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RADIO AIRPLAY 101 - BDS / Mediabase / Soundscan |
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Saturday, 12 June 2004 |
Last issue we covered "reporting", as it is done manually by a person filling out a fax or email and sending it to a radio magazine. This is how non-commercial stations, and commercial stations in small and non-rated markets, do their reporting. But the larger commercial stations (the ones with the most listeners) have their reporting taken care of automatically, through a system called "monitoring".
Last issue we covered "reporting", as it is done manually by a person filling out a fax or email and sending it to a radio magazine. This is how non-commercial stations, and commercial stations in small and non-rated markets, do their reporting. But the larger commercial stations (the ones with the most listeners) have their reporting taken care of automatically, through a system called "monitoring".
Monitoring is a system that does not rely on what the PD/MD says is playing... instead it listens to what the station actually plays. It is a high-level system, and due to it's cost it is used mostly by medium and large labels... but it definitely is something you should know about.
BDS (BROADCAST DATA SYSTEMS): This system uses computers to listen to the large stations throughout the country. The information is tabulated and sold to subscribing customers... most of which are medium and large labels, management, radio group owners, and others which absolutely have to know where a record is playing, because the decisions that need to be made are going to cost thousands of dollars per market. Subscribers can log on at any time and find out exactly where and how many spins any record is playing.
MEDIABASE: This system is similar in concept to BDS, but instead of using computers to listen, it uses people. Also, since a human is actually doing the listening, that person can make notes of special things, like if the music was heard in a advertisement, or if the artist was talked about by DJs, or other things that a computer would miss.
BDS is used to make all the Billboard airplay charts. MediaBase is used to make all the regular-rotation charts in Radio & Records and the six Album Network mags, but it's not used for specialty/mixshow charts in either. I should repeat: Although BDS/MediaBase does detect specialty/mixshow spins on the stations they monitor, this info is not used for the specialty/mixshow charts in R&R and the Album Net mags... instead the specialty/mixshow charts are made using manual reporting. BDS/MediaBase subscribers could still, however, search for and find a specialty/mixshow spin if they wanted to.
MediaBase is too expensive for an indie label to use for just one project, since it is part of a large data package sold for thousands of dollars per month. But BDS offers a per-use package (called "transactional"), which allows you pay per "scan", at a much lower rate. This is the type of scan that we offer to clients.
The other major charts, FMQB and CMJ, use manual reporting for both the specialty and regular-rotation charts, and thus they are more suited to the beginning label.
Larger labels that have several projects going at once (and who are already selling 200 to 300 albums per week) might want to take a look at a MediaBase. But it would only make sense after all other pertinent manual charts have been covered. BDS, since it can be accessed on a per-use basis, can be used at any time.
SOUNDSCAN: This system should not be confused with BDS or MediaBase. Soundscan is not for radio... it is for retail sales. It is the system that is connected to the barcode scanners at retail stores; it tabulates the sales data, and sells it to subscribers, again, at a lofty price (thousands).
A note about who owns whom: Soundscan and Billboard and BDS are all owned by the same company. MediaBase, on the other hand, is owned by Clear Channel, the largest owner of radio stations (1200) in the world.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 June 2004 )
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