Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Nielson's Radio & Records Magazine CLOSING

News became official that the Nielson based company that monitors radio airplay and more for contemporary music, Radio and Records, will cease operations this Friday. The website will be taken offline soon as well. As a fan of this publication, and a frequent visitor to their website, this is yet another bad omen for all of us who want to pursue work in this industry. Let's take a second to mourn.

The website has this timeline of the magazine's history:

1973 Radio & Records is founded by Bob Wilson. The first issue is Oct. 1.
1974 The first R&R Convention is held.
1979 Radio & Records is sold to Harte Hanks.
1987 Westwood One purchases Radio & Records.
1988 The R&R Hotfax Updates debut, comprising 12 weekly format-focused fax publications.
1994 Perry Capital acquires Radio & Records.
1995 Radio & Records launches R&R Online.
1996 The first annual R&R Talk Radio Seminar is held. The R&R Daily online news service debuts, and Music Tracking is launched online.
1997 R&R introduces the daily R&R TODAY news fax.
1998 The R&R Convention returns after a six-year hiatus. The first R&R Industry Achievement Awards, voted on by R&R subscribers, are presented at the convention.
1999 Data collection for R&R's charts is converted to include Mediabase airplay.
2000 Daily e-mail updates and Today's News online are introduced as extensions of the R&R TODAY fax publication. Radio & Records acquires Radio Y Musica.
2001 Adult Alternative and Christian sections debuts in the weekly R&R newspaper, each with its own full-time editor. The Going for Adds fax publication debuts.
2002 A CHR/Rhythmic section debuts in the weekly R&R newspaper, with its own full-time editor. R&R produces its first annual Triple A Summit. Electronic Promotion Kits are introduced for music customers, and the Street Talk Daily fax and e-mail publication debuts. Radio Y Musica is incorporated into the R&R newspaper.
2004 Radio & Records announces its new web address, www.radioandrecords.com.
2006 VNU, a global information and media company, acquires Radio & Records. VNU owns ACNielsen, Billboard, the Hollywood Reporter and many other business-to- business publications. Radio & Records charts convert to Nielsen BDS airplay data.
2007 VNU changes its name to The Nielsen Company.
2009 The Nielsen Company announces it's shuttering R&R. The final issue date is June 5.

2 comments:

Nikki said...

Ugh. All these music-related companies closing is really an indication of how bad the music industry's ending up - sad, really.

Unknown said...

One of the reasons I left broadcasting after 25 years in the biz...

They really screwed up when they allowed the Clear Channels of the world to buy up everything, leading to the pathetic state of the broadcast industry - particularly radio - today. The demise of R&R, long an industry staple, is simply another chapter in an increasingly depressing story.

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