Fever FM listeners get to choose and play their own songs

Every day, almost 75-80 songs played on the radio station will be based on listeners' requests

Fever FM, in its bid to further engage its listeners, has launched what it calls India's first ever song-request module, iPlayFever.

As part of the new initiative, through the day, listeners can request their favourite songs on Fever FM, by sending an SMS to a dedicated number, 9212104104. Listeners then get a reminder about the schedule of their requested song, via an SMS from Fever FM.

Fever FM listeners get to choose and play their own songs

Speaking to afaqs!, Neeraj Chaturvedi, national marketing head, Fever FM, says, "From the listeners' point of view, it's an interesting innovation. Any radio station should have multiple points of engagement for its listeners. With a simple technology in place, Fever FM listeners will exactly get to know as and when their favourite song would be played on the radio station."

According to Chaturvedi, given that the radio station operates for 17 hours a day and plays nine songs every hour; it plays about 130 songs in a day. Of this, almost 75-80 songs would now be played on request. The radio station would also take into account duplication of song requests, and ensure that there is at least three hours' difference before a requested song is played again on the radio station.

Chaturvedi shares that on the first day of the launch of iPlayFever, within the first two hours, the Delhi station alone got 1,000 SMSes. The SMS used for placing a song request is a normal non-premium SMS, for which a user will have to pay the usual charges applicable as part of the tariff plan he or she subscribes to. For example, if a user pays 50 paise for a regular SMS, the same charges will be applicable to the SMS for placing a request with iPlayFever.

Fever FM claims that through the new module, it does not stand to earn any revenue. In fact, it pays development money to the service provider for taking the dedicated code number, where listeners can SMS their choices. This development money is charged per incoming and outgoing SMS.

The radio station has launched the initiative across its four markets, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Chaturvedi calls the initiative an attempt to engage passive listeners of Fever FM, who love the station, but have little patience or time to call-in and interact with RJs.

Also, mobile is being used as the medium to connect to listeners, simply because it is an effortless device to communicate with, and is gaining popularity as a medium to consume radio.

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Fever FM Neeraj Chaturvedi