How Can We Better Serve Our Listeners?

I’ve been thinking about this topic: How do we increase customization and further serve our listeners, when we only have one audio stream?

Obviously, the Net is going to have to play a role.

So, some questions:

Can’t we find out from listeners which artists and/or songs matter to them right now? And can’t we make it easy for them to update that?

With that information, can’t we give them a custom Web page?

Can’t we SMS or IM them just before their favorite song or artist is coming up?

Can’t we get them linked into the artist fan club? Wouldn’t the artist management and/or the label find a whole new world of possibilities if they knew they had a group of radio listeners absolutely guaranteed to be excited about their message, promotion, concert schedule, new release, or whatever?

Couldn’t we deliver customized promotions guaranteed to be properly targeted?

Can we put the right people in the front row at a concert?

Could we not use some of the music recommendation engines (Pandora, Tune Genie...) to deliver information about artists that have a high probability of being compatible with the tastes of our listeners? Each individual has their own “long tail” artists that they love or could love. Why can’t we extend our relationship beyond the “short tail” that we are able to actually air on the main channel?

Just questions, I know. But the idea is powerful: We are the top of the funnel. We are the most accessible beginning point for everybody’s relationship with music. We are free and we are everywhere. That is a great advantage, if we use it.

How would you use that advantage? What questions would you ask?