Information technology may have finally eliminated one of humanity's most persistent vexations: the annoying radio DJ.
Rolling Stone Network, the Web version of the music magazine, Monday launched a collection of Internet radio stations based on a new audio platform from Real Networks. And while Rolling Stone Radio will still feature advertising, the DJ is history.
Instead, songs will be played based on a playlist, and on the number of votes they get from listeners, a feature built into RealNetworks' Radio Toolkit software.Rolling Stone also plans to launch "stations" programmed according to the tastes of such rock stars as David Bowie.
"The beauty of the thing is, it's going to be mostly pure music," said Howard Tullman, CEO of JamTV, which operates Rolling Stone Network. "Talk radio's a great idea, but when people want to listen to music, they can turn this on and listen all day uninterrupted, and even buy the CD if they want. It's a very simple, elegant service."
Rolling Stone is just the latest to jump on the Internet radio bandwagon.The genre was first popularized by Broadcast.com, which rebroadcasts hundreds of actual radio stations on the Internet. Publisher Imagine Media recently launched Imagine Radio, which can be personalized according to the preferences of each listener.
Rolling Stone Radio has the advantage of being linked to Rolling Stone Network's editorial content, including interviews, discographies, video clips and the like, which users can access by clicking on the artist's name.
All demographics wanted
"This is the industrial-strength version of Internet radio," Tullman said."We have the Rolling Stone brand, and the biggest provider of audio technology. We hope to eventually be the world's largest radio station."
Hyundai, Mazda and others have signed up as sponsors, and Datek, Mentadent and QSound Labs will run ads on the network, just as with a normal radio station. JamTV has also signed a deal with Amazon.com, linking users directly to the online store's CD section.
JamTV also hopes record labels will be interested in using the network to break new bands. Users can listen to the network all day, even in offices where there's no ordinary radio reception.
And the response from users, who can choose to vote for the songs they like, could be make valuable marketing information.
JamTV said the network complies with standard music industry licensing.
Artist programmers next year
JamTV also operates such music sites as Tunes.com, JamTV Music Network and TheSource.com.
The radio network, which at launch includes stations with titles like Pop Hits, R&B Hits, Electronica and Women in Rock, hopes to attract listeners of all demographics with the Rolling Stone name and the availability of such features as news and artist-related chat rooms.
Rolling Stone Radio plans to launch artist-programmed stations early next year, Tullman said.
