Radio heavyweight Clear Channel is trying out the social networking business. The company’s online music and radio division has plans to roll out a dozen station branded social networks in the next several months.
Clear Channel Tunes Into Social Networks
Each social network will focus on the local listening area and will be operated by the local station.
Seven social networks are launching today in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. Other cities include Minneapolis, Dallas and West Palm Beach.
Onesite.com, a provider of social networking technology, will power Clear Channel’s social networking sites.
The social networking sites will be a separate Web destination from the stations existing site. Both sites will share links to each other.
Clear Channel hopes to attract users to the social networks by using the “listen Live” Web radio streaming area on the stations sites. Each station will have a chat feature in the web radio player that will have profile pictures of members participating in the chat.
Stations will promote the social networks through on-air announcements and promotions focused on the sites.
Users will be able to create profiles, upload photos, music, video and blog. To protect against copyright infringement, Clear Channel will monitor the networks. Users will be required to acknowledge that what they upload is not infringing. User who do not comply with the requirements will denied access to the site.
