Why use RSS?

The following question was posted on the Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI) listserv:

How do you use RSS feeds? This question has at least two pertinent facets to it: How does your organization use the feeds and how do you expect the feeds to be used on the other end?

WKNC uses RSS feeds to promote our Rock Report: http://wknc.org/rockreport/

The Rock Report is a listing of shows at local venues. Many of the bands listed are in rotation at the station. The list is populated by a team of student staff headed by our Promotions Director.

The purposes of putting this list on the web are to promote local bands and to provide a centralized source of information on local music events. As we fulfill these purposes we provide a service to local bands, venues and listeners.

By making the Rock Report available through RSS, we allow anyone to subscribe and stayed updated on local events. There is a certain demographic that actually uses RSS feed readers; that demographic is small and has apparently peaked: http://www.micropersuasion.com/2008/10/rss-adoption-at.html

Aside from from this personal use, it is possible for other web sites to republish the Rock Report by parsing our RSS feed and then re-presenting it. Essentially this "opens up" the Rock Report. Someone may ask, "Why would you do this? All your hard work could be republished without credit!" The answer is: it promotes local music, and by doing this we get indirect and intangible benefits.

Another aspect of RSS feeds is the fact that they can be easily integrated into other applications. For example, we would like to make our play list available through RSS. If other stations did this too, someone could perform an analysis on the aggregate data and identify trends or unique attributes of each station. Or record companies could use it to determine when and where their bands are getting the most air play and promote accordingly. It's actually an interesting way to chart as well. The potential possibilities are limitless. I would argue that this should be the goal: to make your station's information widely available and therefore re-purposable.

So think of RSS feeds as a way to open up your web site and your station, as a female connector if you will, so that any new web technology that comes along can plug into it and provide unforeseen benefits to your station, listeners and local music scene.