Author: John McDermott @mcdradio

Conceptual game-changer.  What if Verizon or AT&T does this and eliminates the concern of using all your data listening to Pandora or whatever.

I think the data consumption concern (for audio) is mainly mental anyway, although I too suffer from it at times and had to mentally free myself to listen to World Cup games in the car (via ESPN via TuneIn.).  I have read all sorts of estimates but here is one that suggests that data-consumption wouldn’t hit the wall on most plans anyway.

So here’s what T-Mobie has done

T-Mobile has just announced at its “Uncarrier 5.0″ event (which apparently double as the Uncarrier 6.0 event) that all streaming music services will now be free to stream on T-Mobile, including iTunes Radio. This also applies to Pandora, iHeartRadio, Slacker Radio, and Spotify.

via iTunes Radio streaming is now free on T-Mobile, other services also included | 9to5Mac.

Check out what we’re up to at Alternative Sports Talk.  Audio streaming soon (via TuneIn)

Unlimited skips, no ads, and access to the full catalog of Rhapsody songs are all features that customers are looking for in a streaming radio service, claims Springer. Rhapsody Unradio also lets users save songs offline for listening in the subway, on a plane, or any other time there isn’t a constant connection.

via T-Mobile’s latest ‘Uncarrier’ feature: Rhapsody Unradio, an odd streaming music service | The Verge.

Interesting…unlimited skips is always intriguing, as is offline listening.  So far ads on the other services haven’t annoyed me.

This week I keep pushing Hannibal Buress, some comics I like (Dan Cummins, Kyle Kinane) and the new single from Childish Gambino…and one of my favorite Fallon clips. Via Spotify.

The study reveals that Americans spend an average of 4 hours and 5 minutes each day consuming audio, and more than 52% of that time goes to broadcast radio on all its various platforms. But other sources of pre-programmed audio now control 26% of listening time, while listening to one’s own music collection receives more than 20% “share of ear.”

via Edison Research Conducts First Ever “Share of Ear” Measurement For All Forms Of Online And Offline Audio « Edison Research.

Great read in the Atlantic that goes to the core of show-prep.

I know what we’re “supposed to” talk about, and then there are the things that people actually “care” about.

Yes of course Iraq is important, but the average Joe will be more interested that The Situation got arrested.  Is that right?  No.  Is that your job? Yes.

The Times’ most-emailed stories included two pieces about gluten and postpartum depression. Not one of the most-read or most-emailed boxes on three papers’ websites included the words Iraq, Sunni, or Maliki when I looked this morning.

via Why Audiences Hate Hard News—And Love Pretending Otherwise – Atlantic Mobile.

Too often I would see bad show rundowns let by what was in the front of the newspaper.  Dig deeper.  Or maybe I should say Dig Shallower.  Page Six.  What’s trending.  TMZ.  The top TV shows.

Just some fun, I mentioned Hannibal a few weeks back as the best comedian that you probably don’t know. Nice to see him getting some ESPN exposure.  Click the top left of the vine to get audio, it took me a few minutes to figure that out.

I am a big-time Amazon Prime fan, and I like the idea of this service.  I haven’t tried it for mobile yet, but will in the next few days.  As for the idea, I like that I get it “free” and don’t really care about not having the most recent music.  I don’t know how that would work out for my kids, but I don’t mind.

Amazon is also saying these lists are curated.  I’d like to know more about that – so far it looks like it’s just simple Top 50’s.  Maybe that’s the interface, maybe I am just dense.

I’ll play around with this one in the next few days.  The Streaming Wars are lots of fun to follow, and I’m excited to see another player jump in.

From the press release:

With Prime Music, Prime members have unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs at no additional cost to their membership. Prime Music includes tens of thousands of albums from top artists like Daft Punk, P!nk, Bruno Mars, Blake Shelton, The Lumineers, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. And we’re just getting started—more music is being added all the time. Prime members can choose exactly which songs and albums to listen to, or they can sit back and listen to hundreds of expert-programmed Prime Playlists. Discovering music is easy thanks to Amazon’s personalized recommendations. Music fans will find tons of music they’ll love, from Grammy winners to indie breakout singers, along with a huge music catalog that can easily be combined with their own collection. Prime members can also download songs from the Prime Music catalog to their mobile devices for offline playback on planes, trains and anywhere they’re without an internet connection.

via Amazon Media Room: Press Releases.

I have been doing these the past few weeks…hope you enjoy this one.