Is iheartradio Evil?

On September 23 and 24 Clearchannel put on the iheartradio music festival.  A promotion for their new music web/mobile device app that is to compete with Pandora that was disguised as a 2-day concert with all genres of music. It was broadcast live on over 800 radio stations, on iheartradio.com and Xbox Live.  It was a technical escapade that rarely happens these days.  A great show that no doubt exposed people to music and artists they never heard of. Hopefully it becomes a annual event. Seeing Claire Underwood, Jay-Z, Jane’s Addiction, Nikki Minaj, Sting, all on the same show was pretty special. While the number one message was the iheartradio app, the theme of the night was discovering new music.

The iheartradio festival did give us this badass theme song

The fact that it is Clearchannel talking about discovering new music and embracing new technology is totally weird.  Clearchannel's past is one of being accused to helping the downfall of popular music. Accused of creating the “play the same 10 songs over and over again” model.  So now they want to be the ones to bring you a service to help you discover new music?  What gives?

So I tried out the iheartradio app on my iPhone.  It works much like Pandora.  You enter a song or artist and a “station” is created based on that selection.  Similiar songs and artists are played.  The collection of songs are surprisingly un-popular, they actually are living up to the “finding new music” mantra so far.  The songs also are all related to the original selection.  So you won’t hear Kool Moe Dee if you created a Patsy Cline station.  I was impressed with the slick look, the performance, and music selection as well.  Dare I say Clearchannel has changed their tune?

As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend!”.  There is another part of the iheartradio app. It is the portion that is the trojan horse that they really are concerned with.  This part of the app simulcasts every Clearchannel terrestrial station. So if you are interested in hearing a rap station in Detroit and you are in Houston, the app has you covered.  Much of the terrestrial radio listening is taking place online and on apps.  Clearchannel is adapting to this with the app.  While the Pandora-like stuff is the big push, but the Clearchannel simulcasts are the thing here.  To bring those listeners who are gravitating to Pandora and Spotify back to Clearchannel stations would be a huge move.  That is what this is all about.  The concerts, the “discovering new music” mantra, the slick app and web site are all about reversing the trend.  Bring people back to the Clearchannel nest.

Is it a good thing?  Is it evil?  I know alot of people don’t want to support evil corporate radio, but I don’t see it like that.  I see it as benefitting me, regardless of who the company is.  I can get hear many of my favorite stations from across the country on my phone or computer using iheartradio.  I can actually discover new music on that app and then jump over to Spotify if I want to hear more of a particular artist.  Great concept, great execution, no matter how “evil” Clearchannel is.  

Arian Foster is so good

Check out this sweet move Arian Foster puts on Troy Polamalu to evade a tackle 3 yards deep in the backfield. Busts it out for the first down and then some. If he stays healthy, He'll get his 1200 yards. I don't think he'll have a drop off, he's shown he consistently can make plays and take it to any defense. The only two things that can stop Arian Foster are his hamstring and Gary Kubiak.

NFL Week 3 thoughts

So we are hours away from week 3 of the NFL season, and for a lot of teams, it's time to show what they're actually made of. Some teams are playing their first legitimate competition of the year, others are just hoping to sneak out a win or two this season. Other teams just want to score double digits.

Click to read more ...

September 11, 2001

A day that changed a large chunk of our every day lives. As a nation, it was a tragic event that caused many changes to military, architecture, travel, and just every day of many people's lives. For a small section of others, it meant way more than we could ever imagine. Loss of family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, neighbors, the list goes on and on. Approximately 2977 people lost their lives that day, including 2,606 inside the World Trade Center, 125 inside the Pentagon, 87 passengers aboard American flight 11, 60 passengers aboard United flight 175, 59 passengers aboard American flight 77 and 40 aboard United flight 93. I cannot imagine how crushing of a feeling it was to turn on the TV, see the various news outlets reporting all the different incidents, and waiting for hours, days, weeks, hoping their family member would come marching through that door, maybe worn out, injured, but alive. For the families of those 2977 people, that day never came.

Click to read more ...

Scott Hanson's Sunday Morning Routine

11 more days...