(by Carl Magnuson) So how does a small market country station in northern Alabama serve over a million online video views? The station owner Jerry Phillips (son of Sam Phillips of Sun Records) told me, "It begins with a song." Let?s go on a journey into market 248 and see how Jerry and his team makes it happen with a great idea, morphing online technology with a great community radio station.
Fast Facts:
The Program ? Muscle Shoals 2 Music Row Live (www.ms2mr.com) is an artist showcase in a small venue. The station sells/gives away tickets to the live show, broadcasts the show live on air and also streams the performance video live online.
Market ? Florence-Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Metro Population ? 124,100
Station ? WXFL, KIX 96 (Big River Broadcasting)
The Team - Jerry (owner), Nick (GM), Fletch (PD), Halley (Director of Digital Marketing), Greg (Sound and Engineering)
RI: Jerry, you said it all begins with a song what do you mean by that?
Jerry: ?We are music people here and we recognize the importance of the singer/songwriter and the connection music creates between the artist, the station and the people listening. We also know good radio starts there but if you?re just playing songs you?re replaceable. We try to make the music mean more and that?s where the inspiration for ideas like Muscle Shoals 2 Music Row comes from.?
RI: You?ve been very successful with a list of performances from names like James Otto, Josh Turner and Steve Cropper and over a million stream and archive video views. How did you get to this point?
Nick: ?It started with us in a head to head competition with another country station in the market. We wanted to find a way to set us apart from them, create unique content for listeners and build a stronger relationship with artists and musicians and songwriters. We wanted a competitive edge. So we started asking the labels up in Nashville if we can get access to their artists. Once we get them down here, we do interviews, meet and greets and then they hit the stage and their airwaves live. Listeners love it.?
Do you get a lot of people tuning in from outside your area?
Jerry: ?We get listeners and viewers from all over. Every state. You look at the reports and see countries like Muldova show up. We also get a lot of views in Afganistan and Iraq and that's a real point of pride for us. Our troops are over there serving us and so if we can serve them by putting on a good show then we?re doing something right.?
RI: So the fan response is there both in views online and in your high ratings in the market. What is the advertiser response?
Nick - ?Sponsors love it and we are getting more and more interest every day. You look at Toby Keith and Ford or Tim McGraw with Budweiser. Major brands are looking to co-brand themselves with the music industry and with country music in particular.?
Halley - ?This is something we?ve been working on for a while because it was great for programming but now it?s even more valuable as more and more focus of advertising is going online. MS2MR is a unique product that is exactly what many brands are looking for as they seek consumer engagement beyond just running ads on air.?
RI: What investment have you had to make in technology and has that paid off?
Greg - ?We've recently upgraded our streaming and archiving gear bringing in new computers and drive arrays, HD video interface, etc. We also multitrack the video and audio which gives us great opportunities to master a finished product like DVDs/BluRays. There's no doubt the upgrades have paid off in the quality of the streaming and recordings.?
RI: For a station that wants to create an experience like this for their listeners and advertisers but might not be two and half hours from an epicenter of music like Nashville, what advice would you give them?
Fletch - ?Don't ignore the value of unique content and don't ignore technology. The technology gives you opportunity. The web levels the playing field and allows you to create almost anything you can imagine. Bring the unique content that makes your station special, present it in a compelling way and you?ll win.?
Jerry - ?And just don?t be scared to try something new. We?re independent operators down here and we try to keep that spirit and that edge in everything we do. Some stations might not have that flexibility but I?ll tell you if you don?t take risks and you don?t try to beat your own path then it?s going to be tough to create something that?s unique and special and makes you stand out.?
What can your station give listeners that no one else can? Hint: It?s not 12 commercial free songs in a row?though that might feed the meter.Big River Broadcasting gives their listeners something special and they are rewarded with higher engagement, better results for advertisers, better ratings, better team moral and better revenue. You can hear in their voices how much fun they are having everyday making good radio that means something to their community.
Nick Martin will happily answer any questions you have about how to get something like this going at your station. Reach him at nmartin@bigriverbroadcasting.com
Carl Magnuson is a blogger for Radioink.com and Co-Creator and Director of Sales, Social Radio LLC. He can be reached via e-mail at thevoiceofcarl@gmail.com
(7/26/2011 8:00:22 AM)
"Be creative" is the underlying message here. Muscle Shoals has been on that creative edge since it was dubbed "The Hit Recording Capital of the World" in the 1970s. You won't find a more concentrated number of people who are willing to try "new" things - be it with music, or (today) online.
I was lucky to be the Music Director at WLAY-AM in Muscle Shoals back when Terry Woodford (Wishbone Studio) helped shape the Motown Sound, Rick Hall at Fame Studio was working with Merle Haggard to tweak better Country music (or with Donny and Marie Osmond in Pop), and Jimmy Johnson had his Muscle Shoals Sound humming on all cylinders for Rock and other genres. Think of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and it's line about the Muscle Shoals "Swampers," better known as the The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
It wasn't uncommon to have someone bring me two acetate disc mixes of songs they wanted to release. I'd start both at the same time - on air - then switch back and forth between the two while they would listen to the airsound and decide which mix to put on the album.
If radio, as an industry, would take a tip from these "try something new" thinkers we'd have a lot more excitement being generated for the audience.
Stagnated approaches to radio programming induces people to look for something different ("fresh" if you want to use that word).
The folks in Muscle Shoals have never failed to deliver.
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