This fall, when Apple releases iOS7, along with it will be the premier of iTunes Radio, Apple’s answer to Pandora, Spotify, and other streaming radio services. While many are speculating how Apple and Pandora will duke it out, particularly over royalty structures, the more important point for advertisers, is how it will affect the media landscape.

Streaming radio has had enormous growth over the past ten years. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, in 2013 33% of the 12+ population are listening to radio online each week. That includes streams of AM/FM radio and internet-only services like Pandora.

According to Pandora, 79% of their customers’ listening hours are on a mobile device. Enter iTunes Radio, pre-loaded on iPhones. It can do nothing but add fuel to the fire. It’s undeniable that advertisers, particularly ones that use radio, need to integrate streaming radio ads into the media mix. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Streaming Radio is accessible even to smaller, local advertisers. Services like Pandora and iHeartRadio let you drill down to the DMA, MSA, and even Zip Code levels. Plus, their advertising minimums aren’t too high. You may, however, still have trouble getting Spotify on the phone if you’re not a national advertiser. 
• While Arbitron is still working on a People Meter that will pick up online radio, Pandora signed a deal with Triton that measures Pandora listenership on standard metrics like  average-quarter-hour and cumulative audience in most of the top 100 radio markets.
• Don’t forget you can vary your message by day-part so it will really hit home, like the Mr. Peanut campaign on Spotify.
• Terrestrial (traditional AM/FM) is still the most widely used form of radio, reaching up to 77% of the US population each day, so don’t go putting your entire radio buy online. It’s important to keep a balance.