Ahhh…..where to begin….


I recently received a golf book (shocking!) Golf’s Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links of Utopia by Dr. David Cook as a gift from one of my golf buddies named Dilly (oh yeah, we have names…Finny, Rascal, Cloud, Bees, The Bone, The Commish, Rockin’ Rod)! What struck me immediately is that while the canvas of the book is golf, the lessons are way more far reaching….


“Find what you do well and perfect it”!


Too often in business we take our people who are monsters at selling, they’ve perfected what they do so well and we make them the Sales Manager. The morning man on a leading radio station kills the competition and we figure he’s perfected that so let’s make him the Program Director.


In our lives and careers I’m certain each of us knows someone who has “taken what they do well, very well, and perfected it. For sports analogies we can look to Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Pele, Sidney Crosby, Kobe and Mariano Rivera! In business, Bill Gates, the Google triumvirate, Steve Jobs, George Bodenheimer, Bob Iger…you get the picture…


Radio by its very nature, the core of its soul, creates great content that entertains and engages the listener. Because of a down economy I fear that we haven’t taken what we do better than anyone on the planet and continued t perfect it. We have more outlets than ever. Sadly, we’ve taken much of our talent and put them on the street and lost our local compass.


Find a dominate station and more than likely you’ll find a station that is part of the fabric of its city…it entertains…it informs…it is as we used to say in the old days…push-button one on the radio….


If we take our content perfection and update it to be the top favorite when folks boot up the internet…if it is the only app they need on their Smartphone’s to keep up with their community and to be entertained…they happily opt in to a compelling mobile marketing campaign from your top advertisers and the station (it really is okay to make money with mobile marketing, texting to many of you).


Try this today (or tomorrow, or next week, or)…take the roster of your team and think about what each does well….ask them what THEY think they do well…and then jointly work with them to perfect that skill! With smaller teams you can only , ONLY win with the right people in the right position…this may be the way to find out if you are maximizing everyone’s skill to what they do best…not what they were necessarily brought on to do…


Now some rambling musing to get caught up….


In the last year was there a more deserving Radio Ink Executive of the Year than Dan Mason? Congrats old friend…Glad I got Pete Dits of ESPN Radio in Dallas to buy me lunch recently…a great day, a great lunch with a great friend..now however, with what he paid for the Rangers deal I’m afraid I’ll be buying for awhile……is it just me or has all the hoopla surrounding the FM (sorry, radio) chip just disappeared from the trades?..great story on homeless Ted…proving it might just happen to you so make sure and join the Broadcasters Foundation of America because a reporter may not see you and turn you into a national phenom, $150 a year…sign-up here…..Bruce Gilbert has The Fan not sucking as much as it once did….working with Gino Torretta, former Heisman winner on his college football play-by-play network….brother-in-law Tony Belzer on the beach, Radio One’s loss can be your incredibly big gain…reach out to him here…..had such a great trip to NY and great visiting with Spencer and Julie and Dennis and Nick and John…a little like seeing the heads of the five families in network radio…the more time I send with Simon Cowell’s brother Tony the more I realize that the gene pool in that family is pure entertainment!.....the afternoon I had with dear friends Jim Thompson and Peter Doyle in NY was priceless..but isn’t it always?...great to catch-up with good friend from MLB Susanne Hilgefort..could talk to her for hours!....The NFL is a better place because Mike North works there!.....


Well, it’s just about Super Bowl Week in North Texas….I did my best to get this week’s weather to hang around but alas to no avail…it actually looks like crap next week so I’m thinking, rather than stay in town and pester my pals at ESPN (which I apparently did a great deal of in Miami!), I might head on over to the NM World HQ and skip the insanity!


Belated but heartfelt Happy New Year to all….here’s to a great 2011!

what else? The PRA...

….while still recovering from the Phillies loss in the NLCS and the ass whuppin’ the Rangers took last night….



Soooooo, the NAB made the first move and presented a term sheet to musicFirst…and by doing so also made a term sheet offer to congress, CTIA, AFTRA, CRB, CEA and a couple of acronyms I might have missed…..


…plenty has been written this week and in case you missed some of the better opinions and takes you can read Eric Rhoads here….or Mark Ramsey here..


..here’s how I see it in a stream of consciousness…by presenting the term sheet first quite a bit of leverage was given up by NAB…we can’t now say we don’t agree with the labels that we owe them money…BUT, if the labels were smart they’d take this deal and run…run around the world finally collecting their blood money from radio to the tune of $100,000,000 held until they get a deal with US radio…how in the heck can we present a united front when it is reported that the biggest of all Clear Channel voted no to support the deal…I liken that to the fact at my golf club the dining chair has the same vote as the golf chair….if CC isn’t in how is that a united radio front?...what I found the most preposterous was that it has been reported that there were two abstentions?...seriously…if those Board Members represented my district I’d bounce them for not taking a stand based on their member stations one way or the other…


…so now the CEA is calling us a “horse and buggy” business and technology….happy to have us sell listening devices for their members but….the carriers are fighting hard because they have other things they REALLY need from congress and until they get that done they’ll continue to fight the radio chip…..


…I’ve advised a client of mine that EAS and the chip go hand-in-hand and from a government standpoint it’s really the only reason to mandate that cells and other devices carry the chip….sadly, the musicFirst and CTIA and CEA are making hay by only focusing on their members wants, desires, needs, etc…..


..I’m on record as saying the hell with AFTRA…stop simulcasting and make your stream soo good that you sell it as incremental revenue with less inventory…


…at the end of the day when you hear the drums beating from a friend (Gordon Smith hearing from close friend and musician Orrin Hatch) you have to take it seriously…as always in Washington, if you hear the drums beating from your opponents you stand up and fight and may the best person win…seems there’s definitely something afoot to get some sort of PRA done if even in a lame duck congress (soooo sad!)….but we need to hear that from our organization!....not as speculation and rumor….


…it would be interesting to see a straight up and down vote of all members so we know who, what, where and when everyone voted…too many unscientific polls and quotes from “many of our readers” creates fear and uncertainty and shows a lack of unity….-



..to musicFirst..you wanted a deal and now you know what we want to do…to the CTIA..get what you need from Congress on the table and trade the chip to get it done….to the CEA…I agree that more radio folks should attend and stay ahead of the curve on consumer technology but in turn, you should support enhancing public safety and the benefits of national alerting thru RBDS and EAS on all consumer devices!


….last but not least….make sure you all get out and vote next week and support the candidates that most support radio and its issues!


…follow me on Twitter @teejgolfer and I’ll follow you back and keep in touch at tj@tjlambert.net...


..until next week….----teej

The NAB/RAB Show and other stuff.....

…Live from NM World HQ…(one of the "special shapes balloons during mass ascension at ABQ Balloon Fiesta)



I swear…the political ads are approaching pure craziness….if you believe the 4 back-to-back pods on radio (and radio with pictures!)…there isn’t an honest person running for anything anymore…..very, VERY cool spot from KOB-TV though….showing a peaceful waterfall in full HD and stereo…tag line?....”Enjoy this break from political ads from KOB-TV4…nice…


..what a crazy busy three weeks…first the NAB in DC…then friends and family annual visit week for Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta….a must event for any “bucket list”….and then a busy week working on projects and landing the next adventure….


NAB was pretty darn cool this year…bankers attended but aren’t lending…brokers are attending but can’t do deals because no one is lending….and broadcasters all walked around with curious smiles….


..the more you ask the more you learn….do yourself a favor and call your NAB rep…or call the NAB office in DC and get the real lowdown on the plans for the PRA and FM Chips and why they are tied together…they go hand-in-hand…one sets the rate and the other sets the percentage of that rate that will be paid….seems to me that just once we need a 100% agreeable group….there are a million opinions on the benefits of the FM chips (sorry, “radio chips”) in phones and the wisdom of making a deal that’s hard to swallow….but a united front from radio is needed now more than ever….


…at our last lunch Jim Kerr and I discussed how the AFTRA deal found its way into the PRA, etc negotiation…it’s the old “step into my sandbox and you’ll play in my sandbox”…during a November meeting with the Copyright Royalty Board it seems the meeting was conducted by the head of AFTRA….welcome to the party!


…Kurt Hanson’s RAIN Summit was the best attended I’ve ever seen…lots of terrific ideas presented and of course the “hallway office” was in full force! Some random thoughts from RAIN…Ford and OnStar innovating to take over radios place in the car and no real innovation from terrestrial radio (don’t get me started with HD…sheesh)…Safety issues will become more and more important as the screen becomes more prevalent in cars…texting is the biggest cause of distracted driving accidents…radio needs to be in the forefront with this issue….the Coleman Insights presentation was fascinating to me….seems instead of satellite radio the new love affair is with Pandora….seems it is not a dominant brand…heck, I’m one of their 60 million registered users and haven’t used it in years….according to CI…”terrestrial radio needs to take dominant branding (local) and match it up with key product attributes”….see the study here….and my final quick hit from RAIN?....”target digital/online efforts on listeners needs not the stations needs!”…AMEN! (Thanks for another great conference Kurt!)…


…kudos to Mary Quass for championing reducing inventory to sell yield and ultimately improve programming….many a campfire talk when I was on the network side on the downside of selling share…a fool’s game that selling for share…sell yield, create value, improve programming….Mary said it to a packed house….nice!






…pretty darn big news this week…The wireless industry's eyes turned to Microsoft on Monday as CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the nine Smartphone’s that will run on its new Windows Phone 7 operating system -- models from HTC, Dell, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. T-Mobile USA will join AT&T as the carriers offering the handsets when the phones start to ship next month. Analysts offered favorable reviews. "We believe this is a key step toward rebuilding confidence in their ability to innovate in mobile," said Wells Fargo analyst Jason Maynard in a research note…..more from the CEA here…


..the Great Jill-Bear Bruce Gilbert passed along a terrific study from Esquire presenting facts about men 2010…if you are in sports radio, as Bruce points out …”VERY interesting data and representative of how we always talk about how different a 25 year old guy is vs. a 54 year old guy”….view the stats here….(as a side note…thanks to Amy/Bruce for the Rangers ducats this week!)


..Russ Hill recently wrote an open letter to news talk radio…what a terrific read here..!


…Seth Godin recently blogged about the difference between “generous gifts and free samples”…read it here….pretty insightful as always …


…make certain that you get a copy of the study commissioned by FEMA through Northrop-Grumman regarding the use of RDBS messaging in concert with EAS….email Matt Straeb from AlertFM for the lowdown here….


..so the end of an era has finally happened with Mickey Luckoff’s departure from KGO in SFO…Mick was the best (still is by the way!)…he ran the place with passion and class…too bad he was shown the door with a lack of both!


..random musings from the high desert….too dang many people to shout out from the NAB…always great to get a few minutes or a few hours with friends and colleagues….special thanks to the Triton/Dial-Global squad for the invite to their dinner…great time and great idea sharing….great to join Carl Rohling from RadioTime and Dan Halyburton from McVay New Media for dinner with my pal Patrick Pohlking from ESPN Radio…to my friend Milt McConnell…thanks for everything..you are the best….the team at Ando soooo gets it…..keep an eye on Abacast…Mike LoConte’s Advantage Sales Systems can make you money today….new direct ca$h..what are you waiting for….can a guy, my friend and mentor Jim Thompson, ask for two better guys as sons-in-law?...Tony Cima and Tommy McElwee are great guys…pretty good golfers and can deliver an all around fun day….thanks for the game guys!....go ahead…look up class and a great friend and the smiling mug of Peter Doyle is front and center….Dennis Green getting his pistol loaded with two launches in January..good luck Den….


…and finally….Go Phightin’ Phils Go…..what a cool WS it will be if it ends up Philly and Texas….??!!!!!


..from the high desert of NM World HQ…have a great weekend….-----teej

...DC here we come....

…getting’ ready for the NAB/RAB Radio Show in DC….looking forward to meeting old friends and new….in Tuesday and out Thursday night….214-695-7595 is the cell….



‎"Fathom the odd hypocrisy that Obama wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but people don't have to prove they are citizens."…Ben Stein


..seems to me (I’d like to think my blog on focus had a little to do with it) but the NAB is focusing totally on getting the FM, excuse me, Radio chip into cell phones….in the past two weeks we haven’t seen nor heard a peep on PRA/AFTRA/CRB in most trades…nada…


..to my pals at the NAB…don’t dismiss in your quest the value of tying RDBS visual alerting to the case of expanded EAS…together they are a powerful partnership/collaboration that no one can ignore…not even the CTIA….the carriers will have no argument if you pair them. The carriers know that their “texting” solution is hogwash…ever try to text during a Super Bowl?...send a picture to your social page at an NFL game?...could there be any better example than a Super Bowl to have the ability get everyone’s attention in an emergency with a short visual message with instructions to tune to the station of your choice for additional important information?


As the most interesting man in the world says, “stay thirsty my friends”….I say to the NAB “stay focused my friends….”…these initiatives can be mutually exclusive but each deserves complete focus to succeed….right now FM chip, dang it, Radio chip stories are trumping all of the initial PRA press…ride it cowboys!


…always a blast to talk to old friend Traug Keller…TK has a plate full everyday with his ESPN bucket…ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, Bass Outdoor and more….we talked yesterday to catch-up and talk new media…don’t ya know a conversation we started in Miami at Super Bowl was the emergence of Ford Synch…and don’t ya know this morning this rolls across my screen from gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine…..

Ford gets techy with MyFord Touch


A recent New York Times print advertisement for the Ford Edge crossover included barcodes that, when scanned by a mobile phone camera, provided readers with access to Times articles on style and technology. It’s part of a techy advertising campaign for the Edge, which will be the first vehicle to feature the likewise-techy MyFord Touch system. Touch is built around Ford’s existing Windows-based SYNC communications and entertainment system, and allows drivers to use the dashboard as... well, pretty much as a big smartphone. Read more here!

…old buddies Bill, Dan, Dave and George…all donkeys!....Donkey Comedy Network launches with SASS technology for comedy bits….this makes sense to me….quick hits to the punch line….get us an affiliate in Dallas boys…I love to laugh! More on DCN here….and be sure to read Randall Bloomquist’s review and thoughts here….


…what fabulous news this week that the Broadcasters Foundation raised $150k+ at its annual Celebrity Golf Tourney…now more than ever we must give back to our own and the asks of the BFOA are more frequent and urgent than ever…PLEASE at least become a member and help your brothers and sisters in our great industry out…more info on the mission and a way to become a member here…(as a side note…Scott Knight gives so much of his energy, cash and time to the BFOA I’m convinced his place in heaven is already reserved!)


…working with friend Henry Peirse on bringing the inside scoop on Simon Cowell’s next hit X-Factor and all things inside his world through brother Tony Cowell to the states in 2011…hit me up at NAB for more details….


…musing away….I’m not sure why but my younger brother got him a mail-order preacher’s license…things that make you go “hmmmmm..”….Showtime original series the Big C is soooo good…Laura Linney is fantastic….tackles a tough subject with such grace and comedy…set the TiVo…….client Paa-Ko Ridge Golf gets another big hit with a #29 Ranking on the Top 100 you can play….bucket list course and a great buddy trip stop….is there a bigger Michigan fan than Spencer Brown?...congrats to Lew and John and Michael on closing their deal for the luxury mag group….the Abacast webcast yesterday drew a nice crowd of over 200 interested participants…pretty interesting concept on pricing for streaming….Modern Family’s season opener didn’t disappoint…still the funniest show on TV…


... iPhone’s Newest Radio App: Home Radio Pro – The newest radio application, Home Radio Pro for Apple’s iPhone will allow users to play, discover, and record streaming radio. With access from 65,000 stations from around the world, Hope Radio Pro allows the user to search a name of a band and the app will create a list of what stations are playing their songs right at that moment. The app has a built-in recorder, ability to browse by country, type of music, sport, news, or station name. Already in the top 12 for the music in the App Store, it costs only $5.99…we’re following this one to see if folks will pay 6 bucks….thanks for the heads-up David Ross!


…looking forward to seeing many of you next week in DC….----teej

Has the PRA sort of taken a back seat to FM chips in cell phones…great friends…great causes..and more..



…fascinating to see the PRA negotiations goings on along with its loaded other “asks”!....the NAB releases a study by a very reputable research firm showing the “peeps” want their free radio on their mobile devices….did they also commission a study of ALL broadcasters on whether they want a $100m deal with the labels? Why not a full study on the impact of the AFTRA deal that broadcasters of their own free will agreed to that is now in the PRA package to have it tossed…wouldn’t a study of the onerous impact of the CRB agreement be appropriate to present to congress as well…..nope…only a study of the acceptance of FM chips in cell devices…






…I’m a major advocate of the chips in cells and other devices (alarm systems, internet desktop radios, etc.)….and I’m mostly an advocate as a device to save lives…but through much more than the antiquated EAS system….the EAS MUST be updated….and there MUST be a uniform way for RDBS technology to transmit short messages advising of imminent danger…(i.e., “CHEMICAL SPILL…EVACUATE IMMEDIATLEY..TUNE TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATION NOW FOR DETAILS”)….


…in a perfect world broadcasters and the carriers would figure this out to the satisfaction of both sides…The CTIA just says “nope” and has nothing to back up why the chip isn’t a valuable life saver….FEMA is/has conducted a study on the ability of chips to deliver short messages and EAS alerts and will deliver those results shortly…


…I hope this PRA offer wasn’t a clever way to get the chips introduced as a sort of “earmark” to the offer…..all of the issues presented in the original PRA plan are critical and deserve our close attention….for once, we need a totally unified radio industry stance…EVERYONE, stand-up, speak up, support or not and if you don’t say a word, then shut-up!


…Mark Ramsey has commissioned his own study on internet radio in the car….a very interesting read to say the least and you can check it out here….


The Broadcasters Foundation held their annual golf fund raiser this past Monday in Bronxville, NY…so many participants gave their time and cash to this great organization….a full field of golfers, silent auctions…and a terrific live auction that raised tens of thousands of dollars that go into the BFOA funds. The stories are always amazing and always anonymous…become a member…so many great broadcasters have found that they need our help and the BFOA is there to do it…read about the organization and join as a member here….


..a guy couldn’t ask for two better friends than Jim Thompson and Peter Doyle…their hospitality and generosity over this past weekend was over and beyond fantastic…we all have more fun than any humans should have…and the golf wasn’t bad either…I’m blessed to know them and count them as friends…


…seeing and visiting in-person is always a treat for this old campaigner…last weekend and Monday were fantastic….Spencer Brown, thanks for the golf and the always engaging biz talk….Julie Talbott…you are the best, thanks for the encouragement….Rick Buckley, Joe Bilotta, Stu Olds, Bob Ausfeld, Joe Reilly, Paul Rotella, Barry O’Brien, Alyssa Pollock, Renee Cassis, Nisha Sedaker, Bill Hogan, Dick Foreman, Ron Ruth, so great to see you pal….Jeff Healy….so many people and so many encouraging words…thanks folks…


…personal musings….I think I might like the Upper Course at Baltusrol better than the Lower Championship course……Siwanoy is a gem of a course and pleasure to play…Ryann O’Toole, LPGA player gave me a great lesson for short game control before the outing…she’s a player to watch next season on the LPGA…


…some tech stuff…About four in 10 adult mobile users have apps on their phones but only two-thirds (68%) actually use them, according to a new report by the Pew Internet Project. People are more likely to use their phones to take a picture, text-message, browse the Web, email, record a video, play music and send instant messages than they are to access an app…..Location-based services provider TeleNav Tuesday unveiled an ad platform for its mobile navigation app that promises to drive users right to the doorways of nearby businesses. TeleNav, whose GPS-based app allows smart phone users to get turn- by-turn driving directions, will now add a sponsored listing to the top of search results.


…no contract, no problem….Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will offer a cell phone plan under its own brand, a move that the company hopes will bolster its position as a low-cost provider of wireless services. Wal-Mart already offers cell phone plans through all the major U.S. carriers, including AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA. The Wal-Mart Family Mobile Plan, which runs on T-Mobile USA's network, will offer a range of low-priced cell phones without a lengthy contract for a flat monthly fee. The plan will be available starting September 20. Consumers will be charged $45 at the end of each month for unlimited calling and texting. Each additional phone line is $25 a month. Data will be sold in buckets rather than monthly. The first 100 megabytes are free, and more can be bought at a cost of $10 for 200 megabytes, $25 for 500 megabytes or $40 for 1,000 megabytes.


…looking forward to seeing many of you in DC for the combined NAB/RAB…have a great week and stay in touch….feel free, by the way to share this weekly musing…---teej

no, seriously, the rain, the park...building an ark...

….random musings whilst contemplating building an ark while finding proof that it really does rain “cats & dogs”…



…after last week’s musings got an email from Jerry Del Colliano reminding me that I didn’t cover my thoughts on his thoughts (I called it a rant…sorry..) on the PRA….a couple of things we agree on..


-the record companies should get an “invoice” not a “check” from radio…we couldn’t agree more on that….


-the record companies want to blame others for their lack of foresight and innovation and acceptance of new technology….make a great total album and consumers will buy it…make an album with a few hits and that’s what the consumers will buy…simple…


-no one will buy anything until they discover it….mostly by radio (my thought!)….


-but, BUT, Jerry wants to use an Inside Radio survey (they do one every Friday) to make the case that 85% of radio folks don’t want a deal….I love proof positive through research and surveys but to make that case with that random survey is like wetting one’s finger and holding it in the air to decide the speed and direction of the wind…the owners supporting this compromise control at least 33% of the stations so in a best case maybe the naysayers would be 66%...


-I have heard, as have a few others, that there is a group of owners that want a straight up and down vote from the NAB on whether to proceed….seems fair…but does a no vote add up to a vote of “no confidence” for NAB President Gordon?


…another thing that came up in conversation yesterday with good friend Jim Kerr of Triton digital is whether or not the dissolution of the CRB equates to like terms for streaming as for the PRA? Seems, as a practical matter that would have to be the case, yes? If not, what’s the point? Also discussed was how a deal with the record companies relates to a deal with a union, in this case, AFTRA? Jim and I disagree slightly on FM chips but so it goes….


..and speaking of Herr Kerr…he is writing a fiction book and got invited to a very special writers conference on Cape Cod for a week after the NAB in DC….very few get invited and he made the cut after submitting two chapters…how cool is that?


..is the radio network business going through a major shift in model…a major net just did a comp deal with a major group that ends up a 90/10 split of net revenues…seems more like a rep like deal….that seems like a lot of revenue generation that after allocated expense adjustments drops that margin a few more pegs….


..other stuff….the Kno gets another $46m in VC financing..check out the Kno and the dough here….looking forward to seeing old and new friends at this year’s Broadcasters Foundation Golf Charity event on Monday at Siwanoy in Bronxville, NY….”The Four Agreements” from Don Miguel Ruiz based on Toltec wisdom is a life transforming experience if applied….1st Agreement: Be Impeccable With Your Word/2nd Agreement: Don’t Take Anything Personally/3rd Agreement: Don’t make Assumptions/4th Agreement: Always Do Your Best….easier said than done each day….for more check out the online version of this story here…..stuff I read every day?...Taylor on Radio, Inside Radio, Jerry D, Mark Ramsey and a slew of Media Post stuff….also spend a lot of time with Stumble Upon, addicting!!


Back to building the ark….have a great week----teej

Happy Labor Day....or the non-golf Ping!

Hope you've started your 3 1/2 day weekend....now about Ping from Apple and iTunes...

Dave Van Dyke and I both added it to our iTunes account and as DVD is apt to do...he dug deeper than me and came up with the Top 10 problems with Ping!  Here then, DVD's Top 10....

Ping has incredible potential, but this feels a bit more like v0.1 than 1.0. Here are the issues….


(1) Band pages are extremely limited, and most artists are currently excluded.



Apple has indicated that artists must be invited, and the selection is insanely slim at launch. If your world revolves around Katy Perry, Diddy, and Lady Gaga, you're set - otherwise, this was launched too early. Meanwhile, profiles are geared towards individuals, not groups. So why not tie artist profiles to those present on the iTunes Store - that is, at launch?



(2) No Facebook connectivity.



Maybe Apple and Facebook will eventually make the handshake, but the paint is still drying on this one - and that means...



(3) This is a ghost town.



Sure, you can join hands with Jason Bentley, Rick Rubin, and Ted Cohen. But most of your friends are still coming on board - and probably unaware of the walled-in Ping.



(4) And, not much musical connectivity outside the iTunes walls, for that matter.



Increasingly, musical lives are spread across important properties like Pandora, YouTube, MySpace Music, and Facebook. Certainly, a sizable chunk of the 160 million-plus iTunes users have expressed musical preferences on at least one of these outside services. So why not build the bridge?



(5) Users can only check three favorite genres for their profiles.



Most music fans criss-cross over lots of different genres, and loathe over-categorization. The iPod collection helped to blur genre buckets, so why reinforce them here?



(6) No usage-based favorites or other listening activity streams.



What are you listening to right now? 5 minutes ago? 5 days ago? What are your top-rated iTunes tracks - purchased or not?



(7) No Beatles.



Does a Beatles song define your musical identity? Well, not on Ping, as favorite songs must be sold in the iTunes Store.



(8) Spam.



Already, fake accounts are proliferating (ie, Ben Folds), and Ping could become a giant sandbox for shady characters. That includes fake accounts, phishing attacks, and other niceties that confront networks like Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis. Hopefully, Apple isn't learning on the job.



(9) Where's my Twitter connectivity?



Or, is a tie-in buried somewhere? Seems like status updates and favorites should cross-pollinate.



(10) No Facebook Integration.



Oh, sorry, that was #2.

Comments to Dave here! And be sure to copy me on your comments here!

Have a great weekend....on Tuesday I'll share my email chat with Jerry D (a good one!)...talk about the changing radio network business and model...more on the PRA....----teej