saves time and reduces frustrations for teams who need to work together efficiently.” – Google.com / Google Apps for Business

Google Music Beta 

In May, Google introduced Google Music Beta, a Cloud storage service for your music, similar to Amazon’s Cloud Player. Google, however, provides quite an impressive amount of storage in the Beta version, enough for 20,000 songs according to ZDNet. Amazon’s free 5GB allows around 1,000 songs.

Google Music Beta is available in the U.S. by invitation only and free for a limited time, according to the landing page in the Android Market.

Apple iCloud set to be unveiled June 6, 2011 at WWDC in San Francisco

The last of the three to introduce a Cloud music service, Apple may have been waiting for a reason. Reports have it that Apple has deals with Warner Music, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Group to stream songs directly to the iCloud, like Pandora, Slacker, Rdio and other streaming services.

It’s rumored that the service will start with a free trial for iTunes customers, followed by a $25 per-year rate. ZDNet‘s Larry Dignan says Apple will also look to sell advertising around the cloud service.

Apple currently offers a Cloud service called MobileMe, a subscription-based collection of  Internet services for Mac OS X, Windows, iPad,iPhone, and iPod Touch.

Apple’s iCloud all but ensures the next round of iPods will be able to connect to Wi-Fi or a 3G network.

Expect more on iCloud tomorrow after Apple’s WWDC.

A Face-Off in the Cloud

If Apple’s iCloud introduces what everyone is reporting — streaming music — this isn’t just a battle between Amazon, Google and Apple but also Nicolas Cage Pandora, Slacker, Rdio and other music streaming services. According to San Francisco’s International Business Times, Apple has also been in talks with the film industry, possibly adding movies and video to iCould. Could Apple be looking to face off against Netflix as well?

They’ve already invested in video streaming with Apple TV, though the service only includes a small line of Internet apps and pay-per-view titles, no content deals with film studios. If Apple reaches a deal with the film industry for iCloud, you can bet those titles are coming to Apple TV as well.

Amazon and Apple have a clear advantage in that users can purchase music from either Amazon.com or iTunes and have it saved directly to the respective Cloud. Apple’s support from major record labels could push it to the front of the pack.

How I’ve been using the Cloud

For the past month, I’ve been enjoying my time in the Cloud. I signed up for the 5 free GB of Amazon Cloud back in April. I then bumped that up to 20 GB free with the purchase of the one-day special (then two-day special due to high demand and a server crash) on Lady Gaga’s new album for only 99 cents. (If you’re curious, I bought if for my wife. Well, plus the additional 15 GB of storage space.)

The increase to 20GB lasts for one year. But, once that free trial runs out, I’ll probably be so used to using it that I’ll have to renew. (After all, it’s only $20 per year.) That is, unless I’m swayed by Apple’s iCloud offering.

The Amazon Cloud allows you to store music, documents, pictures or video. I have a number of files saved for backup or if I need a document when I’m on the road. But I’ve mostly been using Amazon’s Cloud for its Cloud Player.

Amazon Cloud Player – When I’m at the gym or in my car, the Cloud Player is great, with access to all of my songs and without taking up space on my phone.

I’ve also been taking advantage of Google Docs.

I reinstalled my operating system on my Dell XPS M1530 a while back, and haven’t gotten around to installing Microsoft Office. But with Google Docs, I haven’t really needed it.

What’s next for the Cloud?

 

In our increasingly mobile lifestyles, the Cloud is just what we need. And at just the right time. We’re all part of this mobile shift. A shift in the way we work, live, play, communicate and collaborate.

Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets, Netbooks, and entertainment services like Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Slacker as well as mobile payments like Google Wallet, and NFC technology. Mobile is taking over the news and our lives.

The Cloud is the next logical step in connecting our mobile devices to all of our files, music and video.

Today, home is wherever we are. Office productivity and entertainment can happen anywhere. I suppose that’s both good and bad. Luckily, if we choose to use it, there’s an off switch.

 

Radio Today…and Tomorrow

I worked in the radio industry from 2008 through 2011. In that time, I had my finger on the pulse of both traditional radio as well as new radio offerings both online and via satellite. Current trends are only the beginning. The radio of the future will blow it all out of the water.

Since my time in radio, I have continued to follow radio trends in both traditional listening on the dial, online radio like Pandora and Slacker as well as satellite radio service SiriusXM. Like all other media, radio is evolving. But there are still needs that these new radio services — even Pandora — aren’t fulfilling.

This week, I thought I’d revisit the radio landscape and project on what radio might look like tomorrow.

Local, terrestrial, radio is still dominant as far as listening is concerned, reaching 93% of Americans age 12+ each week, about 241 million weekly listeners. Online services like Pandora and Slacker are attracting a fair amount of listeners — but lack one thing that make terrestrial radio successful: ubiquitous in-car access.

According to recent data, nearly 70% of radio listening is done in-car, according to research company GFK MRI. That’s a glaring need that Pandora and Slacker aren’t yet fulfilling.

Until Internet radio services like Pandora and Slacker enter the automobile, they will lag far behind terrestrial radio.

Sirius and XM merged in 2008. Soon thereafter the company introduced its new logo.

SiriusXM Radio has also capitalized on the in-car experience, though a subscription to SiriusXM is required. SiriusXM hit 20 million subscribers near the end of 2010. Still a small percentage compared to terrestrial listeners and behind even Pandora and Slacker according to reports.

SiriusXM also offers SiriusXM Internet Radio, for an additional fee to all satellite radio subscribers. At first, the online catalogue included only select channels. When SiriusXM introduced a new channel lineup this month, SiriusXM Internet Radio made available all of the channels of the satellite variety plus a few Internet-exclusive channels. Could a separate, standalone, online-only subscription model help SiriusXM build its user base?

Another element to the success of terrestrial radio and SiriusXM is its live and local content. Something SiriusXM certainly recognizes. All of its music channels feature live hosts. And they’ve shown interest in adding localized content with Weather and Traffic channels. It’s something they seem to be interested in developing further.

In fact, SiriusXM recently added three local ESPN Radio shows. According to Marcus Vanderberg of Media Bistro, SiriusXm will pick up ESPN New York’s Mike Lupica Show and Michael Kay Show along with ESPN Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy. 

“Whether it’s the Bulls’ run through the playoffs, Yankees and Mets baseball, or another local team making headlines, there is a constant sports buzz in these two cities,” Steve Cohen, SiriusXM’s SVP of Sports Programming, was quoted on MediaBistro.com.

“That makes for excellent sports talk, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer these great shows to all of our listeners, allowing them to follow the local story lines all year long,” Cohen said.

UPDATE: Before posting, I learned that SiriusXM has now made available a separate, standalone SiriusXM Internet Radio Subscription for $12.95 per month. A subscription to the satellite radio service is no longer required for SiriusXM Internet Radio. Per SiriusXM, users can listen on PC, Mac or  smartphone “with apps available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and compatible Blackberries and Android devices.” I’m not exactly sure when this standalone subscription was introduced but this was the first I noticed it. This is important for two reasons: 1) a Sirius/XM compatible radio is  no longer required for the service; 2) When 3G (or 4G) enters the automobile, Sirius/XM will be well equipped.

Slacker introduces Slacker Premium Radio

Last week, Slacker introduced Slacker Premium Radio in an effort to break new ground — becoming more than just a Pandora alternative — giving more choice and personalization to the listener.

“The new radio should be able to give people more control of what they have,” Slacker CEO Jim Cady was quoted in Radio Ink.

Slacker Premium Radio offers songs, albums or artists on-demand. Now Slacker is not only competing with Pandora but also services like Rdio, which offer large, on-demand music libraries with a paid subscription. Search for an artist/band and hear all available content on-demand.

In addition to Slacker’s free radio, like Pandora, Slacker offers ad-free streaming of both personalized and genre-specific channels (like terrestrial radio stations).

To likely differentiate itself from Pandora and move in on the ground of terrestrial radio and SiriusXM, Slacker introduced ABC News to its Slacker Plus subscription. ABC News is also available in its Premium plan.

According to Slacker CEO Jim Cady, Slacker now has 26 million listeners and 8.5 million songs in its library. Pandora had reported some 60 million listeners in the latter half of 2010, a figure that Slacker CEO Jim Cady laughed off. It’s not clear how either company is tracking or counting its listeners.

Today’s Options for listeners:

• Traditional/Terrestrial Radio genre-specific listening, free for both AM/FM stations and online streams. *Ad-supported
• HD Radio like terrestrial radio, HD radio is subscription free but requires the purchase of an HD radio. HD has yet to take off due to the necessary purchase of an HD Radio (which does not stand for high definition) and the relatively  few stations that have an HD channel. *Ad-supported
• SiriusXM slowly becoming a force in radio landscape, thanks in part to its inclusion in a number of vehicles. A subscription to SiriusXM is required (starting at $12.95 per month). *Subscription- and ad-supported dual-revenue stream
• SiriusXM Internet Radio introduced in 2006, SiriusXM Internet Radio now features all of the channels of the satellite variety plus a few Internet-exclusive channels. Now available as a separate subscription ($12.95 per month). Available to current subscribers for an additional $2.99 per month. *Subscription and ad-supported
• Streaming Radio local radio stations offer online streaming to listeners near and far, also subscription free. *Ad-supported
• iheartradio a collection of 750+ local radio stations online from more than 150 cities.
• Pandora personalized radio as well as genre-specific stations, Pandora is the most publicized Internet radio service and is available on many devices. Pandora offers a free plan and an ad-free subscription plan called Pandora One ($3 per month). *Ad-supported, but also ad-free subscription
• Slacker like Pandora, Slacker offers personalized, subscription-free listening as well as an ad-free level ($3.99 per month) and the new Slacker Premium Radio ($9.99 per month) featuring unlimited on-demand music and ABC News. *Ad-supported as well as an ad-free subscription plan
• Rdio services like Rdio feature unlimited on-demand listening via mobile, computer and phone. Rdio is ad-free and costs $4.99 per month. *Subscription-supported

Radio tomorrow – the future

Pandora and Slacker will lead the way, forcing automobiles to incorporate Internet Radio capabilities in vehicles via 3G connection. Opening up our vehicles to 3G and Internet Radio will not only benefit services like Pandora, Slacker and possibly SiriusXM Internet Radio but also local traditional radio, as it is becoming the norm for terrestrial stations to offer Internet streaming.

As you can see from the radio options above — from traditional radio to Pandora, Slacker, SiriusXM and on-demand services like Rdio — the options for listeners today are plenty. Tomorrow they’ll be even greater. So we’ll need an in-car solution that can handle all that ear-poppin’ goodness.

In my opinion, car tech is getting ahead of itself a little bit with what some are calling Infotainment Systems, or complete, connected car dashboards displaying as much information and entertainment as some home entertainment setups. Some Infotainment systems are well done, others are just overkill.

The adoption curve is steep enough. But companies are moving forward with Infotainment Systems in vehicles, some with 3G connections. I tend to believe we should keep it simple and cost effective to increase the number of drivers who have access to these units. Not everyone will see a need for these or, even if they do, be able to afford some of them. Here are a few companies that are getting it right by focusing more on the music and less on a computer in your car.

I started a mock-up of the perfect in-car unit — focusing on enhanced music offerings via 3G connection with terrestrial radio, HD Radio, SiriusXM, Pandora, Slacker, Auxillary input and USB — Until I saw what some leading companies are up to. Then I figured I’d put their work on display.

Unlike some complete, Infotainment units, these appear to be more simplistic and accessible to the masses. There’s another reason terrestrial radio is still the most-used audio plaltform: it’s intuitive; and built-in.

Microsoft created a pretty slick unit with Kia. The UVO by Microsoft and Kia, first introduced at the 2010 CES. However, the UVO had no inclusion for Pandora or Slacker. At least in its initial launch.

“Features of UVO include advanced speech recognition; a 4.3-inch full-color display screen; and MyMusic, a jukebox-type function that enables drivers to shuffle between music sources including personal music folders, an MP3 player, or AM/FM and satellite radio.”

___

Also introduced at the 2010 CES was MyFord Touch by Ford. Which includes Internet connectivity and Internet radio, specifically Pandora.

___

Not to be outdone, Toyota has developed a unit that syncs a smartphone with the car dashboard, connecting to the 3G network through the phone. The Toyota Entune.

___

The future for radio is as bright as ever with new services like Pandora and Slacker adding personalization and innovation to an already exciting industry. Watch for our favorite services to offer more choices and content in the coming year; and get ready for Internet Radio in your car via 3G. Because that’s when Pandora and Slacker will truly shine, for it’s where we spend much of our radio time and — from an advertiser’s standpoint — where we are most receptive.