Nothing is more frustrating than hearing a great song on the radio, but the knucklehead DJ doesn't tell you its name or the artist.
And if you knew the title, you would probably rush out and buy the CD –- provided you weren't stuck at work or school.
ConneXus, a Philadelphia start-up, wants to close that transaction loop by rolling out a nationwide service called *CD that lets radio listeners find out what's playing on the radio using a telephone, cell phone, handheld device, or a two-way pager.
Then, with a couple of clicks or a voice command, the listener can buy the CD.
"There's a big disconnect between hearing a song on the radio and buying it," said George Searle, ConneXus president. "We're closing the transaction loop. We’re transforming radio into an interactive marketing tool."
Cell phone users dial *CD (star 23) or a local number from a landline to be connected to an automated voice system, which prompts them for the station's call letters.
By entering the approximate time the song was playing on the radio, users are given snippets of songs to choose from. Once the users identify the correct song, they are given the title and artist and the option to purchase the CD or listen to other songs on it.
Users of the wireless Palm VII can access the service with a special application that prompts them for the city, frequency, and time before returning the artist and song title.
Listeners with a two-way pager or a mobile email device send a message to the system with the station's frequency and city in the subject line. The system immediately responds with an email listing the last three songs played.
Last year ConneXus launched a pilot of the service in Philadelphia, offering it to SBC Communications cell phone users.
"We were getting 600 calls a day from SBC cell users, which is less than 10 percent of the total market," Searle said. "This was a test to see if people would use the service and without a doubt it’s been a hit."
The company is now going nationwide. Last week it launched in San Francisco and plans to roll out the service in the top 30 U.S. radio markets over the next three to five months.
"There's definitely a market for this," said Kelly Quinn, a senior analyst with the Aberdeen Group. "I think a way to have a quick listen, a quick trial, and a quick purchase from a mobile device is the way to go."
Todd Frieman, who works for a software company in Silicon Valley, said he has started using *CD regularly during his horrendous, three-hour commute.
"I like it," he said. "I was told about it by a friend and at first I thought, 'They make a business out of that?' But it's pretty cool. There's a lot of new bands on and I've no idea who they are."
Friedman said he has phoned the service about a dozen times since it started and used it to buy one CD.
"Now that I know about it I'll just be sitting in the car and I'll dial it up mindlessly," he said. "It's very easy."
The *CD system uses a proprietary "digital fingerprinting" technology to automatically identify what song is playing on a particular station.
As new music is released by the record labels, every song is processed for its unique sonic fingerprint, which is determined by the vocal colorings, instrumental emphasis, tempo, and beat, Searle said.
The system's computers are constantly listening to the major stations and processing each song for its unique sonic fingerprint. Once identified, the song is time-stamped and logged in the database.
"It's like a digital 'name that tune' played by our computers," Searle said.
ConneXus gets access to the new record releases through a partnership with the Broadcast Data Systems, a company that monitors radio stations for record labels to help track royalty payments and marketing data.
Searle said the system has more than 1 million songs in its database and has so far proven 95 percent accurate. It does, however, tend to have trouble recognizing oldies.
"It's really suited to identifying new music," Searle said.
The company takes a cut of CD sales and is working on ways to deliver 10-second audio ads before the caller gets their requested song info. It also is planning to license some of the backend technology to broadcasters and retailers.
