##UPDATE: you might like to see the Asian version of this blog post, for where I’ll be this January/February.

“So, James, what are you doing next?”

I’ve had rather a lot of people asking me this since I left the BBC; and people also assume that I have a master plan of some sort. I don’t. I do have quite a few speaking engagements between now and November 9th – the Radio At The Edge conference. Radio at the Edge is my last piece of work for UK radio for now: I’m refusing any work from November 10th.

I’ve always had the belief that the radio business is too parochial. For too long, we’ve been too pre-occupied with our own navels. While the BBC is astonishingly inward-looking, commercial radio, too, is blissfully unaware of what is going on away from these shores. There’s a general reluctance to take part in pan-industry events – with some large radio groups sending virtually nobody to things like the Radio Festival, for example. The “new big competitor” is seen as a radio station down the road; and no further. Nobody saw last.fm or Spotify as competitors until they’d reached critical mass. (Spotify, a streaming music service from Sweden, has over 2 million listeners in the UK alone, and accounts for 4% of all streaming traffic in the UK).

In terms of how “radio and new platforms collide” – my specialism – it’s my belief that we can learn an awful lot from radio broadcasters across the world. The US is not a world leader in this subject; indeed, with the exception of a few stations like KCRW and NPR, it’s woefully behind. But the UK is not the world leader either. Spain is a fascinating place to look at internet radio. Poland is experimenting with real multimedia radio: radio that sounds like radio but looks like music television. In the UK, we have a lot to learn from the rest of the world.

That’s why, between November and February, I’m planning a trip around the world – yes, a holiday, but one where I hope to talk to bright people and bright radio stations worldwide. I’ll blog some of it here, write some articles for a magazine, and keep some of it up my sleeve until I’m back in the UK.

I know I have well over 2,500 people from across the world reading this blog. If you’re outside the UK: should I visit your radio station? Are you doing anything worth shouting about? Would your team like a presentation about the UK radio market, and some of the things we’re doing in terms of new platforms (both new content and new revenue ideas)? Are you running a radio conference that needs a bright speaker from the UK who may already be in your part of the world? Are you consulting any stations in these areas? I’ll not require any payment (though I’m unlikely to turn down any assistance).

[edited to be correct] My itinerary is:

November
United States: New York, Washington DC
Canada: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver

December
United States: San Francisco, Dallas

January
Japan: Tokyo
Korea: Seoul
Hong Kong
Thailand: Bangkok

February
Australia: Melbourne, Sydney
Singapore
India: Bombay

Who should I be visiting? If you’ve some great pointers, I’d be really grateful for an email: I’m james@cridland.net

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