Connecting Some Dots, From A Country Radio Perspective

Dot #1: Wired Magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson has created quite a bit of talk over the last four weeks since he posted graphics which show that the number of hit ALBUMS (gold and platinum) has declined on his Long Tail blog.

Dot #2: Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed recently that there are now 42 million IPods out there, which is 83% of the portable digital player market. His kick-off for Apple's Macworld Conference & Expo at San Francisco's Moscone Center added two other thought-provoking stats to the conversation: 32 million IPods sold in 2005; ITunes is about to sell its one BILLIONth song any day now.

Dot #3: A few years ago, I mused aloud, wondering why country radio was still playing "chart hits" at a time when the majority of our audience buys albums at Target and Wal-Mart, which means they often discover new songs they love as much as six months, a year, or more before they hear them on their favorite country radio station, if they ever do.

Now, it begins to seem like that boat we missed may be coming back to shore to pick us up at the dock. It's becoming a "hit song" universe once again (if it ever really wasn't one).

Dot #4: Toronto-based Solutions Research Group noted last fall that the average IPod user has 375 songs on their player.

How are going to find out what those songs are? Do they fit on your station?