“From the artist to the dashboard.”
That’s how media technology company Quu Interactive is describing its latest deal to help radio groups make their stations interactive with on-demand commerce and mobile tagging. The Seattle-based company is extending its Liner Notes and its other tech beyond radio, to include music streaming mobile or Web-based applications.
In its first deal with a major record label — Sony Music Nashville — Quu will use its Liner Notes network of stations, their websites and mobile apps to complement station airplay with timely artist information, in real-time in a vehicle. With Quu’s customization, Sony can preprogram and geo-target information on local tour dates, media appearances, or album releases — tied to an artist’s song as it’s airing on the radio.
The service launches today. It includes the capability to feed messages directly from the artist’s existing social platforms, including Twitter, giving listeners a new way to hear from or about their favorite artists as they hear them, in their cars and through station websites and mobile apps.
Sony Music Nashville Chairman/CEO Gary Overton calls Quu’s service “a 360-degree approach” and a new way to extend radio’s reach.
Liner Notes helps stations manage their RDS and HD Radio metadata, and the service enables the station to display ads relevant to the artist that is playing. Quu President/CEO Joe Harb estimates some 250 such stations are using the service, including radio groups like Beasley, Greater Media, Radio One and Sandusky.
Harb says the technology gives the stations, and now labels, the ability to message on an additional platform and “target consumers at the right moment with the right customized message.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Harb told Radio World stations are paid for airing the Quu ads.
