With 70 million monthly listeners in the US and 43 million weekly global audiences in 2010, Online Radio Radio has officially taken the music world by storm. And it’s only getting better. An annual report conducted by Edison Research/ Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series in 2010 revealed that the Internet has become the ideal place where 12-43 year olds discover and learn about the latest trends in music Internet Radio in particular captured 42% of the 18-34 year old all important demographic (55% of which are men)—making it the “sweet spot” for modern day advertising schemes. Not only that, Online Radio Radio attracted the well-educated and employed audience: 61% were fully employed, 18% exceeded the 100K salary range and 55% were College degree holders or better. In other words, it attracted the upscale demographic with high purchasing power.
As the global recession continue to hurt small and huge businesses, many advertisers and investors have abandoned traditional media and migrated online as it is more wide-ranging and more cost-effective. Online Radio Radio for example only needs a small support staff to be able to broadcast to a global audience along with the hyper targeted in stream and online ads—a far cry from terrestrial radio platform where it’s more costly to operate and with very limited coverage. Online radio is more efficient and delivers tremendous return of investment for all the parties involved in the operation.
So, with the huge market potential or Internet Radio listeners clearly established, the next challenge is to monetize it and come up with a sustainable business model. Where exactly does its revenue come from? Well for starters, a good chunk of it is generated from user subscription fees and advertising (audio insertion ads and branded sponsorships), Google search bar commissions, ITunes/Amazon online store referrals, paid featured artists and merchandise. The other source is surprisingly from donations. Believe it or not, this has been the business plan for many new stations and it has astonishingly kept most of them on air in this brutal recession. It is a glaring proof of how huge the market is for this type of music platform.
Innovation is an invaluable asset in any economic climate. Online Radio Radio is a testament of man’s ingenuity—the ability to thrive in any environment and triumph in every challenge and is clearly the platform of the future. Competition will only make it bigger and better for the years to come.