4 Reasons Why Radio is Still Relevant

In November of 1925, WSM Nashville broadcast the first episode of what would become the Grand Ole Opry show. Families gathered around their radios to listen to their favorite artists play. It was a phenomenon that took country music nationwide with its massive following. Sound like some nostalgic fantasy of the good old days? Here’s some good news: it’s still happening. As old as it is (really, old – the Opry is predates sliced bread), the Opry still runs as a live show and a radio program broadcast on the same WSM Nashville station, as well as globally online through satellite radio.

Digital audio advertising is exploding, recently becoming a
$1.6 billion market. Spotify and Pandora continue to duke it out to be #1 in
digital radio – but what happens when Spotify advertising lets users skip any
and all ads…unlimited, and for free?

Spotify currently has a “Discover” algorithm that curates
and recommends certain artists and songs based on the user’s listening history.
You listen to a lot of Taylor Swift? Here, you might like Ed Sheeran too. It’s
a system that works – so why not apply that same idea to the ads on the
platform? That’s exactly what the unlimited skippable ads are planning to prove.

Radio jingles have been around since the late 1920’s when General Mills adopted its own a cappella group, the Wheaties Quartet, to save its failing cereal brand. Ever since, companies have been following in Wheaties’ footsteps, creating their own catchy songs for consumers to sing along to. Radio jingles increase brand awareness by repetition and memory. Let’s break down some of the aspects of these branded songs:

Brand Awareness

Radio jingles have a simplistic way of creating brand awareness. When people hear it, they associate it with your brand. Once a consumer has heard your radio jingle and they see an ad for your business or product, they’ll have the song to associate it with.

Hi. We’re Push Button Productions and this is a list of the people who work here. VIP meet and greet tickets available for a limited time only.

Jon

Push Button Productions OG, master sound mixer, witty one liner extraordinaire, thinks craft beer is a scam, really likes jingles, classic car aficionado, dad of 3 (Hailey, Queen of the Universe and future world dictator, counts as 2 children)

Can be Found: changing his clothes after accidentally matching Yeosh again

Yeosh

Push Button Productions OG, always on the phone, wrote for the school newspaper, his mom bakes the best banana bread, went to the Pizza Hut buffet for his birthday, judges millennials but secretly is one

Can be Found: getting his loyalty card stamped at Verona’s Pizza

Brianna

Brilliant scriptwriter for Push Button Productions 1/3 of the time, bad at fractions, always orders what’s on the chalkboard, Carrot Top said she was pretty, wrote this list, will take anything that’s free

Can be Found: taking a Buzzfeed quiz on what type of bread she is (FYI, it’s a croissant)

Sam

Push Button Production’s social media guru, scores thrifty vintage threads, conspiracy theorist, latest slang informant, signs up for restaurant birthday coupons on days that aren’t her birthday

Can be Found: discovering ancient alien remains and unveiling the illuminati

Intern of the Semester

An unsuspecting victim of Push Button Productions every spring/summer/fall that typically has no idea what’s going on, tries their best, drinks venti mocha coconutmilk macchiatos, writes twitter posts

Can be found: googling “difference between audio logo and jingle”

Matt

Makes guest appearances in the Push Button soundbooth when we need to chant something as a group for a spot, gets beard hair in the sink, packs his lunch, receives far too many packages in the mail

Can be Found: outside taking a smoke break

You’re setting up your brand’s killer summer campaign. You’ve booked TV spots, outdoor space, and created digital video content that you’re sure will go viral – you think you’ve covered all your bases. But are you missing a gold mine right in front of you? Have you neglected the medium that reaches more Americans than television and smartphones? Have you – gasp! – left radio advertising out of your campaign?

We’re only a little offended, but don’t worry, we can help you see the light.

Radio Advertising

Radio advertising has been around for nearly a century now, but a few things have changed since 1922.

If you’ve even connected to internet at all within the past week, you’ve probably seen the great debate over the “Laurel/Yanni” audio clip.

For those unfamiliar, you can find the clip on our Facebook page, but here’s a brief synopsis: it’s just a male voice saying a word that either distinctly sounds like “Laurel” or “Yanni”, depending on who you ask. It’s reminiscent of the great Dress debacle a few years back, with some firmly within the “Laurel” camp, some fiercely defending “Yanni”, and a few who flip-flop based on the weather, their mood, the volume, or whatever causes them to magically hear different things.

This just in: 82% of people would not buy a car without radio. And now 75% of new cars have connectivity to internet radio via mobile phones. Newer cars are coming out with more and more options for streaming music.

Internet Radio

And when drivers are home, smart speakers like Alexa and Amazon Echo are also changing how we listen to music. People are shouting, “Alexa, play the Bee Gees!” down the hall more than ever before. Internet radio data is even being heavily factored into the results of the Billboard Top 100—which in turn has an effect on which songs get airplay on traditional broadcast.

2017 has been a great year for radio and radio lovers alike. With new ways that stations and advertisers can communicate with their consumers, the radio industry is at an all-time high.

There have been many radio trends in 2017 that we loved and we wanted to share some of our top picks. These radio trends are what people are listening to, how they are listening to it, and some factors on how things can affect the content we listen to.

Let’s start with the facts. Radio still reaches more people than any other medium according to Nielsen; 93% of American adults to be exact.

Tailored Content

Okay, so you’ve been radio advertising for a while now and a few radio ads go on the air and they’re all fine and dandy but…you didn’t get the results you wanted. Why is that? Maybe the content wasn’t tailored to your target audience, or maybe the people listening weren’t who you should be going after.

Did your ad for the hottest new toy reach the local children and also appeal to their moms? Is it a better choice to use dance music rather than grunge rock for your happy hour at the bar ad?

It could be a better idea to place your ads on internet radio rather than broadcast.

Here’s a bit of background on Internet radio for those history buffs out there. Carl Malamud was the very first person to broadcast his station through the web in 1993. On his show, simply titled Internet Talk Radio, he would interview computer experts about the Internet and the newest technology at the time. A year later, The Rolling Stones would host the first multicast concert through the web–a major milestone in Internet radio!

Radio.co dives into more detail about the history of Internet radio if you crave more internet radio history.