THE FUTURE OF HD RADIO AND HD+ MUSIC

If you want to know the future of HD+ and HD Radio I suggest you read the article listed below by going to this link

http://generationindie.wordpress.com/



What would you say if I told you that analog radios will soon occupy space at the Smithsonian Museum? Radio’s on the brink of a renaissance. Think about it… there are 1,800 broadcast stations and 900 more local FM HD2 & HD3 stations on the way, some are already here. What’s going to occupy all of that air space? Is there enough programming to fill up the time or are we going to hear rebroadcasts of shows aired earlier in the day? Music lovers instantly warm up to the idea of static-free radio and don’t mind making the transition to a new HD format, unlike the feet dragging that’s going on in TV.

Satellite radio gave us an appetite for more interesting programming and fewer commercials. It’s sweet to drive from city to city and never have to change stations. But, HD radio doesn’t require a subscription. It’s sexy, it’s edgy and it’s here. Yes, you’ll need to buy a new radio and yes, it’ll cost you about $500 to buy your Sonic ES2 radio. I suggest you start saving or sell your dining room set … you don’t really eat in there do you? This is not an advertisement for Sonic ES2 radios, it’s just a very cool bundled set of options that happens to be a crescent shaped iPod dock, alarm clock, power bass, iTunes tagging, AM, FM and HD radio. What if you just heard a song on the radio you really like? No prob, just push a button and tag it. Then you can buy it through iTunes in just a couple of button pushing minutes. How cool is that?

So why should Indie Musicians care about all this? Think. Think really hard. Think about a commercial, non subscription radio station looking for programming. Think about an Indie Top 40. Think about a whole station devoted to experimental, alternative, prog rock 24/7. Think about a talk show on AM radio that has the quality of an analog FM station. Think about the number of local stations that are going to need content and need it soon. Are you ready for this? Is your music mastered in HD+? There’s still a window of opportunity to re-think production and sound quality. HD radio will be able to pick up those little nuances in your music, so it needs to be tight and flawless. Otherwise, music fans will start a blog about all the flaws and start dissing bands that don’t sound as good as they do on analog.

Now for the postal part. In the very near future, Indie Artists with vision, skill and business saavy will be on the forefront of the music scene. The music scene will literally explode by the addition of choice – a Declaration of Independence for Indies. Over 2 million independent artists are chomping at the bit to find a home for their music and HD radio may be the next frontier. HD ushers in the future and the future is now. We know major labels are losing market share every day because of their business model. Major labels are not bad businesses; it’s just that their size is not change friendly. In all fairness, their overhead is huge. Flip the coin and suddenly it’s an Indie’s world, because you have one great advantage – you can turn on a dime.

Now is the time for Indie Musicians to assemble a virtual dream team. You’ll need someone to remaster your current catalog, you’ll need promotion, marketing, press releases and advertising to let the radio people know you have content HD ready. You’ll need to join a forum to get ideas about mixing and production in an HD world, if you’re a do-it-yourselfer. If you’re not, you may need to find a producer familiar with HD and the possibilities you now have at your fingertips. You’ll want to be attractive to those hungry ears that look for little nuggets in every track.

So here we go. Give away 100 free HD+ downloads. Get people jazzed. Have your fans call in to local HD stations and start asking for your music. The fan has one track in their pocket and if it’s well produced, they will let other people know about it. Make sure you’re using a service that keeps track of the IP and the number of downloads so that when the max is reached you can auto respond with a message that sets up a sense of urgency when the fan gets email from you. They won’t want miss a chance for a free download again. Consistent urgency is a good way to put you on the must open email list.

There are plenty of people waiting to help you further your music career and some are open to flexible pricing and are very reasonably priced. Here are vendors you may want to reach out to as your assemble your dream team:

HD+ Mastering
YourLocalHDBand
Sample before and after HD+

Marketing/Promotion/Consulting
Rising Star Artists

Photography
Chris Mullen Photography

Public Relations
Alisha Miranda

Web Design
Heated Media