Off The Grid PR

Image source: WiredWith much excitement and geekiness about where all this leads,  CNET and Wired reported on Jelli.net, a Total Request Live Internet radio station, which allows online music fans to control the content real-time. 

With a newly inked deal with Triton Media Group, the crowdsourced content will soon air on over 4,500 FM radio stations in the U.S.

Per CNET, what's so crazy exciting about this democratizing concept is:

•  The service revolves entirely around a playlist of songs that's managed by users in real time.

• Users can vote songs up or down before they ever hit the air, as well as when they're playing.

Adopting from video games, virtual armaments are supplied to listener/participants such as:

• Rockets  Each user is given a limited number of rockets allowing you to jump your song to the head of the queue.

• Bombs, given out in limited supply,  allow you to zero out the score of any queued track, keeping it from making it on air if other users dont vote it back up.

As described by Triton Digital Media VP/Strategy Jim Kerr to All Access,

JELLI combines the engagement, challenge and teamwork of a video game; the personalization and sharing of music we see in social networks; and a traditional broadcast that brings the experience to the masses.

 The platform promises to open up some truly exciting music play, allowing niche music lsiteners to find their worldwide counterparts.  At different times of day, as different parts of the world awake - expect the crowd-vote to change. (Myself? I'll probably be tuning into to what Montreal wants...)

Rise of the Software-enabled DJ?

 

We've already started to see the rise of citzen DJs around the Internet, with services such as blip.fm and the U.K.-based Last.fm.  And as with those services, DJs will be ranked by their music taste and ability to stay on "Top of Ethos" with the music culture sensitivities of loyal fans.

But Jelli's game-like characteristics suggest  a new set of criteria for future A-lister DJs: Software and gaming skills.

What will take to get wide play?  To stay on top for more than your "15 Minutes of Fame"?

This is admittedly some playful thinking going on here.  But in a new world of fast-paced listener-voted DJing, I think some technologies and skills that may help will include:

1.Sentiment Analyzers. Top Jelli DJs will not just observe the online chat window that's part of the Jelli web interface, but will employ listener sentiment analyzers to track votes on how well his/her song choices are received. We're not talking just lightweight tools like Twendz and Twittratr.  A  tool like MoodViews might be adapted to pick up emotional states of excitement or sadness on Jelli music server chat rooms. Or, useful for a DJ expanding his/her listener base, a tool like Sysomos MAP (Media Analysis Platform) which might indicate music preferences by geography.

2. Use of a MusicMeme, working much like TechMeme works, trolling the internet music servers and playlists, looking for cross-linking behavior. (If a scraper/bot/algorithm doesn't work today to do this based on Jelli's playlist - expect it to be created soon.) This MusicMeme will allow rapid identification of hot songtracks and, conversely, allowing an A-lister Jelli DJ to stay on top.

3. Fast Mash-up and Remix capability.With the crowd now able to vote-up and vote-down the current play a la Digg, expect the cycle of popularity to be going to be a lot faster.  To stay on top, an A-lister Jelli DJ is going to need the ability to incorporate  fast rising trends (or conversely, detect the onset of a "We're bored" wave and discard) into and out of their mix. So a hot DJ might have built than popularity base out of a repertoire of House and Trance, but if a fast-rising curve basaed on a new Acid artist is detected (through their sentiment analyzers of course), the A-lister who wants to stay an A-lister is going to incorporate a bit more of Acid. (This is just one of many scenarios obviously.)

4. Band of Brothers Technique. While all the Jelli game rules are yet to be defined (and surely the crowd will have something to say about that), it's clear that any one DJ only has one set of rockets and bombs at their disposal to take down an encumbent  and rise to the top. So just as in many video games today, expect to say back-room "group plays" meaning DJs cooperating with their support groups to use a group arsenal to rule the play.

 

A number of intriguing questions arise:

• What kind of authority system will be created for popular DJs?

• How will the authority of a long-term track record DJ be ranked against a fast-riser DJ?

• What form of flexible ad network will evolve to associate with a fast-changing tide of high popularity but short tenure DJs?

• Will a whole new market for music trend listening tools open up?

Jelli is going to be challenged to create an open playing field that allows the crowds wishes to prevail, but doesn't let savvy single sources out-game (hack) the system to dominate. But as many in the gaming world can attest, even the hacks can be part of the entertainment.

This much we're certain of: The cheering and excitement over this announcement indicate crowdsourcing is a very serious game for other radio industry players to understand -- and quickly.