Radio Station Owners, Managers and Engineers sometimes ask me “Why should I bother with now-playing song data?”. I’ve been helping radio stations setup their song metadata for years now, so I’ve seen plenty of the benefits of doing this – and some of the reasons even help you make more money!

Let’s explore the top reasons to setup a fantastic song data experience.

Enhancing the listener experience

By displaying the current song information, listeners can easily identify the songs they enjoy and discover new tracks, leading to a more engaging and interactive experience.

Putting this data on radio screens and mobile apps will get your station listening experience on-par with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify, which have been posing a very real threat to music formats. Many listeners these days expect to see the song title & artist, even on analog radio – so it’s confusing when a medium like radio is missing such a key feature.

Increased Website Traffic

The “Song History” feature on radio stations websites has become the most popular feature for many of the stations I work with. Once listeners are made aware of this feature via on-air promotions, traffic skyrockets. This is particularly true if you broadcast a wider playlist and speciality music.

When your traffic increases, it’s easier to sell banner advertising on your site. Some stations even choose to sponsor the Song History page – a partnership that adds a lot of value to both the advertiser and station.

MetaRadio has built a song history tool for WordPress, and also for basic HTML only sites – this makes it easy to get this feature up and running on your site.

Advertising Opportunities

If you are sending your song data to radio, it also opens up the opportunity to send other messages. A great value-add for advertisers is the ability to have their brand name displaying on radio screens.

MetaRadio now has in-built Advanced Message Scheduling, which allows you to schedule messages by time of day, day of week, and even a portion of each hour. By scheduling this in MetaRadio, you can cast your message to the widest range of devices possible.

Improved Station Branding

Having your station name & slogans on radios can increase awareness and recall. By displaying song data too, you give listeners an ever-changing reason to glance at their radio’s display.

Compatibility with Smart Devices

Sending now-playing metadata ensures compatibility with various smart devices, including voice-activated assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Listeners can inquire about the current song using voice commands, further enhancing the accessibility and convenience of the radio station.

Where should you display song metadata?

Your song metadata should appear anywhere your station can be heard. Some examples include:

  • FM RDS
  • DAB & DAB+
  • HD Radio
  • Website Player
  • Website Song History Page
  • Streams
  • Third Party Directories – e.g. RadioPlayer, TuneIn, iHeart, etc.
  • Mobile Apps
  • Smart Devices

How can I send song metadata?

MetaRadio is Media Realm’s leading solution for radio station metadata. We send data from any automation system to pretty much any destination you could possibly want. Get your free trial today!