ASIA

India’s Hungama Artist Aloud, a platform that supports and promotes independent artists and content, has partnered with Big FM to launch the Hungama Artist Aloud App.Spanning 40+ diversified languages and 50+ genres including Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Folk, Indie, EDM and Ghazal in music and multi-regional comedy talent, this hub for all independent artists across original content art forms will be available on Android & iOS and Hungama Artist Aloud WebThe app, via its ‘Go Live’ feature will also provide artists a democratic approach to perform live events anywhere, anytime and earn revenue. Users can enjoy these events by purchasing either a single ticket for INR 89 or a pack of 5 for INR 269 and like / share the same with their loved ones.It will also allow fans to explore, share and create as many playlists as they desire.With a focus on fostering the relationship between artists and fans, the ‘S2A’ (Subscribe to Artist) feature will allow users to pay a subscription to their favourite artist. This will entitle them to receive early access to content and also receive one free live event passSoumini Sridhara Paul Senior Vice President, Hungama Artist Aloud, said: “The idea behind the launch of the app is to promote independent talent globally and help them reach out to a diverse audience. Independent content has been on the rise and we are thrilled to present these talented artists with a platform that takes them to further heights.” Sunil Kumaran, Chief Brand and Digital Officer, BIG FM, said: “Today, listeners are spread across platforms, starting their day with radio and subsequently moving to other streaming platforms throughout the day. In such times, being ubiquitous is the need of the hour. Our partnership with Hungama Artist Aloud is to expand our wings and venture into different avenues for our listeners and stakeholders.” […]

Malaysia’s Astro Radio stations Hitz FM, Mix FM and Lite FM are giving away cash prizes.Hitz FM’s contest ‘Hitz Not Right’ requires listeners to be the caller through when they hear the cue to call on Hitz FM. They have to name the name the song title based on the song sung by ‘Sing and Song’, two terrible singers, on-air. Contestants with the correct answer will win cash prizes starting from RM100. The contest runs till March 13.Mix FM’s ‘Beat the Mix’ gives one a chance to take home a share of RM 15,000 till March 11. A sound snippet of ‘cash-counting’ will be played on-air, and contestants need to say ‘MIX’ to stop the sound snippet before it ends. The amount of cash that contestants will win depends on the second at which the sound snipped is stopped. Contestants stand a chance to take home cash prizes ranges from RM5 to RM200.Lite FM’s Music to My Ears’ contest runs till March 11 and offers a chance to win a share of RM 15,000. Contestants need to correctly name the song title and artist based on the audio snippet played on-air, within the time limit. To determine how much cash to win, contestants need to choose the duration of the audio snippet: 10 seconds for RM25; 5 seconds for RM50; and 3 seconds for RM100. […]

Selling Radio Direct with Pat BrysonDiscussion has been ongoing for years about whether real, live salespeople will be replaced by mechanized buying systems. Some of those systems are in place, producing some sort of results.Human nature being what it is, a purchase will not take place until the buyer believes that their opportunity for reward is greater than their risk. And that’s where real, live salespeople enter the sales process. Our job with our clients is to reduce risk factors and create value in our campaigns. Other than offering a cheap price, this is something mechanised buying services have a hard time doing.How do we do this? In our presentationWe can reduce risk by adding several sections to our presentations. Testimonials, stories we tell about other successful clients, are golden. Do you have a bank of success stories? Success letters? If not, this should be a priority as we start 2022. Refresh your testimonial file. Every time a client tells you something great about their results, ask for a letter. If they don’t have time to write it, offer to write it yourself, then have them approve it and put it on their letterhead. When showing it to a client, TELL them the story first. Then give them the written proof. Your stories can be much more elaborate than the written page.My clients also use what we call a “logo page”. This page is full of logos of businesses who advertise with us. It’s an impressive group of advertisers.It says to the prospect: “you will be in good company when you advertise with us. Here are some of the businesses who have had great success using us.” Some of my clients also create a “team page.” This page lists internal people at the station who “touch” a client’s order as it passes through our system. It might include the General Manager, Sales Manager, Salesperson, Traffic Director, Production Director, Copywriter, Business Manager, Program Director. You give contact information for each. Here’s how you use it to assure the prospect:“When you become a client of XXXX, you have a team assigned to your account. I will be your primary contact, but in case I might be on holiday or on  a sick day and you need something immediately, we want you to know whom to call.” Then you walk the prospect through the people. This gives them comfort. It also works well when you are a new salesperson without much experience. You are asking for thousands of dollars and the prospect is wondering if you know what you are doing.If you are new in the job you can say to the prospect: “As you know, I am new. But your team has decades of experience. I have consulted with them in putting together your campaign.”Using these risk-reducing elements will help you to close more agreements.Stacking the value involves linking WHAT you are presenting to WHY you are presenting this particular campaign. What are the benefits to this client? Can you explain WHY you have scheduled the messages the way you have? Campaigns are created based on how the mind learns. We don’t just make schedules up. We create them based on the goals and objectives of the client and the scientific principles that facilitate learning. Advertising is education.When next you present, double-check that you have provided enough relevant value and have risk-reducing elements in your solution. Higher revenue awaits! […]

Content from BPRAre your listeners experiencing “genre fatigue”?  What is it? Pop music goes in cycles.  As a new style enters the mainstream it soon becomes over supplied, over represented and over saturated on radio and other media. Too many artists with similar sounding songs leave listeners tired and bored. This leads to the common complaint of lack of music variety.  We see this phenomenon in several ways…
Songs test with low passion … relatively few pop-based montages produce more than 20% “like a lot” scores …  the music is still ‘liked’ but do listeners choose their station simply because they like the songs that they hear?
The exception in the current pop environment is pop-based dance music … this has broad female appeal across most age groups and is one of the few pop-based styles with male appeal…. an interesting side effect of this is that the few pop- rock songs that make it through to the mainstream continue to test well and become durable hits.
Genre fatigue is a symptom of over supply and the desire to follow the current trend … while individual songs test well the audience as a whole complains the songs “sound the same…”
Solutions…
Examine a typical hour of your music scheduler and ask yourself if too many of the songs sound similar. Individual songs may test very well but the collective effect of hearing too many of them in a short period may have a negative effect on your audience.
Highlight songs that introduce an element of variety in your program. The sense of variety comes in many different forms.  Avoid too many titles in a row by male or female artists.  When possible allow for variation in tempo and energy level.
Do not be afraid to move a current hit to a lower rotation category such as “hot recurrent” even if the song is still testing very well after months of airplay.
When a style or trend appears to have reached a saturation point, look for the next trend that may be just starting to emerge. It may be found in a single song.
Highlight trendy songs before they become ubiquitous and can be heard everywhere in your market. The station that introduces a new trend or hit will often get the credit for having brought it to the listener’s attention.
by Peter Don and Andy Beaubien, BPR […]

This week Triple M Breakfast with Marto and Margaux raised $24,000 for UNICEF Australia’s Tongan Recovery Appeal.Tomorrow, the Vintage Reds take on a Tongan Invitational side at Suncorp Stadium – dual International Lote Tuqiri and fan favourite George Smith will feature in the Tongan side coached by Toutai Kefu while Chris Latham, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, and David Croft will line up for the Vintage Reds.Marto and Margaux auctioned off a place in the Vintage Reds side.Rob Flux from Property Developer Network was leading the bidding heading into the final stages, keen to resurrect his rugby career. “The body is a bit brittle, I’ve had three or four knee reconstructions, but this is all for a great cause.”But he was blinded by Sam Delvin from Harcourts Property Centre who come in with seconds left in the auction. “My brother was the First IV coach with Toutai Kefu at Ioana last year, so I’ll go to nine grand on the proviso that Toutai (former Wallabies great Toutai Kefu) doesn’t tackle me.”The pair traded bids until coming to a gentlemen’s agreement to EACH buy a place in the team for $12,000.The duo will take to the field with some of the greats of Australian rugby including Lote Tiquri, Digby Ioane, George Smith, James Horwill, Drew Mitchell, and Nathan Sharpe.Red’s coach and Dual International Brad Thorn also revealed exclusively to Marto and Margaux that he will be taking part in the game. “I always take my boots and mouthguard,” Thorn said. “I’ll play the first half of the match and then put my coach’s hat on for the Reds game against the Rebels.” […]

Astro Radio’s SYOK was awarded the ‘Most Number of Radio Channels on a Mobile Application’ by the Malaysia Book of Records, in recognition of the simultaneous launch of 60 online radio stations on the SYOK app.The award was presented to Kenny Ong, Chief Executive Officer, Astro Radio by Jwan Heah, Director, Business Development, Malaysia Book of Records.With an average of 3.18 million of digital listeners weekly on SYOK, the 60 online radio stations offer users extensive variety and compilations of music, and a Chinese news channel ‘YOU-NEIRONG’ for the latest news and current affairs updates.The stations on SYOK enable users to stream their favourite music genres and categories across languages including ballads, classics, acoustic music, dance music, workout music, K-pop, hip-hop, favourites from the 70s, 80s and 90s, rock, Jiwang, Cintan, Nasyid, Arabic, Bollywood songs, Irama Malaysia, Dangdut and more.Kenny Ong, Chief Executive Officer, Astro Radio, said: “We thank all Malaysians for their support and look forward to continue being pioneers in transforming the local audio landscape. We hope everyone enjoys the diverse and relevant online radio choices available on SYOK and look forward to more exciting offerings in time to come.”Jwan Heah, Director, Business Development, Malaysia Book of Records, said: “We congratulate SYOK for this achievement and we look forward to continue recognising more record creators locally for their feats, achievements and creations in the Malaysian landscape.” […]