The TOKYO FM iPhone app
Posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 10:00am. #
TOKYO FM is the first radio station in Japan to launch its own iPhone app.
FM broadcasting in Tokyo isn’t quite as good as it could be. Tokyo is full of tall buildings, narrow alleyways, hills and valleys, and a fearsome amount of electrical interference, whether from the all-pervasive train system or the neon signs that can be seen everywhere. For this reason TOKYO FM was keen to ensure there were more ways of listening to the station than FM.
They’re already working on ISDB-TSB (oh yes, that’ll be another almost uniquely Japanese standard), which adds text and graphical information to broadcast radio; but to get some ideas about what to put in (and what to leave out), TOKYO FM has been working on their own iPhone.
But the station’s iPhone app contains an ingenious solution to a peculiarly Japanese problem.
Until now, they’ve not been able to broadcast online. Part of this is related to music rights, but the other valid reason is one of cannibalisation. TOKYO FM is also associated with 37 other radio stations across Japan, through the Japan FM Network Association. The advertising and programming for the Tokyo station is intended for Tokyo and not Osaka, for example, and if they were to offer TOKYO FM across other areas of Japan, they might cannibalise the audience of these local radio stations.
Faced with the same problem for their iPhone app, they hit on a novel solution: they use the inbuilt GPS system to check where the listener is. If they’re within TOKYO FM’s broadcast area, they can listen on the iPhone. If they’re not, they can’t. And so far at least, this is proving successful for the music rights holders and the business as a whole. A neat technological solution to a particularly thorny problem.
The TOKYO FM iPhone app, pictured above, is available in the iTunes store in Japan only. “Wonderful World” is the name of the programme, and “Reversed” is the current song playing. And yes, of course, you can buy the track online via the iTunes music store.
This is the second of four articles about TOKYO FM, the innovative station in Japan. Tomorrow, discover how Tokyo FM have cleverly merged FM radio with IP to offer a more valuable and interesting experience.
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Tim Page
ISDB-TSB? A digital standard with seven initials?
Like with BBC job titles, I suspect there’s a correlation between that number and how useful it is :)