Daily Marauder

JELLI: ALL REQUEST RADIO

Welcome to Jelli, user-controlled radio. This past week, I had the chance to catch up with Mike Dougherty, CEO of Jelli, at Digital Hollywood to ask him some questions about the site. Incidentally, Mike is not the lead singer of the band Soul Coughing as I had excitedly thought before meeting him. Apparently, I am not the only person to make this mistake.

The Product

Here’s the jist. Log on, start listening, and start voting music up or down based on what you want to listen to you. Others will do the same. The combinations of all of that voting will determine what comes next in the playlist. If you really want to hear that Herbie Hancock track, “rocket” it to the top of the list. If you really can’t stand that Citizen Cope song, “bomb” it out of the playlist. I come from a traditional radio background, and as a DJ for 5 years, I was quite used to the programmed playlist that neither I nor the listener had any control over. The playlist was dictated by a number of rotations coordinated in advance by the radio Program Director, band manager, and artist. In essence, if you requested something, there was pretty much no chance in hell that it was getting on air. This web site flips the switch on the whole radio industry.

The Hotness

Pandora, MySpace Music, iTunes, and pretty much any other online music service you can think of are very one-to-one types of experiences. You pick the music and based on what you are selecting, in certain cases, the service recommends additional music it thinks you will like.

Jelli brings the social aspects of traditional radio back to the forefront allowing users to each play DJ selecting and voting on music as the playlist runs its course. In addition, every Sunday on Live 105 in San Francisco from 10PM – Midnight, what plays on Jelli plays on traditional radio. It should come as no surprise that this is the most highly trafficked time for Jelli.

The Lameness

I would much rather listen to music that I and a few of my friends are selecting rather than listening with the main group. I don’t really need to hear that Soundgarden song once an hour and I know my friends would never subject me to that. Also, giving new users more power seems to be a must. On my first try to the service, a track that I had rocketed to the top was quickly bombed by another user and removed from the playlist. Sad face. Dougherty claims that this may be on the horizon.

What Comes Next

Jelli will be nationally syndicated allowing any radio station to follow the Live 105 lead and empower listeners on their airwaves. In addition, 5 stations in Australia will also begin carrying Jelli as of November. Live DJs? Also on the way. Also, users will eventually be enticed with incentives for their participation in the site.

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• Jelli’s crowd-sourced radio opens up to the U.S., Australia (news.cnet.com)