Gordon Hastings is president of ghhMANAGEMENT. He is the founder of the Broadcasters Foundation of America and the former president of Katz Radio and Katz Television. He is a founder of the Radio Mercury Awards and the Broadcasters Foundation of America Celebrity Golf Tournament.
“We see this on YouTube, in which budding comedians and filmmakers have been able to secure first a cult audience, then industry contacts and finally paying gigs and mainstream recognition. But more than simply identifying diamonds in the rough, crowdsourcing also cultivates and nurtures that talent.” (CROWDSOURCING, Jeff Howe)
Who said the concept of YouTube need be limited to visual media? Crowdsourcing, upon which the YouTube model is based, (see earlier post) is the means by which the audience can participate in the creation of new generation radio content.
Pepsi-Cola North American Beverages is already on this track. It may not be crowdsourcing at this moment in the strictest sense of the word but Pepsi’s Green Label Sound is already operating in this space. In an article in this weeks Billboard,
Frank Cooper III, chief marketing officer for beverages for Pepsi-Cola North America talks about Mountain Dew’s label Green Label Sound ; Says Cooper, “We launched Green Label Sound to empower a community of artists who have a DIY ethic (does this sound like YouTube?), who often function outside the mainstream and want to remain true to themselves. Working with the Cornerstone agency, we give these artists access to resources and tools to expand their exposure, plugging them into the Mountain Dew infrastructure to fuel their growth. It is a singles-only label.”
Here is a most interesting twist, downloading these new Green Label Sound artists’ songs is free! However, hold on, as some of you know, these artists are featured on 60-second radio commercials paid for by Mountain Dew!
Here is the point. With crowdsourcing, enabled by open source software and creative ideas like Green Label Sound, why not provide a platform whereby local artists can get on the air on a market by market ( hometown talent, hometown fans) basis? By using technology to tap into the crowd, the universe of potential talent is virtually unlimited. It becomes a local social phenomenon because the community and the audience get to participate.
To quote Cooper once again, “Jukeboxes and top-forty radio were great social tools of past generations. For this generation the mechanisms have changed but the ideal, if not the song, remains the same.” The mechanism (broadcast radio) has not really changed and is ready and able to grab the YouTube formula and get this type of audience-based creative uploaded and on the air for mass exposure. MyRadio!
Cooper is correct, music is a social experience and top-forty radio was a great social tool of past generations. Radio remains a free social medium. That has not changed and the industry is hungrier for new ideas than ever.
IRadio, MyRadio, OurRadio. You bet!
Frank Cooper III and Pepsi-Cola North American Beverages have an eye-opening concept.
ghh
