On Monday, the public broadcaster showcased CBC Music, an internet site and mobile app with forty radio stations covering genres from indie rock to classical. To keep listeners coming back (that important “stickiness” in digi-speak), the service also includes create-your-own playlists and selections of songs by young artists such as Toronto’s Austra and Montreal’s Plants and Animals.
It’s not just a bid to draw in more listeners, but also opens up “a whole bunch of ways to hook up with them that [was] hard to do on terrestrial radio,” said Chris Boyce, CBC’s director of radio and audio.
This comes as broadcasters are increasing their presence in the world of programmes : Astral recently launched new mobile apps for its radio stations, with bonuses like exclusive in-studio performances. Meanwhile, subscription streaming services such as Rdio are once more rising, offering users access to large libraries of streaming music for a fee.
“Gone are the times when folk first heard a new track of music on the radio,” Boyce related.
The CBC isn’t trying to compete with online music shops like Apple’s iTunes, though. As an alternative the site links to iTunes. And no, it doesn’t replace CBC’s on-air music. There are presently no intention to dump the Radio two music station, Boyce said.
The Win
The CBC pulls savvy programmers. CBC’s independently spirited Radio 3, as an example, brings listeners everything from singer songwriter Kathleen Edwards to local Charlottetown band, Milks and Rectangles. Now that experience can be applied to a broad spectrum of genres, with streams dedicated to Canadian classical composers, some of the finest homegrown jazz and alt pop. CBC Music may become a key judge of the finest, if lesser-heard, music out there.
The Miss
It’s still radio : You can’t jump ahead to the subsequent song when listening to a stream. So while CBC Music caters to the new-media crowd, it requires old-media patience. You can jump forward or back while listening to playlists though. (Radio three host Lana Gay’s colorful list, including The Gruesome’s garage rocker Hey, is a highlight at the moment). Still, the nascent service only has a valuable few playlists so far. And features of individual artists have a grand total of seven acts at this time.
The Competition
The pay service Rdio gives users access to a big library of music for a monthly charge. Astral’s free applications are an extension of its stations, with added content like app-only performances of hot acts. In comparison, CBC Music feels like the CBC with a broader cross-section of music, unencumbered by the tight programming formats of non-public radio stations.
Another Big Thing
Spotify, officially not available in Canada, is nevertheless regarded as a standard bearer with its personalised playlists (Obama just posted his) and its highly searchable library of artists. CBC Music, by comparison, is more like reinforced radio. Yet some digital radio sites, like American public broadcaster NPR, have taken a sharp direction towards nuanced, esoteric music. The issue is whether users will need more breadth or even more eclecticism? More searchability or even more of a curated radio feel? What the CBC and the industry knows for sure is that we mostly desire more music as reported tagza.
