Radio has long been recognized as the theater of the mind but more and more it is becoming an interactive medium. New interactive technologies are opening up new and possibly fruitful opportunities for radio stations – but they also require a fresh new approach for salespeople.

Today selling radio also includes online sponsorships, videos, text messaging, online streams, podcasts, display ads, etc. One size fits all packages are not the way to go when you have so many new weapons in your arsenal. To be successful, account executives must create custom solutions that both benefit their clients and the radio station they represent. The perfect ad buy not only brings in fresh new revenue but also drives traffic to the on-air product and reinforces the power of your station.

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…Webcasters blew a golden opportunity to reach an accord that would have given them much of what they asked for. [MORE]

Source: cnet

…word is going around that the RIAA asked social music service Last.fm for data about its user’s listening habits to find people with unreleased tracks on their computers. [MORE]

Source: TechCrunch

February 16, 2009: The NAB and SoundExchange have come to an agreement on Internet streaming rates for local radio stations that simulcast their programming online or create new Internet-only stations. [MORE]

Source: Radio Ink

Troubled satellite radio company Sirius XM announced Tuesday, following reports, that it will accept an investment from cable giant Liberty Media. [MORE]

Source: cnet

Google is pulling the plug on its Google Audio Ads and Adsense for Audio products, and is looking to sell off its Google Radio Automation software business. [MORE]

Source: TechCrunch

The update, which will be submitted to the Android Market this Saturday, will give streaming songs TuneWiki’s lyrical capabilities, as well as its social networking enhancements. [MORE]

Source: cnet

The Sirius and XM satellite radio companies may have succeeded in merging, but their combined company could declare bankruptcy within the year. [MORE]

Source: Wired

Pandora founder Tim Westergren thinks being broad isn’t necessarily the best strategy for development in the smartphone industry and that betting on a single (what he calls a “hero”) platform could be the way to go. Hint: it’s not a Blackberry or Google’s Android. [MORE]

Source: Wired

This sweet new app, which debuted just three weeks ago (and was previewed back in November), is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. It lets me easily pick whatever public radio station that I want and stream it live. [MORE]

Source: Macworld