Apple is overhauling and updating their line of iPods, the device that launched the dominance of Apple almost a decade ago.  The first iPod was introduced in October, 2001.  See more on the new iPod line below.  With new colors, designs and sizes of iPods, many dental professionals are asking “why can’t I simply play our iPod in our dental office?”

You can – if your music is heard only by your staff and not heard by clients and patients. When music is played as part of a business, it requires the business to pay licensing fees for that music.  The fees go to the songwriters, performers, copyright holders (not always the performer or song writer), record labels and several large corporations that administer the system.

So playing your iPod in your dental practice may give you the music you want, but you’re running afoul of the licensing system and cheating the writers and performers out of their fair share of the royalties for their creative work. While it may only amount to a few dollars from your business, it adds up to a large sum of money considering all worldwide businesses and performance plays.

Smile Radio takes care of all the music licensing and royalty payments for you. We keep track of songs that get played so we can report and make payments. It’s all included in the low monthly Smile Radio fee. So the musicians get their fair share.

NEW iPODS FOR 2010

Steve Jobs’ annual Apple press event on September 1 unveiled new iPod redesigns. Apple is revamping its entire iPod lineup, with a smaller square iPod Shuffle featuring the previous button-based navigation. The new Shuffle will fit 2GB for $49. The iPod Nano has also shrunk, with a square touch screen replacing the click wheel. The Nano still has an FM radio chip inside. The Nano will be available in seven colors and come in a 8GB size for $149 and 16GB for $179.

Jobs says the iPod Touch is now the most popular of the iPods, mostly due to it’s gaming portable capability, outselling devices from Nintendo and Sony. The new iPod Touch is thinner and includes HD video recording, with the ability to edit video with iMovie. The iPod Touch will be available in 8GB for $129, 32GB for $299 and 64GB for $399. It appears that Apple is phasing out its iPod Classic model.

You should know that Pandora is fine for personal use but it is not licensed for any business or commercial use.  In Pandora’s terms of use statement it reads:
“License Grante. Pandora grants to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Pandora Services in the United States for personal non-commercial purposes only.”
Elsewhere we read: “Pandora is for personal use only, that means you can’t play Pandora for the patrons in your bar, coffee shop, etc.”

Pandora is a great service for many people but has it has its limitations for play in businesses.

That’s one reason to switch from Pandora to Smile Radio.  Smile Radio  IS built for business play – specifically for the dental professional.  We mix our music with dental offices in mind.  And all of our channels are fully licensed meaning the musicians, singers and record labels get paid for their music.  Smile Radio IS legal for dental offices.    

Pandora Internet radio just passed 60 million registered users.  What a growth curve! At year-end 2009 Pandora was at 43 million users, then up to 50 million in April, and now 60 million. That doesn’t mean every single one of those users is active every day or every month. But it does say something about America’s appetite for music.  We’re hungry for music. Much of the Pandora growth has been linked to the iphone now being able to have simultaneous programs open at the same time (stream music while doing another function) and the introduction of the ipad.

We like Pandora because it’s an introduction to streaming music over the internet for many businesses.  But dental offices need to be cautious when using Pandora.  It doesn’t screen for content or lyrics and isn’t picking the songs with your office in mind.  Yes, it’s free and somewhat personalized, but many offices don’t have the time to maintain it or create new channels if they want a mood switch. If you’re ready to switch from Pandora in your dental practice, try our Smile Radio 30-day free trial offer. Hear if you like it.

U2 is the top-earning music act of 2010, according to Forbes magazine. Forbes’ annual list complies money earned between June 2009 and June 2010, and the magazine says that U2 netted an estimated $130 million on the strength of their worldwide 360 tour that sold 1.3 million tickets at an average price of $94 a seat in North America alone. The tour grossed $311 million, and the band’s bottom line also was boosted by healthy merchandise sales, radio airplay and catalog record sales.

AC/DC followed U2 on the Forbes list with $114 million after they grossed $2.3 million a night on their last tour.

Beyoncé was the highest-paid female musician at #3 on the list with a net of $87 million. A big chunk of Beyoncé’s earnings came from major endorsement deals with Nintendo and L’Oréal, sales from her House of Dereon fashion line, and the $86 million in gross receipts from her 93-date world tour.

Bruce Springsteen made most of his money on the road touring, taking in $70 million by selling more than 2 million tickets on his world tour, which grossed $167 million. Like U2, Springsteen also earned cash from radio play and sales of his catalog albums.

Britney Spears came in at the #5 position with the fifth-highest grossing tour of the year, plus her endorsement deals with Elizabeth Arden and Candies which added to her $64 million in earnings.

In the second half of the Top 10, Jay-Z was #6 with the $63 million he brought in from his stake in the New Jersey Nets, the 40/40 nightclub chain, the hit Broadway show Fela!, The Blueprint 3 album sales and his last tour, which grossed more than $1 million a night.

The mega success of Lady Gaga put her at #7 as she continues to sell albums  and concert ticket along with million-dollar endorsements with Polaroid, Virgin Mobile and Monster Cable. Lady Gaga netted an estimated $62 million over the last year, while Madonna came in just below her at #8 with $58 million, mostly from her Sticky and Sweet tour.

Kenny Chesney, whose $50 million in earnings landed him at #9, was the highest-paid act in Country music last year. The final spot on the Forbes list was a three-way tie between Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay and Toby Keith, all of whom made $48 million.

Some people like to go with the biggest company when faced with a choice. But when it comes to music for your dental practice, should you to use the same service that’s used by truck drivers, restaurants, commuters and warehouse stores?

Sirius XM has expanded its subscriber base by 6% from a year ago to a record 19.6 million at the end of 2nd quarter 2010. Sirius XM added 583,249 net subscribers in the second quarter of this year compared to a net subscriber decline of 185,999 in the second quarter of 2009.

So almost 20 million people subscribe to satellite radio. It’s a safe choice for music for the masses. But when it comes to music tailored specifically for dental practices, the mass music provider isn’t the best choice – Smile Radio is. We program Smile Radio with the dental office environment in mind. And if you have a question, comment or complaint, you can always reach our staff by phone or email. Thanks for considering Smile Radio!

Why do some songs become hit songs and others don’t become hits?  That’s a question that has puzzled music industry veterans for decades.  There’s a music service that claims to be able to predict the hits.  It’s called Hit Predictor by Promosquad.  The company tests songs early on, sometimes before they’re released, to find out the song’s “hit potential.”  That’s a service that music labels and managers would dearly love…if it’s correct in predicting hits.  Then the label or manager won’t waste their time on new bands or songs that clearly don’t display hit potential.

Here’s how Prosquad explains their service:
“A little over five years ago we started testing songs before airplay. At first we didn’t believe it ourselves, but now, after testing almost every release from the past five years, the HitPredictor has shown incredible accuracy in determining the hit potential of new songs prior to airplay. Songs are blind tested online by Promosquad using multiple listens and a nationwide sample of carefully profiled music consumers. Songs are rated on a 1-5 scale; final results are based on weighted positives. Songs with a score of 65 or more are judged to have hit potential, although that benchmark number can fluctuate per format based on the strength of available music.”

Promosquad covers many formats from Top to Country, Urban to Alternative Rock. If you don’t see your favorite new song on the HitPredictor charts, chances are it failed in their testing to become a hit.

This new device has updated the classic portable radio. The Pure Evoke Flow Radio’s primary feature is WiFi connectivity so it can play any of thousands of Internet radio stations.

It allows you to listen to your local FM radio stations, too. On the back of the radio is the FM antenna, power-adapter socket, aux input, stereo output, headphone output, aux speaker out, and USB port.

The Evoke Flow Radio is constructed of framed wood, not plastic, and finished with a thick piano-gloss surrounding the entire body of the radio. It’s the size of a lunch box.  Using a combination of touch-sensitive buttons, old-fashioned knobs, an OLED screen, and a 3-inch speaker, the Evoke Flow strikes an intriguing balance between old and new.  List price is $229.

Read the Evoke Flow Radio review from CNET here.  Rated very good with 3.5 out of 5 stars.  See the Pure web site here.

Does your dental practice offer free Wi-Fi for patients in the waiting room? It might be a way to differentiate your practice and increase patient satisfaction. Many people use Wi-Fi to connect their iPhone and other smart phones to the internet. It’s a good way for them to pass the time in the waiting room, and get their mind off “going to the dentist.”

This summer Starbucks will launch free Wi-Fi access throughout all of its stores nationwide, with no special registration or account required and no limits on the time people can spend online.

CEO Howard Schultz said the firm seeks to “embrace social and digital media.” Starbucks may be feeling pressure from McDonalds, which is marketing a new line of coffees and started offering free Wi-Fi at over 11,000 McDonalds in December.

Free Wi-Fi at McDonalds and Starbucks! Why not at the dentist office? If you’d like more information about what you’d need to offer free Wi-Fi and how it works with Smile Radio, call us at 303.44.7700 or drop us an email: info@Smile-Radio.com.

Can your radio do this? Watch the video to see a radio that rocks as it rolls. While the rolling radio can’t tune in Smile Radio on the internet, it’s a clever conversation piece and we applaud the inventive designers who created this “ball of frequencies.”

Read more about this innovative radio, and read more about Teague, the radio’s designers.

Many dental practices use Sirius/XM satellite radio in their office. Watch out! Getting out of the automatically renewing contract may be a problem. The Florida Attorney General’s office, other state agencies, and the Better Business Bureau have logged more than 200 complaints from consumers. They allege that people have had contracts renewed involuntarily, or found it hard to cancel the monthly satellite radio service. When people didn’t pay, they often heard from very unpleasant collection agents.

Floridians are already sensitized to potential abuses of automatic renewals. A new bill passed by the legislature requires better contract renewal disclosures and notifications.  Read the full story in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

Are you paying monthly for satellite radio that you don’t really like? Switch to Smile Radio, where contracts aren’t a problem.  We have service options with and without contracts. Our goal is to give you custom selected music and a friendly human is always available to talk with here at Smile Radio should you have any questions or feedback.  303.444.7700.