Tuning in to Clubhouse yesterday while I took a short road trip.
I like to take road trips because it allows me to use the time to do everything I can’t do in the office because of distractions like thinking, listening to audiobooks, and getting some insight from thought-provoking industry people that I respect and to gain more perspective on the industry. I’m mentally always hungry for new, innovative, and creative information because I bore very easily (yawn).
I got to talk to about six people during the road trip and a couple of them told me they are seeing young radio people back down from the spotlight and the need to promote themselves. Pretty much going along to get along and not wanting to ruffle any feathers. I talked about this five years ago and when I saw nobody cared I STFU.
A majority of the people I talked to also felt that the pandemic was going to bring about a certain permanent change in the radio industry. Even though the corporations were able to get PPP loans this time around, there is certainly that the money is a drop in the bucket when compared to the massive debt that many radio corporations are saddled with.
The general consensus was that jocks will continue to work from home and radio stations can start eliminating some of the brick and mortar debt tied up in long-term office contracts. That would make sense. When the question was posed back to me about the future of radio I responded that I think radio is trapped because of PPM.
I’m really surprised other rating systems have not come into play over the last few years so Nielsen obviously has a stronghold on the concept but I think it kills the ability for radio stations to think outside the box and be more creative with programming like NPR is (Have you listened to NPR lately? Amazing).
That being said I also think many black or R&B and Hip Hop stations are leaving a TON of money on the table by not properly utilizing their websites, a great tool to garner additional income and to better target their listeners with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I’m not in that room with them but I’m thinking many of the corporate stations are selling advertising for their sites and podcasts as group packages.
The problem is, most of the sites lack compelling content but more rehashed celebrity gossip that listeners can get from anywhere, and usually do. I’m not going to say what they are missing. I don’t just GIVE sh away for free … but I used to tho (lol).
I’ve been told that’s it’s almost impossible to find a great website content creator that knows radio. I actually believe that. Black talent on the air wants to be in the broadcast studio space not designing a website. Most radio people are absolutely one-trick ponies, they don’t just love radio they live and breathe it.
After my calls on the way back, I tuned into Clubhouse. I LOVE Clubhouse but I don’t have a lot of time to participate or listen but I listened for a couple of hours yesterday intently.
I was in a room called “Manifest Mondays” and I also love the rooms that talk about NFTs and how it will affect the music industry. I tune in to marketing rooms and rooms that talk about making $1000 in one day etc. All very compelling.
Ironically, I rarely see radio people in many of the rooms which is why I don’t talk about those things on the website. Clubhouse is yet ANOTHER huge platform that will continue to blossom with never-ending information, connections, and compelling content that greatly pertains to the future of everything including the music industry. I am told Isaac Hayes III is supposed to have a new app similar to Clubhouse but with additional features and Twitter is about to premiere a new Clubhouse type app.
It’s ironic because chat rooms are a bit antiquated, one would think, but the pandemic has people wanting more than hot girls poking out their asses and perching their lips saying … look at me ahem… LOOOK AT ME… PLEAAAASE!
I was reading a study that said porhub sites are at an all time high so people know where to get that and not get teased, if they want it.
Yep, Clubhouse is next-generation Podcasting and Talk radio. As a matter of fact, it makes talk radio look extremely dated, Rush Limbaugh would have sounded like a damn fool on Clubhouse. But one thing is evident. People want compelling, informative, and educational information and they are going to get it wherever they can and their broadcast options are widening by the day.
Jay Z Sells Tidal, Clubhouse Segment
I’m getting more deeply involved in SEO for my sites and to find out what people are looking for online pertaining to our industry. As a part of that, I’ve been following the success of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s “Leave the Door Open.”
So the video was released a few days ago and has already gotten over 20 million views but that really wasn’t the part that blew me away … there is a way to use Google search as an amazing tool to find out what people are searching for online and that song was searched for almost 1 BILLION times in a few days.
The ability to directly connect to what you want online with no middlemen is obviously very appealing to listeners. To that end, make no mistake there is money to be made online a LOT of money. I’ll leave it at that for now (see search below).
