Pandora, Slacker, Rdio, Spotify, Last.FM, Live365, Grooveshark… and on, and on, and on. Some of those names might be familiar to you and some of those names might be totally new, but no matter what digital radio platform you are using (or will use in the future), there seems to be a new one popping up every day making the landscape even more cluttered on both your PC and Smartphone.

These platforms, while having similarities, all offer a unique element to make their service standout. Some allow you to build your own playlists, some build playlists for you based on genre preferences and others connect you with communities to discover, discuss and inform users about real time band news including their upcoming tour dates.

Now, introduce yourself to Jelli (noise.jelli.com). This new service provides digital “radio stations” that play music that you can connect to at anytime during live online broadcasts. The twist to the model is that Jelli allows you to vote on upcoming tracks that will be played along with other users. The music that gets the most votes will, in turn, become the upcoming tracks on the broadcast.

Social media driving radio programming?  Anything goes online.  But wait…Jelli is not just a digital radio station.  Jelli inked a deal with Westwood One to syndicate Jelli shows in markets like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and San Francisco.  Two terrestrial stations in Las Vegas – an alt rock station and a dance/pop station – have even adopted the Jelli format for their stations’ entire programming.

It is focused on making a very interactive model. This makes the platform extremely relevant for advertisers! The more a listener is focusing on the program, the more likely they will be exposed to your advertising banner or audio creative. This is a big win for the brand and its advertising partners!

As good as this model is for advertising, the audience has to be there and I wonder if this model is sustainable. Jelli is the reinvention of standard radio. You get to vote, but so do all the other listeners and the music you’re voting on gets chosen by the station.

The genre landscaping is blurring and independent artists are starting to get the recognition they deserve.  Let’s hope this new interactive radio format opens the door even wider for recommendations of new or lesser known artists, instead of rolling out the same artist like the current terrestrial format is currently doing.

The big questions are: can new artists gain enough votes to win airplay? – and – how long will listeners stay tuned to a station if the songs they vote for don’t muster enough support to get on the air?

Scott Fisher is an Account Manager at The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com