Mobile Classical Radio – Apple vs. Android

The mobile phone radio app TuneIn has more than 30 million users in 230 countries.  A new app released today makes it even more user-accessible.  Connie Guglielmo writes about it in Forbes.

They’ve added features that recommend new stations and music based on what listeners are tuned into (pun intended) and present a list of stations “Now Playing” the kind of music or talk radio you’re interested in. (In addition to letting you search by station or genre, or seeking out what station is playing a song by your favorite artist right now). Apple users also now have a direct link to iTunes, so they can buy any song they’re listening to with a click.

The service also expanded its universe of outlets, tapping into 60,000 local and global radio stations, up from 50,000, broadcast from 206 countries. Donham says they’re adding about 300 new content sources a day, and the recent addition of TED talks has proven popular, as have the more than 1 million on-demand programs available.

For some reason, users self-divide between Apple and Android.

Apple users were more likely to listen to public radio and classical music, while Android users were into conservative talk and Spanish-language programming. “One interesting stat is the surge of worldwide Spanish listening over the past 2 years. From Jan. 2011 to March 2012, Spanish-speaking listeners on Android jumped 84%, while it only increased 42% in iOS, they say. This speaks to a growing global Spanish-speaking audience on Android.”

So, just to play devil’s advocate, what does your local station offer that you can’t hear on 60,000 other stations?  Some stations answer this question by going local, local, local.  Others curate their content by picking the best of everything that’s out there and combining it with local support and advocacy.  Some put out generic, bland content hoping people will have it on in the background where the PPMs will pick it up and raise the overall numbers.  Some stations figure you can get your classical music elsewhere, so they don’t feel guilty about dropping it and going all news/talk.

With all this noise, what will make your station stand out?

The report card is mixed on how classical stations are dealing with the 21st century.  Are they hunkering down and trying to preserve a shrinking market share, or are they out there finding out what’s best in classical music and opening the audience’s ears to the possibilities?

Two points I would make: 1) my mid-20s assistant who loves classical music says classical radio is uncool and 2) Alain Barker at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University said the upsurge in creativity, variety, and experimentation are spectacular among the students, and it gives him a great feeling about the future of classical music.

I would say these cool, imaginative kids are on the cusp of taking over the classical media world.