Radiodays Europe 2022: cars, cooperation, confidence

20.05.2022 by Will Jackson

There was a positive atmosphere to be found at this year’s Radiodays Europe conference in Malmö, as 1200 delegates gathered in the Malmömässan conference hall and online – many of them together in-person for the first time post-Covid. 

Malmömässan conference centre in the Swedish sunshine

Core themes quickly emerged, such as the continued importance of radio in the car. Across multiple sessions, speakers from the audio and automotive sectors stressed that listeners wanted easy access to broadcast radio. At the keynote “Audio Summit” session on Monday morning, Sibyle Veil, CEO of Radio France, called for radio stations to be given direct, one-touch access in the car’s software. “This is not only an economic question, it’s a question of sovereignty, of cultural diversity and of access to trusted news media,” she said.

Sibyle Veil, CEO of Radio France 

The importance of broadcasters and the automotive sector working together in partnership was stressed in a session called “Driving radio into the future - can we still be the star of the car?”. Addressing the car-makers, Michael Hill, MD of Radioplayer said “The ball is in radio’s court, and that’s why we’re investing so much time and effort and money in things like Radioplayer, to help you make better radios.”

David Holecek, Director of Digital Experience for Volvo Car Group said: “People just want zero-click interaction [with in-car systems], so I think that the radio industry needs to make up its mind when it comes to how much do we want to have a separate unique branded experience, versus actually just bringing our content to the listeners.”

Hill explained he saw the radio button – whether DAB, FM or internet – as like the email app on a mobile phone. “The cars need to come with it, and under that button there needs to be a really good simple interface, optimised for great live listening. That’s how the radio should work,” he said. “Beyond that, of course, there is an app store environment where there are thousands of apps competing for your attention.”  

Michael Hill, Radioplayer; Philipp Rabel, CARIAD, VW Group; David Holecek, Volvo

Other panels explored how in-vehicle audio was evolving. Reviewing the automotive landscape, Roger Lanctot of Strategy Analytics advised that “bigger and more” was the trend for in-car displays, adding simply: “the car is a browser.” Speakers were asked their advice for broadcasters. Joe D’Angelo from Xperi responded: “Be pragmatic in how you deploy your resources. There’s a lot you should and shouldn’t do - do it with intent.” Lanctot added: “Sort out your metadata so it’s consistent for all content including adverts.”

"The car is a browser"

In a separate session, D’Angelo and his colleague Gereon Joachim spoke with media commentator Matt Deegan, whose company Folder Media operates the MuxCo DAB multiplexes in the United Kingdom. D’Angelo noted that despite the challenges that new audio platforms bring, there were important differences: “Spotify is not radio”. He also set out the data that Xperi could provide to broadcasters, revealing statistics from the platform for the first time. “In the last three weeks in Europe, 33 million vehicle sessions occurred – that means the car was turned on and they turned on the radio,” D’Angelo said. “That’s a lot and this also speaks to the need for a robust infrastructure that’s scalable to support this delivery… 105 million vehicle requests, that’s these change of audio events - a song, a story or even a show can be an event - across almost 28,000 radio stations.”

Xperi can also offer broadcasters reporting on the level of engagement with a station via its platform. “What we’re working towards is a dashboard that can represent what your station’s engagement was over Autostage, how did the audience flow and how many vehicles were listening to a song or an advertisement,” explained D’Angelo.

Joe D'Angelo (left) and Gereon Joachim from Xperi, with Matt Deegan (centre)

Elsewhere, there was a tangible confidence in the industry, particularly around platforms. “Five years ago the talk was far more about maximising distribution in places like Apple Podcasts and Spotify – going to where the listeners are,” Matt Deegan writes in his review of the event. “Now it’s far more nuanced than that. All the speakers in my session talked up the importance of their own platforms for data, increasing loyalty but also (for public broadcasters) the importance of getting attribution from the audience for the broadcaster’s work.”

In these difficult global times, one reason for this positivity was the enduring trust that listeners place in radio, noted by several speakers. “Radio is the most trusted medium,” said Stefan Möller, President of the Association of European Radios (AER). He urged delegates to use radio to “protect freedom of speech and bring entertainment and news to the listener.” The message was reinforced by the appearance of representatives of Ukrainian Public Radio, who addressed the audience via video from a bomb shelter, where they continued to report as a trusted news source, via broadcast radio.

 Ukrainian Public Radio

Next year’s Radiodays Europe event will be held in Prague, from 26-28 March 2023.

There’s much more on the future of radio in-vehicle at WorldDAB Automotive 2022. Sessions include the latest research, the in-screen experience, broadcaster and auto industry collaboration, and the importance of content in-car. The event is on 22 June in-person in London, and online – it’s free to attend, but registration is required.