[JPL] Broadcast Architecture press release on "their newest innovation"

[Ed Trefzger]

Below is a press release sent out on Thursday by BA. I'm interested as 
to what you folks think of this:


HEADLINE: Broadcast Architecture and Rate The Music roll out online 
research for testing new smooth jazz music.

Broadcast Architecture® announces today the launch of their newest 
innovation in music research for the Smooth Jazz radio format, APMM™, 
the Active Personal Mix-Master™ online music test. In conjunction with 
Rate The Music® / Mediabase®, BA rolls out the first ever weekly 
tracking on new smooth jazz music.

BA President Allen Kepler states; “Smooth Jazz, one of the few adult 
radio formats to play a significant percentage of new music, has really 
been flying blind when it comes to the new songs we play for the entire 
20+ year history of the format. Typically, we do not see solid feedback 
from listeners until we come through the market to conduct semi-annual 
music tests. Our new partnership will combine local feedback with a 
national panel of active smooth jazz fans, giving us a perspective on 
new songs directly derived from active listeners.”

Kepler continues: “The active fans of smooth jazz radio are really the 
trend setters for the format and thus who we want to hear from in regard 
to new music. Other formats utilize expensive ‘callout’ research, which 
includes active panels of listeners that are recruited by local or 
national firms. This system of research was developed by Rich Meyer and 
Mediabase® several years ago and our enhancements to their scoring 
scale, respondent selection and data interpretation will mold their 
extremely well regarded product to perfectly fit the needs of our smooth 
jazz partners.”

Meyer shared; “We have conducted parallel studies with Mediabase® / Rate 
The Music® data and standard call-out feedback. Typically, we see little 
difference except that our participants who ‘opt in’ tend to be more 
connected with the music and sometimes more deeply opinionated when it 
comes to brand new songs and/or songs that might be showing signs of 
burn. The research leads the general market rather than simply following.”

The APMM™ is set up to replicate the standard scores depicted in BA’s 
well-known ‘dial’ technology and methodology developed for auditorium 
testing 20 years ago and includes enhancements recently released in BA’s 
new online PMM™ - Personal Mix-Master™ online music testing.

The new APMM™ is available through a barter program developed by 
Broadcast Architecture® and Mediabase®. The company is set to begin 
waves of research in June of this year and several smooth jazz radio 
stations are already on board.

Broadcast Architecture®, creator of the Smooth Jazz Network® is the 
world’s leading smooth jazz research, consulting and syndication firm 
working with smooth jazz radio stations in over 35 markets across North 
America. Allen Kepler can be reached for comment and information at 
818.461.8016.