Apple's Bumpy Relationship with Radio

Image: ChinaWholesaleGift.comAs mentioned in an earlier post, Microsft has taken to the FM airwaves to advertise the new Zune HD, and they may have found a perfect way to reach those who haven't purchased an iPod. If you were a radio exectutive, wouldn't you rather promote the device that allows people to listen to your product out of the box, rather than promote the product that offers no built-in radio option (today), and instead makes it easier for people to forget radio exists?

In the early days, (2001) the iPod offered a radio escape path. It was more of a niche novelty than anything: one that would allow you to take your existing CDs and transfer them for portable use. No harm to radio, right? Then came the iTunes Store, and this was the beginning of an entirely new ecosystem for music consumption and purchase.

As the iPod looked destined to be a thorn in radio's side, along came the addition of podcasts to the iTunes Store. Suddenly radio, or at least certain shows, could be popular regardless of how people listened to music.

Just when it seemed the mighty and powerful Clear Channel and Infinity radio companies would be shutout from the iPod's meteoric rise, along came the touch and iPhone. Now the consumer can choose to stream and listen to many of their favorite stations, even when there's no radio in sight, and do it all on ad-supported, revenue generating apps.

If radio plays its cards right, (which is doubtful, but that's a post for another day) and the companies re-position themselves as content providers rather than broadcasters, they could hitch their wagons to the Apple star, and new-found glory days could be here again. Or they can just hope millions of people magically throw their iPods in the trash and get HD radio-friendly Zunes instead.