364 days ago Barrett Media went through its biggest transformation to date. We stopped operating websites and newsletters separately for sports and news, added music radio coverage, hired music radio writers, and launched a new URL BarrettMedia.com. Following the exit of All Access, I saw a hole in the coverage space, and decided to leap in.
Overall, it’s been a positive journey. Like anything we do in business, I’m always evaluating what is and isn’t working, and how we can get better. Similar to launching a new brand, show, talent or in our case, coverage area, you’ve got to give it time to become known, trusted, loved, and supported. You start with a plan and staff, observe what your audience and advertising partners value, and adjust as needed.
I try to think long-term when making decisions. However, you can’t be so married to your original vision that you misread the signs when a different path is necessary.
When we launched in September 2015, covering sports media was easy for me. I worked in it for years in many parts of the country, so my relationships and knowledge was strong. Addressing critical issues was simple because I knew them inside and out. I prioritized sports radio and increased our attention on sports television, and now almost ten years into this, we’re fortunate to have support from both mediums.
But when we entered the news media space in 2020, it took time to earn trust. Many news/media pros felt like we were dabbling in news rather than diving head first into it. The critics at that time weren’t wrong. We wrote some good stories with some quality people, but too many were unfamiliar to news/talk professionals. That required making adjustments in 2021-2022. We made those tweaks, and improved readership. Sitting here now 5 years later, news has established its own identity, and I love that. If anything, we just need to keep making it stronger.
I’m going through the same discovery process right now with music radio. We’ve hired excellent writers with professional experience across multiple formats. The interest in our columns and features is solid, and at times, even excellent. We can be more consistent though tackling deeper issues like Mike Stern’s piece on the KLOS ratings or Keith Cunningham’s column on what it’d sound like if Dave Grohl wrote your liners. Both of these articles were exceptional. I’m also a fan of original projects such as 20 Brands in 20 Days. The more we can do that’s original, the better.
What’s been harder to figure out is what music radio professionals value reading most. I’ve asked a lot of programmers, consultants, and executives for feedback, and they’ve all taken time to share insight. We make tweaks to our content based on that input. Sometimes the things people say they want though, aren’t what they read. Therein lies the challenge. If only it was as easy as rolling out a Top 20 series every day.
People in music radio tend to care much more about jobs being lost and gained, and company layoffs. Those are topics we cover along with format flips, quarterly earnings, etc.. Bigger market stories produce interest, but smaller market issues tend to be a hit or miss. Our ratings section does well, and continues to grow, which is great, but unlike sports and news media, there’s not a ton of on-air reactions that work. The on-air content in music radio often revolves around artists and personal stories or issues that relate to the format’s audience. Those don’t always make for good media industry website content.
As a result, we’ve started creating original stories on artists. Jeff Lynn’s conversations with LOCASH and Ella Langley were good, and we hope to showcase more artists from multiple formats in the future. If nuggets from those conversations become useful to air talent, even better. Where folks access our content is also different. Sports and news pros read us more thru the inbox whereas music folks prefer social media especially Facebook.
Stephanie Eads and I have also attended CRS and NAB Las Vegas to build more relationships. We’ll be in Austin, Texas too for MSBC 37 next month. Growing relationships, business, partnerships, and delivering the content that professionals value most remains my top priority. That includes in person, on our website, through our newsletters, and across social media.
To continue building momentum, we’re re-introducing our music radio newsletter, The Pulse in August. We will send it out on Friday’s to catch music radio folks up on stuff they missed during the week. We’re also creating a few more original series, and welcoming executives and music radio professionals to The Barrett Bash in NYC in September. The more we can unite the industry and help educate, celebrate and challenge the business, the better. I’m also examining our current content structure to figure out what we need most and least in 2025-2026. I’d also like to find an additional salesperson at some point to help Stephanie Eads.
With a year under our belts as of tomorrow, I’d love to hear from folks at record labels and music radio stations to make our music/radio coverage stronger. What can we do better? How do we earn more of your time and attention? What is missing that you’d like to see us tackle? Which issues do you care deeply about besides employment and ratings?
This applies to sports and news media professionals too. Do we have a blind spot that needs a second look? Is there something we’ve tweaked that you’re not digging? Are there issues we’re not tackling that you’d like to see us investigate deeper? Are we doing enough to satisfy sports television and sports digital folks?
My email is always open – Jason@BarrettMedia.com. The more we know what you value and want to read, the easier it is to meet your expectations. It’s been a fun and challenging year, and I’m eager to see what year 2 provides. Thanks for taking the ride with us!
Last Week’s AI Column
Reaction to last week’s column on the AI tsunami getting ready to rock the media business produced a ton of reaction. Thanks to all who read it, shared it, and commented on it. This is a critical issue that the industry can’t sweep under the rug. Too often our business has been slow to react. This time, we have to be out in front. If you haven’t read the piece, click the link above to check it out.
2025 BNM Summit and Barrett Bash in NYC
We are 7 weeks away from the 2025 BNM Summit, and our 10-year anniversary party, The Barrett Bash. Both take place in New York City. The Summit runs all-day on Wednesday September 3rd, and a few hours in the morning on Thursday September 4th. The Barrett Bash happens on Thursday night September 4th from 5pm-8pm. All who buy tickets to the BNM Summit receive a free pass to the Bash. The Bash will feature a few hundred professionals across the sports, news, music and advertising industries.
I’m announcing a few more additions to the Summit lineup later this week. Glenn Beck, Chris Ruddy, Mike Gallagher, Erick Erickson, Mark Simone, Sid Rosenberg, Ken Charles, Mary Sandberg-Boyle, Chris Berry and Drew Anderssen have previously been announced. My thanks to Ramsey Solutions for signing on again as an event partner. Companies interested in supporting the show can learn what’s available by contacting Stephanie Eads at Stephanie@BarrettMedia.com.
To book your hotel room, go here. We have teamed up with the Park Central in New York. It is just 5-blocks away from the venue. Tickets for the show are available here. Keep an eye out too for details soon on how to secure tickets in exchange for barter.
Quick Hits
- Linda Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X (formerly Twitter) last week. Some reporters claim X’s advertising revenues were flat. They added that Elon Musk‘s behavior created business challenges that couldn’t be overcome. Unless you were in X’s inner circle, you don’t know what is or isn’t true. Many who took shots did so based on how they feel personally and politically about Musk. X is still a great platform with tons of value. I just wish their algorithm was kinder to publishers and media brands.
- Speaking of Elon Musk, his AI model, Grok4 is getting rave reviews for its new features. I started dabbling with some of it on Sunday night. Everything I’ve read from experts indicates that Musk has hit a homerun. Hoping to do some more experimenting with it this week.
- Congrats to Erick Erickson of Compass Media Networks and WSB Radio. The national news/talk radio host once again delivered his annual event The Gathering to a sellout crowd in Atlanta at the Fox theater. Erickson has shared he plans to take the show on the road in the future.
- HBO dropped a trailer for the Billy Joel: And So It Goes and it looks awesome. The documentary airs on July 18th and 25th. I’m eagerly looking forward to watching it.
- Loved seeing this post promoting The Dan Patrick Show vs. The Rich Eisen Show on Celebrity Family Feud with Steve Harvey. Excellent idea. Local talent, how can you play off the idea in your market on your show?
- If you want to read a great piece on how to handle rejection, and use it as an opportunity to make a decision maker think twice, check out Barbara Corcoran‘s post on Facebook. She posted the letter she sent Mark Burnett when she learned she wasn’t chosen to be on Shark Tank. It’s a masterclass in displaying confidence and not letting a temporary setback deter you from your eventual goal.
- I saw a post over the weekend from Brooke Taylor at Fox News which reminded me of how good social media can be when used properly. Reads Taylor’s post and you’ll be likely to root for her going forward. Nice job, Brooke.
- Another female you’ll have a greater appreciation for after reading her words is Charlotte Flair. Ashley Flier (her real name) penned an outstanding article for The Player’s Tribune. It was open, honest, candid, and real. How soon until WWE fans are cheering for Flair in full force after reading this piece?
- I spent way too much time this weekend reliving Mr. Met‘s fall at The Lumineers concert at Citi Field. The first angle was funny enough, but the close up below was even funnier. Sorry KFC, more slander is on the way!
- Chris Long delivered an exceptional commentary responding to the NFL collusion story which Pablo Torre uncovered. If you didn’t get a chance to hear Long, check it out.
- Amazon Prime Video released the documentary, Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd on July 8th. That’s on my must-watch list this week.
- Four new tunes that I discovered this weekend and recommend: Ice Nine Kills‘ ‘The Great Unknown‘, We Came As Romans: ‘Bad Luck‘, Mammoth‘s ‘The Spell‘ and Noah Cyrus w/ Blake Shelton‘s ‘New Country‘.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Stay updated by signing up for our newsletters to receive the latest information directly in your inbox.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
