Here’s a little bit of a follow-up to a post just before Christmas which noted that Apple had bought a small stake in Imagination Technologies, which amongst other things owns DAB manufacturer, Pure.

Now Intel has also upped its ownership of shares in the business taking its overall share to 3.04%. Apple’s share stands at 3.6%. Not only that, Intel has said it may want to acquire the company were another company want to buy it (i.e. were Apple to bid for it).

There’s obviously a lot of interest in the business. Whether or not this affects DAB will be worth following.

Well what a year…indeed, what a six months since Times of India bought this great business here at Golden Square! Within 90 days of buying the new business we succeeded in launching the new Absolute Radio. This is all thanks to the amazing talent within this building.

So a huge thank you to all of our staff, all of our clients and customers and everyone associated with the new Absolute Radio. The new brand is only 12 weeks old, but already the feedback from our listeners and the market is hugely positive.

2009 will be a challenging year for all of us, but I have no doubt that with all of the talent and wonderful people we have working for this company and with the continued support of our clients and customers we will build even more on our early success. We know we have a way to go to make the Absolute brand an established radio brand, but we have made a great start. So once again, thank you for all of your help and support in 2008 and here’s to a great 2009 and continued success!

The Rock n Roll Sport Podcast 2008. Ed Draper is joined by Russ Williams to talk about the year in sport. You can also listen again to interviews with Lewis Hamilton, Chris Hoy, Pat Cash and many others. There are also cameo appearances from Christian O’Connell and Vicki Butler-Henderson. It’s worth a listen to hear Russ’s rants……..

The Movies Extra Podcast - Films of the year 2008. Ben Jones and Adrian Hieatt look back at the top 10 movies of the year and preview the blockbusters of 2009. There’s also a few turkeys from the year gone by and Jim Carrey talks about Yes Man!

Most Wanted Uncut. Jason Mraz talks to Ben about the greatest year of his life and Richard Hammond talks to Jo Russell about being a daredevil and an unlikely sex symbol.

Christian O’Connell’s Choice Cut. Christian and the team look back on another year of getting up early, One Last Dream, Find Dad a Date, Mr T, the OC hijacking David Tennant on another radio station - basically the funny bits and not so funny bits.

Don’t forget you can also listen again to Geoff’s interview with the Kings of Leon

FROM THIS MORNING (22/12) YOU CAN DOWNLOAD ANOTHER TWO VERY SPECIAL PODCASTS - Iain Lee’s Choice Cuts of the year and Tim Shaw Uncut - the best of Friday and Saturday night!

You can listen again and download the podcasts from absoluteradio.co.uk.

And if you get a new iPod or mp3 player for Christmas, you’ve now got some fun things to put on it!

So, it is the first Absolute Christmas and the fact that things are going so well is the best present of all.  That being said, we’re not done yet. Aristotle (and a google search) said

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”  Absolute Radio is off to a great start, but we need to make sure that we get into the habit of keeping up the excellent standard we have established.  We will keep up the habit of having live music, new music, innovation in shows and technology and involving the people who listen to the station.

We’ve also got to not fall into bad habits.  The fact that there has been a great radio station long established in One Golden Square is a point of pride, but we have moved on – and next year, we have to really make sure that Absolute Radio is recognised as a real brand.  Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of – and after the initial flurry and excitement of launching the station, we have to remember there are still many people (and sometimes in here) who haven’t fully got it into their heads that we are now 100% Absolute Radio.  By this time next year, there should be no doubt.

A change in name is a good thing.  Jennifer Aniston’s real name is Jennifer Anastassakis – any name ending with ‘assakis’ is asking for trouble.  The original name for Google was originally BackRub – and back when it was first invented, the original name for Pepsi Cola was Brad’s Drink.  Becoming Absolute Radio is more than just a name change for us, it’s an evolution.  We haven’t just changed our name, we’re changing habits within One Golden Square to make Absolute Radio the best we can.  Habits are slow to form and longer to change, but soon everyone will get in the habit of calling us Absolute Radio.

Christmas is a good time for branding to change the way we see the world.  Apparently until Coke’s advertising campaign in 1931, Father Christmas always wore black and white or green and white – it was only when they changed his colours to that of the Coca Cola logo that Santa began dressing in red and white – proof positive that habits can change, and change the ways in which others habitually do things.  To quote (or cut and paste) the poet John Dryden “We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.”

No one is saying that given the current climate, next year won’t have it’s challenges – but Absolute Radio is a growing station.  2009 can either be viewed as a glass half full year, or a glass half empty year – how will you look at it?

I’m choosing to look at it as half full year – and with all the stuff we have planned – maybe a full full year would be a better description. Have a great Christmas… Clive

Hello, and welcome to the totally not ripped off ‘Blogication’ to this latest dive into the worrying depths of the mind of Jack McMorrow.

I’d like to blogicate this piece to everyone at Absolute Radio. This is partially because I can’t help being a horrible little suck up, but it’s also because I would like to thank each and every one of you guys for one of the best 3 weeks I’ve had in the past two decades. While it is true I never received a penny for my work, I think that getting to meet bands such as The Fray in the Zoo, guest on an episode of the Home time Show and get a free Operation board game from Geoff makes up for it.

Firstly, I’ve been listening to Absolute since the days of yore (2003), when I was a sweet and innocent 15 year old, and a young Pete Mitchell and Geoff Lloyd presented the Breakfast Show.

At the time, I was adrift in a sea of local radio stations, but one day I made the bold decision to shake off these arcane relics of the past and listen to the only station that truly played all the best contemporary music whilst giving classic tracks their dues.

The fact the new radio I got that year wouldn’t pick up anything else helped too.

From then on, tuning in to hear One Golden Square’s output made waking up for School/College at Stupid A.M. a least 74% easier.

Fast foreword to 2008, my uni class were given the assignment of getting some actual work experience under our collective belts. I got dozens of outright rejections from various media companies, some never even replied. While I was at home from uni, recuperating from sleeping from the majority of the first semester, I decided to hop on a bus and drop off a CV on the off chance.

I heard nothing back, so I assumed that like everywhere else, my CV had been filed away in the bin. So you can imagine my surprise when I woke up one morning to find a voicemail from Eloise Carr (which my phone insisted was from my old housemate, David), asking me if I’d like to come in to do a few weeks work experience.

My first day, I was a nervous wreck. This was evident in many ways, I could barely talk to people, I was second guessing even the simplest action, but most of all I managed to slash my finger open while opening a box of Radios. Twice.

And bleed all over reception. Fun times.

But, never one to pay proper attention to basic safety tips, I soldiered on. I became something of an expert in all matters special delivery related, re – stocking and cleaning the Zoo, making teas for various DJs and top brass and all the while keeping on top of sorting the multiple sacks of post that came each day.

While I had had never really expected (but still hoped) to be given time to sit in on the shows or anything along those lines, I still kept on with it, the general dogsbody of the station. I would occasionally write the Music Minute Quiz (and somehow still manage to be shocked when they were broadcast that evening).

Owing o the fact there is another guy called Jack working at Absolute, whenever I was called over the PA; my full name had to be used to avoid the inevitable confusion. As Ben Jones once said of me, ‘he’s the most famous person in the building’.

When I got name checked in the Absolute Christmas song, I did feel that it was partially that they needed a name which rhymed with ‘tomorrow’, but also because people were beginning to notice me around the office.

This all culminated on my penultimate day when I was invited to stay behind after my normal 5:30 home time to make an appearance on Geoff’s Home Time. I had once done something like this back in 2005 when I got to stay in the Zoo for the final Pete and Geoff Show (and became their final phone – in caller); however the stay was only fleeting.

This time I was able to sit in for the recording of the entire 2nd half of the show, and although I didn’t really make any contribution beyond providing a bit of background laughter, I loved the time nonetheless, and if anything, at least CV – wise, the experience was an invaluable one.

Not least because Geoff gave me a Blu Ray disc which could fetch a pretty penny if I can find someone to flog it on to.

Well, that’s nearly all for me now, I’d like to thank/suck up to everyone at Absolute once again, but particularly Eloise, Gareth, Annie, Martin, Nelson, Geoff, Annabelle, Christian, Brian and anyone else from the last 3 weeks I’ve forgotten to mention.

Now, even though at the time of writing, I need to be back for my last day in about 7 hours, as I’ve left them to the last minute again, I’ll be up late once again to write out Christmas cards and other similar fun activities, I would like to close with a (paraphrased) quote from John Lennon;

‘I’d like to thank you on behalf of myself, and I hope I’ve passed the audition’

There’s news today that Apple has bought a small stake in a company called Imagination Technologies. Why should that concern anyone who reads this blog?

At first glance, as The Register story notes, this seems to be all about taking a stake in a company whose products Apple already uses. In particular, some graphics technology already built into the iPhone and iPod Touch.

But Imagination Technologies has another string to its business. It also owns Pure Digital, the company strongly focused on making DAB digital radios.

Now while we really shouldn’t read too much into a single investment, it is now the case that Apple owns a stake in one of the biggest suppliers of DAB radios in the market. Radio, in all its forms, is something Apple has shunned to date in its iPod products. Even FM radio has always been sold as an add-on, usually via a remote control. Roberts, of course, have their Robi - a DAB digital remote. But a built in radio would be a real market changer.

With any luck, you’ll have heard the DAB digital radio adverts on Absolute Radio. You may well have heard the same adverts on other stations. And you may have seen or heard similar promos on BBC radio and television.

So the question is: has it worked? Has there been a massive surge of sales of digital radio sets?

Today’s on 18 December and the final sales figures won’t be in until early in the New Year. So we don’t yet know whether or not the credit crunch has affected sales.

But Google Trends is always worth looking at.

You may need to click on the image above to see if full size, but it uses the data from Google Trends to show how DAB has been searched over the last three years. What’s immediately clear is that come December, people start searching for DAB radio information, or looking for places to buy. Only the first week of December’s included in this data, but with the main burst of DAB advertising activity happening right now, and ahead of this week’s forthcoming publication of the Digital Radio Working Group’s report into the future of digital radio in the UK (More about that when it’s published).

For weeks I’ve been convincing myself that it must be some kind of joke; a cruel hoax perpetrated by arch-populist Simon Cowell in vengeance against those he probably considers to be music snobs. I was certain that there was surely no way the limited range of the X Factor winners would take on the beautiful complexity of a song like Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’.

Despite my many cultural objections to Cowell and his ilk, his commercial nous has never been in doubt. He has successfully manipulated the medium of television to bolster his own wealth and status. Which of us – given the same opportunity – would not have done the same?

None of the ideas were particularly new – the variety/talent show is as old as TV itself, and Cowell would’ve been more than aware of the selling power of the medium and its capability to transform mediocrity into chart success. Famously Cowell had once researched which songs were most popular in pub karaoke sessions and had his artists (or micro-tv-celebs) record them for guaranteed chart cracking capability.

Where Cowell has excelled with X Factor is his ‘control’ of the package, his production company help to create the show and his record label gets to release music by the winner(s). The contracts that all contestants have to sign are also famously restrictive, meaning that none of them are able to capitalise on the fame they’ve been given – without Cowell’s approval and share. If they’re any good then long-term earnings will follow, but at the very least he’ll have a couple of big hit singles.

The X Factor single is now generally accepted as a guaranteed Christmas Number One simply due to the vast quantity of television time (and consequently ‘celebrity’ mag/paper coverage) dedicated to the programme and its participants. That this is a ‘given’ normally persuades Cowell to find an original song, from which he can derive some other associated benefit be it publishing royalties or other favours.

All of this evidence would suggest that a song such as ‘Hallelujah’ would be completely off his radar, it ticks none of the boxes. It’s not that X Factor contestants haven’t previously desecrated great songs, they’ve just normally steered clear of the credible in favour of the blatantly obvious.

Cover versions are a massively subjective territory, indeed it could be viably argued that either John Cale or Jeff Buckley’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ are the definitive by which all others should be measured. Consequently my wrath is wasted on artists who misuse their talent recording hopeless versions of songs which I consider untouchable. This is not limited to wannabes; witness the peerless David Bowie’s tragic version of The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ if proof is needed. You won’t need to hear much of it before tears of laughter, disbelief and anger spill from your eyes.

My interest in X Factor begins and ends within the first few weeks, once the voyeur value of the idiot auditions is over. I’m slightly offended that I’m forced to start thinking about it again now; could they not have chosen another song? Most versions of Hallelujah run over six minutes, the lyrics need space to be heard and absorbed. It famously took Cohen over a year to write it. How long will the X Factor pop-radio-friendly version be?

At Absolute we’ve started to play the Jeff Buckley version in all its glory, it seems like the right thing to do. Buckley’s life-story gives an added poignancy to the song, his prowess and his legacy, his semi-achieved legend, his unfulfilled destiny. As Christian said this morning (and I’m paraphrasing here) – ‘you need to have had a life to sing this song’. Absolute is playing it because you might not have heard it. I doubt that the X Factor finalists would even been aware of the song until they were forced to sing it – is that really what you want to hear?

I try hard not to be elitist about music, though it clearly runs through my veins and inhabits my mind like a potent virus. Similarly it’s too easy for those who know nothing about music to call the rest of us snobs. This is the beauty of the ‘real music’ proposition at Absolute Radio – they can champion music and enable you to hear the definitive version of songs – it might not be a level playing field but by playing Buckley’s Hallelujah it does help to redress the balance.

Listen to the Jeff Buckley version at YouTube.

1. SONG 2
2. PARKLIFE
3. TENDER
4. THE UNIVERSAL
5. CHARMLESS MAN
6. GIRLS AND BOYS
7. BEETLEBUM
8. FOR TOMORROW
9. THERE’S NO OTHER WAY
10. THIS IS A LOW

Just missed out:
BLUE JEANS
END OF A CENTURY
TO THE END
SHE’S SO HIGH
COFFEE AND TV

ABSOLUTE SONG COMMENTS…

Huw Williams in Holyhead on Song 2;
Its a turn the radio up, jump around, 2 minutes and 2 seconds of music genius.

Phil Irvine in Bath on Song 2;
They’ve probably had better lyrics, better music or production on other songs…but none that is quite so uplifting or will go down better at a party. Legends!!!

Diane Gill in Sunbury on Parklife;
Its a feel good tune, i know it back to front all the words, and since i’m from essex, it takes me back to my roots. I just love it!

Ruth Anne French in Eltham on Tender;
It’s just really uplifting and original

Charlie Richardson in Twickenham on Charmless Man;
First song I heard by blur, still sounds amazing.

Maxine Bolton in Cambridge on The Universal;
A proper song not so comedy cockney chappie like some of the others

Annette Page in Plumstead on Girls & Boys;
It reminds me of dancing round the kitchen with my sister in the mid nineties, i love the line Following the herd down to Greece - on holiday!

John Cavanagh in Romford on Beetlebum;
Love to hear my children singing it on rock band

Tom Inniss in Ipswich on Beetlebum;
I heard it a week after my dog was put down and the track just made me feel better.

Tim George in Chesham on For Tomorrow;
A really underappreciated Blur track, I just love the whole feel of the song. The extended chorus at the end is amazing.

Emma Morton in Watford on There’s No Other Way;
catchy tune that reminds me of being in my early twenties, going to the pub and having fun…

Jack Smith on This Is A Low;
No matter how bad I’m feeling, this absolute gem of a track will always put a smile straight back on my face. This Is A Low and I have been through a lot together! Also, no matter what anyone says, this is one of the greatest guitar solos I have ever heard.

Deborah Wise in Southwest London on Blue Jeans;
Blue Jeans was the music to our wedding when I came down the aisle. We’re both 32 and we got together when we were 15. ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ was a big soundtrack to our lives at the time our love was blossoming and Blue Jeans holds a very dear, nostalgic place.

Judi Gaviraghi on End Of A Century;
Dreamy, I love the background music so sophisticated.

Ben O Connor on End Of A Century;
It brings back rose-tinted memories of long hot summers, Loaded magazine, Adidas Gazelles and This Life on the telly.

Lynn Graham in Redhill on To The End;
It was our first dance when we got married!! Aaahhh!

Allan Sullivan in Whitstable on She’s So High;
As it reminds me of a girl I liked all those years ago, who I thought was out of my league - she’s now my wife but I still think she’s too good for me.

Steve Dighton in Peterborough on Coffee and TV;
The bassline and drums just keep on going!! When I first heard it years ago it was and still is fantastic. The cheeky milk carton video was innovative with a sad twist at the end.

Tickets go on sale exclusively to Absolute Radio listeners this morning… (assuming you’re reading this on Thursday 11 December 2008).

Yesteryday I went along to Broadcasting House - home of BBC radio - to present at an internal BBC departmental conference about what Absolute Radio has been doing since we rebranded.

In particular, the theme was about listening to our listeners. That means this blog, our VIP community, the podcast we did with Alistair, publishing the playlist, our open Playlist meetings, and most recently, the very popular Rock Off - the quarter-finals are underway.

If you’re interested, the presentation is below (you may recognise one or two slides from previous presentations I’ve posted here):

Alongside me on the same panel was Keri Davies who is the main host of The Archers’ messageboard, and is also one of the regular writers of the long running radio drama - he’s written this year’s Christmas episodes. He talked about how important it was to treat contributors to the messageboard (the second most popular on the whole BBC website) with respect and how to benefit from them. Thanks to Jem Stone for the invitation to take part in his panel.

There was more talked about in the course of the day, but as it was in effect an internal BBC meeting, I only saw very little of it. But we weren’t giving away any state secrets to our competitors! By its very nature, everything we do with our listeners is out there and in public.

Us chaps in the Absolute Radio Digital Media team like to think we’re full of good ideas. Unfortunately we can’t claim the credit for The Rock-Off; our battle of the music forums which is proving a hit with online music fans. No, this one has to go to the clever chaps at i-Level.

There are about 850,000 registered users on Internet fan forums who are dedicated to Absolute Radio’s core artists. That’s a massive potential audience of music fans to tap into.

But forums are tough nuts to crack for businesses looking to connect with the communities within. These Internet-dwellers are a passionate bunch, and they don’t get much more passionate than the ones you find hanging about in music fan forums. They don’t suffer fools gladly and see straight through thinly veiled attempts at promotion. Did someone say spam?

We invited fan forums to submit a playlist, encouraging active discussion between forum members and incentivised administrators with a prize that the whole forum could enjoy - their own show on Absolute Radio, and on-air/online promotion to the value of £15,000.

The Rock-Off was picked up by almost half of the forums we identified, which is fantastic for brand awareness, but also for link equity at a time when we are looking to lessen the impact of losing the virginradio.co.uk URL. The playlist selection process generated over 30,000 views and 3,000 posts on fan forums. On the first day of voting, when Coldplay and Keane fans went head-to-head, we saw an 18% increase in unique visitors to absoluteradio.co.uk and The Rock-Off counted for 10% of site traffic.

But it’s not just numbers and complex Google Rankings that matter. The Rock-Off has also generated a lot of positive buzz. The competition has been well received by forum members, and comments posted by users show that new listeners are tuning into the station to hear the on-air elements of the competition:

Oooh yessss!! I’m up for that! - Kaiser Chiefs Forum

This is a great idea - Green Day Community

Hey! that idea rocks! 4 me “Bob Dylan at Budokan” is ‘d greatest live album in rock’s all time history - Bob Dylan Forum

We’ve definitely got to go for this - great way to get The Damned noticed at last by the general public at large - Official Damned Messageboard

This is a great way of putting essays off :D - The Official Forum for The Cribs

They just mentioned this on the radio. Apparently, the forum that wins, will take control of Absolute radio for a show - The Keane Message Board

So why is The Rock-Off succeeding in doing something that more often than not fails to create much impact, and in some cases completely backfires? I think it’s about being relevant, open and honest. We’re not ramming web links down the throats of forum members, or pretending to be Joe Bloggs, posting comments about finding “something really great” on the Absolute Radio website. Forums aren’t closed off to businesses, they just don’t like being taken for fools.

Forum administrators are a great place to start if you want to connect with these micro communities. They appreciate a one-on-one approach, and can give feedback on an idea before going public with it. The more involved they are, the more likely the idea will be a success. We didn’t post anything, instead using administrators to manage the competition on their own forums. This ensured that the competition got maximum promotion and involvement on each forum.

Hopefully, by going about things in the right way, we have built up some strong relationships with passionate groups of music fans, and perhaps we’ll give The Rock-Off another run out in 2009. Tune in to Absolute Radio on Monday 22 December to hear the winning forum’s special show.

http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/rockoff/

This Christmas at Absolute Radio you can hear some choral arrangements of some of our favourite songs, recorded by the MEDICI CHOIR at the Church of Scotland in Convent Garden.

As well as some of the biggest songs of the year - from the likes of Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Duffy, The Killers and Elbow - there will be special festive arrangements of Guns N Roses’ ‘Paradise City’ and Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’.

You can hear the last 2 songs performed live in session from the Absolute Radio Zoo on Geoff Lloyd’s Hometime show this Thursday (11th December) between 7 and 8pm.

Also, because we know how popular these choral versions are, you’ll be able to hear them online at absoluteradio.co.uk, just like all our other live sessions.

Extra special thanks to:

The Medici choir - and especially Richard Cowhig for organising the session.

Richard Harris and Jon Baird for arranging and conducting.

Adam Reed for mic and engineering expertise.

And Vince Lynch for mixing the results.

James Cridland, who used to work here, and now works for the BBC, maintains a popular radio blog. He’s just published some interesting radio statistics, that are definitely worth reading.

In mid-October Clive asked me to forecast what I thought our search traffic would be by the end of the year. It had only taken six weeks for searches containing “absolute” to overtake those containing “virgin” so how high would it climb over the next eleven weeks?

This wasn’t the most robust of forecasts. I didn’t spend hours agonising over the figures or building complex regression models. Instead, I picked a reasonable number and drew a line to it. The heavy lines are the actual figues and the thin lines are the forecasts.

Searches not containing either “absolute” or “virgin” weren’t going to move much as the site’s editorial direction wasn’t really changing. I figured 35% was a reasonable level based on history. Searches containing “virgin” would continue to drop so I thought 5% was likely by the end of the year. That left 60% for “absolute” searches and the good news is we are on target to get there.

It took six weeks for “absolute” to get ahead of “virgin”, twelve weeks for “absolute” to get above 50% and probably, after only 18 weeks, we will reach our 60% target.