Over 400 participants from 35 countries are attending the new international conference Radiodays Europe in Copenhagen, which continues until close of play Friday.
In the opening keynote on Thursday, Tim Davie, Director of BBC Audio and Music, delivered his views on the future of radio.
"I could talk about the strong position of radio in the UK and the BBC’s stable listening share, but there are some worrying signs. The question is whether we are growing, whether we are known for innovation and for driving the market, said Tim Davie.
Tim Davie emphasised the importance of building a creative contribution, “a relationship with audio” and the necessity of much faster digital innovation for the radio industry. Radio has to go digital, he said.
"The idea of radio without a digital platform scares the hell out of me. But it’s not about technical distribution; it’s creative and appealing content that will attract listeners."
Tim Davie talked about the need for public service and commercial radio to find ways of cooperating and showed the new joint industry UK Radioplayer, which will be launched later this spring.
There was little mention of the closures of BBC 6 Music and Asian Network, although Davie did say if the closures went ahead the BBC would be still be spending the same amount of money.
Radiodays Europe was opened by Raina Konstantinova, Director of EBU Radio (the European Broadcasting Union), representing the public service broadcasters, and by Alfonso Ruiz de Assin, Chariman of AER (Association of European Radios), representing 5,000 commercial radio stations. They both embraced the idea of the conference as the new European meeting point for the radio industry.
Other highlights of the first day include stats such as Head of Creative Technology at Global Radio Nick Piggott explaining about the new Radioplayer, which will hopefully become the "Google for Radio". He said: "If you went looking for Janet Jackson you should be able to find the radio station that would player her next."
There was also a debate on Spotify, and why radio remains important and competitive. James Cridland also delivered his World Tour presentation.
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