The Jacobs Media Blog

You may have missed the announcement, or perhaps you haven't looked too closely at the red can lately, but Coca-Cola has ceased using the word "classic" to brand their venerable beverage.  After 24 years, their recovery campaign after the New Coke debacle is apparently complete.  For Coke, it's been a textbook story of coming back from […]

Hey, if anyone can say it, I can.  I am the older brother after all. But our Twitter experiment at the RAB using Paul as a guinea pig worked well.  It was a challenge for Paul to summarize the goings-on in 140 characters or less.  But it occurs to me that once you get beyond […]

Jerry Lee started a firestorm.  But his B101 no-stream protest may be causing more ripples in the radio community than in the music biz.  Part of this is due to the fact that the folks running the music show lost their sense of direction years ago.  Their snub of radio and denial about its impact […]

Jerry Lee started a firestorm.  But his B101 no-stream protest may be causing more ripples in the radio community than in the music biz.  Part of this is due to the fact that the folks running the music show lost their sense of direction years ago.  Their snub of radio and denial about its impact […]

What a long, fun week it's been.  We have happily concluded our very successful “Going For The Gold” initiative.  What started out as an experiment has turned into a major statement about radio combating musicFIRST’s efforts to slap broadcasters with royalty fees/taxes. “Going For The Gold” was an idea that originally came from Emmis/St. Louis' […]

What a long, fun week it’s been.  We have happily concluded our very successful “Going For The Gold” initiative.  What started out as an experiment has turned into a major statement about radio combating musicFIRST’s efforts to slap broadcasters with royalty fees/taxes. “Going For The Gold” was an idea that originally came from Emmis/St. Louis’ […]

The royalty debate (or debacle) continues to play out in radio circles.  Now WBEB's Jerry Lee has become even more involved by canceling his station's stream, saying that "the excessive SoundExchange rates don't work for artists, for local stations, or for listeners." This is not an empty statement nor is it a cheap attempt to […]

As our "Going for the Gold" initiative winds down (I'll give you the totals tomorrow), the entries we've received from stations and personal collections continue to amaze and impress.  The statement that people are making to musicFIRST is impressive in its breadth and passion. Consider that we've received well more than 2,500 gold and platinum […]

As our "Going for the Gold" initiative winds down (I'll give you the totals tomorrow), the entries we've received from stations and personal collections continue to amaze and impress.  The statement that people are making to musicFIRST is impressive in its breadth and passion. Consider that we've received well more than 2,500 gold and platinum […]

Today's blog is from Greater Media's VP – Program Development, Buzz Knight, with a timely guest post. Last night in Boston (and the past week in Chicago and L.A.), a great event occurred for our radio industry, and for the music business that deserves recognition.  "U2 3 Nights" was presented by FMQB and Interscope Records.  Fred Deane […]

It's amazing how video continues to be so dominant all over the Internet.  For this, we have YouTube to thank.  But as that category killer has grown and become an even greater force in web entertainment, something interesting has been happening back at the network ranch.  NBC Universal and News Corp's Hulu has emerged as […]

That's about how many albums and awards we've received from radio stations all over the country, from stations in big markets and small, owned by companies private and public. This idea of sending a message to Congress and musicFIRST has caught on, and we're excited about the overwhelming response.  There's still time to get us […]

That's about how many albums and awards we've received from radio stations all over the country, from stations in big markets and small, owned by companies private and public. This idea of sending a message to Congress and musicFIRST has caught on, and we're excited about the overwhelming response.  There's still time to get us […]

I'm sure this has happened to everyone at one time or another, but it happened to me the other night.  I was on Amazon's website doing some research on the Kindle.  And somehow, I ended up on their Classic Rock forum. There were over 1,000 different discussions occurring, and more than 7,000 contributors adding their […]

I'm sure this has happened to everyone at one time or another, but it happened to me the other night.  I was on Amazon's website doing some research on the Kindle.  And somehow, I ended up on their Classic Rock forum. There were over 1,000 different discussions occurring, and more than 7,000 contributors adding their […]

There's something happening here. Last week, we posted a blog, "All I Wanna Do… Is Stop Playing Your Records!," about the absurdity of musicFIRST and various recording artists in their efforts to extract money from radio in the form of performance fees/taxes. The blog struck a responsive chord.  We heard from a variety of radio […]

Now that Nielsen is jumping into the radio research game, some of the basic "truths" that have been so evident for so long are being verified. Case in point: Nielsen's first foray into radio ratings – their pilot study in Lexington, Kentucky.  The big headline?  Cell-phone only penetration and heightened listening among those who fall […]

Now that Nielsen is jumping into the radio research game, some of the basic "truths" that have been so evident for so long are being verified. Case in point: Nielsen's first foray into radio ratings – their pilot study in Lexington, Kentucky.  The big headline?  Cell-phone only penetration and heightened listening among those who fall […]

While indie musicians may be benefiting from airplay on websites like Pandora or even HD and satellite radio channels, it's a tough slog to sell their material one CD or song at a time.  The demise of the record labels, and the larger music industry model, challenges unknowns and even once-popular music icons to rethink […]

While indie musicians may be benefiting from airplay on websites like Pandora or even HD and satellite radio channels, it's a tough slog to sell their material one CD or song at a time.  The demise of the record labels, and the larger music industry model, challenges unknowns and even once-popular music icons to rethink […]