In these negotiations, Rips has asked that online providers pay thousands of dollars for the annual right to stream copyrighted music, which is a new development for online stations that are already partnered with traditional radio stations. The demand has led several radio stations to close rather than pay the fee. The most notable of these closures has come from MediaCorp, which operated more than a dozen stations, and Safra Radio - the network of the Singapore Armed Forces Reservists Association - which ended online programming for its two stations. Meanwhile, SPH UnionWorks’ radio stations remain online but continue to negotiate with Rips.
The decision has created a dilemma for the city-state’s radio operators. It means that online cannot simply function as an extension of existing radio operations; internet radio services must instead make enough to pay the licence fees. But it’s far from clear that online radio has a sustainable business model. According to industry observers, monetisation tactics range from a push for advertising to user-subscriptions to music-vending strategies, but nothing has materialised in Singapore yet.
For Belinda Yee, manager at Starcom in Singapore, the question is not what media owners should do to stay online, but why they desire it at all. “I don’t see a lot of value in it,” Yee says. “It didn’t take off well in the first place and now I’m not surprised it’s dying. Today you have mobile gadgets and iPhones that are all means for us to listen to traditional radio, so there’s no need to go to internet radio. Alternatives to that are podcasts, and those you don’t need to get from online radio stations either.” Yee adds that through her experience in working with local accounts, “we used radio extensively, but we never considered digital radio and didn’t use it in our digital campaigns. There’s not a lot of added value to the platform and it doesn’t give extra coverage.”
According to CEO of Universal McCann Singapore Kenneth Tsang, the predicament in Singapore leaves radio stations with few options for continuing online operations. He says stations can garner funds from listeners who subscribe to the sites, or from advertisers and sponsors who offer display ads on the websites or on-air commercials. Although Tsang adds that it is unlikely that advertisers would be attracted to the online radio platform, mainly because of their limited user-base, Singapore is in a better position to gain ad revenue than other markets because of its cultural environment. “Online radio tends to be very strong for communities with a niche passion for a particular type of music that is not readily accessible via the mainstream radio network,” he says.
“Hence, if a brand has the capacity to tap into these niche pockets, there will be opportunities because online radio is a fast-response platform with a sticky audience.”
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