AfterDawn: News

Clear channel selling illegal file sharing data

Earlier this year, Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s Premiere Radio Networks unit began marketing data on the most popular downloads from illegal file-sharing networks to help radio stations shape their playlists.

Premiere's Mediabase market-research unit is working on the venture with the file-sharing research service BigChampagne LLC. BigChampagne collects the data while a Premiere sales force of about 10 people pitches the information to radio companies and stations. Premiere declined to disclose how much it charges.



Joe Fleischer, BigChampagne's vice president for sales and marketing, adds that the legality of grabbing music is a separate issue from the insight into peoples' taste the downloads offer. He also notes that the company incorporates legal, paid downloads from sites like iTunes into its data, though they represent a tiny fraction of all downloads.

Universal Music Group also looks at file-sharing data, largely for help figuring out which songs are working best or what to pitch to radio. But executives have mixed feelings about the information. "It's troubling that there is so much activity [that] it's useful" for research, says Larry Kenswil, executive vice president for business strategy.

Since the business was launched, Mediabase has cut deals with stations at sister company Clear Channel Radio, as well as group-wide deals with Radio One Inc. and Emmis. According to BigChampagne's Mr. Fleischer, the partnership has already surpassed its target of signing up 100 radio stations this year.

Source: The Wall Street Journal


Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 12 Jul 2007 21:03

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• 6 comments

• ugc

  This should send a clear message to the RIAA, and others, that the general public feels that music is over priced, mis-managed (bad business model), and that suing everyone that walks the planet is not working.
  
  I would love to see the RIAA go under. The music industry is not run like it should be IMHO.

  13.7.2007 06:05 #1

• emugamer

  They keep insisting that their product is of a certain value. They see that it isn't, and all that they can say is that it's troubling. They obviously have no intent on providing what the customer wants - an innovative product at a reasonable price. The customer wants to feel like they are getting something. The RIAA has taken the art out of music and has reduced the way some people view it to just 1's and 0's residing on their Hard Drives. For something that's between $13 and $19, I want more than a jewel case and lyrics. I expect more than that. I don't want to categorize most music as crap, because one persons garbage is another persons treasure (for all you Britney Spears fans). They need to do a better job selling the product to me. It won't happen though. They are a bunch of old executives with no foresight as to where their industry is heading, so they can never fix it.

  13.7.2007 08:11 #2

• H0bbes

  Originally posted by emugamer: They are a bunch of old executives with no foresight as to where their industry is heading, so they can never fix it.This one speaks the truth :P .

  14.7.2007 13:27 #3

• borhan9

  This is just gathering stats. The only good thing it will show what people listen too. I just hope they also mention that its not just the old fashioned radio that people listen to nowadays.

  17.7.2007 16:28 #4

• dufas

  Under the logic applied by the RIAA and the MPAA, gathering statistics on how many and what kind of automobiles stolen is in effect being in allegiance with car thefts.
  
  Remember, the latest stats on the law suites show that they have brought in a little over $100,000,000.00 from many innocent people.
  
  One must not step on the lawyer's and the entertainment industry's loose change purse. If the well dries up, they won't be able to buy their next Lexus or Mercedes toy.....

  23.7.2007 10:46 #5

• Unfocused

  From all of the content available, it would seem like by the time this data is sifted through, consumer interest would have changed.

  18.8.2007 12:08 #6