Custom Channels creates Internet radio stations for a variety of businesses and brands. One of the most unique is RADIO CHUM, a lifestyle radio station for the community of stand up paddlers. What is stand up paddling (SUP)?

RADIO CHUM plays a wide variety of reggae and island music from the Marleys and Steel Pulse, to Michael Franti and Jack Johnson, and lesser known reggae by groups like Groundation and Rebelution. It’s a music mix rarely heard on FM or Internet radio. Not only is RADIO CHUM online and getting big listening numbers each month, RADIO CHUM plays in sports stores that cater to the stand up paddle community.

We asked the head of RADIO CHUM, who prefers to go by his nickname “Paddle Dude”, what’s up?

CC: Hey Paddle Dude! Why did you put an Internet radio station online for a niche sport like Stand Up Paddle?
PD: There was nothing else like it in the world. Coming from a broadcasting background, I was trying to find that one thing I could do for such an awesome and growing sport…I wasn’t going to help anyone with technique or fitness, so I tried to find a way to bring that to them, from the top SUP pros across the world…radio just made sense being the internet is worldwide.

CC: Describe the mood, attitude or vibe of RADIO CHUM.
PD: The mood is jamming…RADIO CHUM is the soundtrack to Standup Paddling…reggae is just a great vibe that is enjoyed by everyone. Positive Paddle Power for the People!

CC: What’s the reaction from listeners to RADIO CHUM online?
PD: Totally positive…they feel like it is theirs. SUP is a growing sport, and everyone is so passionate about it. We just want to be something fresh and fun they can integrate into their paddle sessions.

CC: What’s the reaction from employees to RADIO CHUM playing in stores?
PD: They love it. RADIO CHUM caters to a fantastic sport that anyone can do…it energizes them, and really gives a little credibility to the sport for customers, because they can say “hey this Internet radio station is 100% about stand up paddling…”

CC: Who picks the music for RADIO CHUM and what’s the criteria?
PD: The Paddle Dude does…but we rely on our listeners to send us great suggestions and because of their input we have added The Hip Abduction, Ashes to Babylon, and The Hemps.

CC: What are some of the other artists that we’d hear on RADIO CHUM?
PD: Oh wow, J Boog, The Green, The Dirty Heads, Tribal Seeds, Bob Marley and his entire family tree. We also play some reggae rock and ska.

CC: Is there one signature song that embraces SUP and RADIO CHUM?
PD: That is very tough. Paddle Dude would have to say Common Kings “Wade In Your Water” or Bob Marley “Positive Vibration”.

CC: You do a lot of messaging on RADIO CHUM – it’s not simply a music channel. Describe the messaging and why you think that’s important for RADIO CHUM.
PD: We treat RADIO CHUM as an SUP information outlet. Without information, it’s just a station you can hear via any service like Pandora or Slacker. We are the voice of SUP.

CC: How do you promote RADIO CHUM? How do people find it online?
PD: We partner with Distressed Mullet, the biggest SUP blog on the internet. We’re also extremely active with Facebook and Twitter.

CC: Would you recommend an Internet radio station to other brands or other types of businesses?
PD: Yes! You can talk about your business, and only your business…and run information that is about your business and brand. The staff at Custom Channels is amazing. We push the envelope with them, and they seem to have an answer for any idea we have.

WOULD YOUR BRAND BENEFIT FROM AN INTERNET RADIO STATION?
If you’d like to start an Internet radio station for your brand, or if you’d like to hook up with RADIO CHUM and play it in your store, contact us at Custom Channels.   info@CustomChannels.net // 303.444.7700

At SBR Custom Channels, we get to work with some of the most interesting, creative and entertaining radio stations in North America.  We recently visited CKPK The Peak in Vancouver, British Columbia.

SBR helped management at the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group launch The Peak in November 2008. In three-and-a- half years The Peak has risen in both popularity and music trendsetter status. The Peak plays a mix of modern rock, indie rock and adult alternative music; and plays more Canadian music and local Vancouver bands than most other radio stations.

Craig Stone is on the air as John Bradley from SBR Custom Channels visits CKPK The Peak in Vancouver. We advise The Peak on programming, digital media, promotions and marketing. We help engage and encourage the staff as they continue to do great radio.

The 16 most played bands and artists so far in 2012 on The Peak:

One of the highlights of The Peak’s music involvement is The Peak Performance Project(PPP). The PPP is a professional development program to help new and emerging artists create careers in the music industry. Bands apply to join and, if accepted, go through a several month course of live performances, learning best practices of the music business, and learning from industry executives. The radio station awards directly to the performers over $320,000 yearly in artist development funding and prizes, making it the biggest individual radio station project in Canada. There’s so much more to this yearly event than we can share here, so please read more about the PPP here.

While visiting The Peak recently, SBR’s John Bradley got to meet the mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson, after he was interviewed on The Peak morning show. Yes, Mayor Robertson is a fan of The Peak’s music so he wasn’t at the station strictly as a political stop – he was lovin’ the music, too. You can listen to The Peak online at www.thepeak.fm.Working with musically active, locally involved, trendsetting, forward-thinking radio stations is another way that SBR Custom Channels stays at the forefront of the music business. Read about SBR’s radio advising business here.

We get turned on to a lot of new releases every month so it’s fun to help other people discover new music, too! Twice a year, SBR Custom Channels creates a CD of new songs and new artists to distribute free to radio programmers and to thousands of radio listeners. No, the CD isn’t dead. People still love getting a free CD from their favorite radio station. And radio stations love the idea of giving their listeners something of value (better than a bumper sticker!)

Here’s the album art for our spring 2012 CD sampler, made exclusively by SBR Custom Channels for influential Adult Rock radio stations in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Indianapolis, Akron, Detroit, Charlottesville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Portland (both Oregon and Maine!) and Woodstock, NY.

SBR Custom Channels New Music Sampler artists and songs:

1. Norah Jones – “Happy Pills”
2. Delta Spirit – “California”
3. Bahamas – “Caught Me Thinking”
4. Dry The River – “New Ceremony”
5. Rebecca Ferguson – “Nothing’s Real But Love”
6. Graffiti6 – “Stare Into The Sun”
7. Meiko – “Leave The Lights On”
8. Callaghan – “Best Year”
9. Heartless Bastards – “Parted Ways”
10. Bonnie Raitt – “Right Down The Line”
11. The Brew – “When Darkness Comes”
12. The Lumineers – “Ho Hey”
13. ALO – “Speed of Dreams”
14. Esperanza Spalding – “Radio Song”
15. Morning Parade – “Headlights”

Interesting highlights about Internet radio in the latest The Infinite Dial 2012: Navigating Digital Platforms, a survey of 2,000 Americans from Edison Research and Arbitron.

The usage of online radio has been tracked 20 times in the past 15 years by this survey. That’s experience and accumulated knowledge to better understand online media.

“This year’s increase in weekly usage is the largest year-over-year jump we’ve ever recorded. The increased demand for online audio content, and the ever-expanding variety of that content, shows that online radio continues to be a resilient, adaptive media for the changing needs of today’s consumer,” said Bill Rose, Sr VP Marketing, Arbitron Inc.

That shows us that there’s strong demand and high usage from Americans for Internet radio.  One reason for the increase is mobile listening.  Smartphones are having a profound impact on media and entertainment.  Internet radio is reaching people on-the-go, in addition to at-work and at-home.

INTERNET RADIO’S AUDIENCE

• Online Radio reaches 39% Americans in a month – an estimated 103 Americans.
• Online radio reaches 29% Americans in a week – an estimated 76 Americans.
• Online radio listeners report listening for nearly ten hours per week, or about two hours a day.  That’s a high number considering all of the available entertainment and media choices.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR BRANDS TRYING TO REACH CONSUMERS?

First, these are good reasons for brands to use advertising, promotional and sponsorship opportunities both locally and nationally on existing Internet radio to reach this big audience.  Of course, it’s someone’s else content you’re joining in on.

The second take-away is that brands don’t have to be Pandora, Spotify, iHeartradio or a local FM station to have their own Internet radio station.  Lots of businesses and brands are jumping online creating and curating music channels with messaging that are interesting, fun and relevant to their target audience.  Brands such as Life is good, Floyd’s Barbershop, AARP, NoShoesRadio, Which Wich Superior Sandwiches,  MOD Pizza, Chipotle, CMT TV, and Abercrombie & Fitch have an online radio presence.

Remember, too, that Internet radio is sharable.  “I’m listening to…” on Facebook and twitter from a friend is a powerful endorsement.  Let your fans listen and spread the word.

For more advice on Internet radio, or to create your own online channel, contact us here at Custom Channels.  303-444-7700. 

Every consumer-facing business has music playing (with rare exception, and then the quiet is noticeable!).  Too often the music and the service providing the music are taken for granted.  “If it’s on, it’s OK” can be the attitude.  However, if you’re running a consumer-facing business, like a restaurant or retail clothing store, boutique hotel or hair salon, take a few minutes to see if your music service, whether it’s your iPod, Pandora or Muzak, is committing any of these seven sins.

1. DEAD AIR   It’s the space between the songs. When you play a full album, dead air is the 2 to 5 seconds of silence. That doesn’t sound like much time, but it can be very noticeable, can really slow things down, and can sound awkward. Many music systems have dead air between songs as the system figures out what to do next. Dead air is unnecessary and mostly unwanted.

2. EVER-CHANGING VOLUME   Not all songs are recorded the same. Upon playback, it can often sound like someone is turning one song way up then turning another song way down. Many music systems don’t optimize for consistent volume. That can be very frustrating both as a listener and as a business operator when the environment gets too loud or too quiet. You’ve got better things to do than monitor the volume of every song.

3. REPETITION   It’s the number one complaint we hear from employees, managers and owners: same songs played too often. Many music services don’t update their playlists very often. Their total number of songs available to be played at any one time isn’t very high. And many music services don’t used sophisticated music programming software to keep the same songs from repeating at the same time everyday. Repetition can and should be avoided.

4. SONGS THAT DON’T FIT   You like classic rock but not THAT band. You said you wanted current hits but not with THOSE words. You enjoy a laid back feeling but THAT SONG is putting me to sleep. If you’re using a typical music service you may be stuck with listening to THAT, both now and when THAT same thing plays again, and again, and again before a long-awaited update. With today’s choices, you shouldn’t have to compromise with songs that don’t fit your image, mood, vibe and brand.

5. MUSIC MAILED ON DISCS   Really? In 2012 too many businesses are still getting songs delivered to their location every month. Or only every quarter! Mailing discs may still work for Netflix (for the time being) but it doesn’t work for a business that’s trying to sound great everyday. Most business services have already moved to the Internet for many in-store services (like POS transactions) and your music should be Internet-delivered, too.

6. AUTO-RENEWING CONTRACTS   Some music service contracts get signed for a lengthy three-to-five year period. And if you’re not watching carefully (few people are), those contracts auto-renew and lock-in for another three-to-five years with no out. Putting up with a sub-standard music service shouldn’t be like serving a prison term with no hope for parole. Satisfaction with the playlist and the service should be the terms of agreement.

7. TRYING TO GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING   If you’re trying to get a music service for as cheaply as you can, well, you get what you pay for – probably not the best music mix (and may include several of the sins listed above) but at least it’s better than silence. If you’re scrimping and begrudgingly paying just a few dollars a month, another “dollar a day” is worth it to get a far better, unique service. Remember, music is part of your branding, marketing and image – not a utility.

When you’ve got Custom Channels as your music service, you’ll avoid committing these seven sins.