Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Fant.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I must like being an Idea Fountain. I’ve made a decades-long media career of working the good ones and just amusing myself with the rest. But the biggest thing about having an idea is the work you make for yourself in pursuing it. Count on a lot of that going in, because the unrealized potential of a good idea left behind is a heartbreaker. Don’t let it happen to you. Radio broadcasting was my first canvas.
I played on that stage beginning at age 16 with a night job at the hot local radio station. That little gig kicked off decades of fun and profit in music, entertainment, film and broadcast management. “I’ll major in English with a minor in Latin,” I thought, just to shake things up. It’s the language after all, and that’s what I need to communicate and persuade. So, equipped with a persuasive imagination, and the drive to make it perform financially, here’s what happened. It became my privilege to build out a record number of high-concept music and entertainment enterprises, many of which would eventually dominate the marketplace in which they would compete.
But every lick of success I’ve had happened because the extraordinarily creative talent was willing to join me. They knew I would go to work by creating an environment where they could do the best work of their lives. No one ever needed motivating. Commerce happened when someone else saw the same creative vision that I did. So I needed to identify and inspire great talent to share my vision and join in, That’s what made it all start to spin.
Has it been a smooth road?
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was disruptive to over-the-air broadcasters. I had just resigned my long-time GM job at Houston’s Rock 101/KLOL (a Billboard Station of the Year) to create Houston’s first New Rock/Indi/Alt radio station, THE BUZZ. We had 4 owners in the first 2 years at THE BUZZ as broadcasters traded signals like baseball cards. That was the beginning of a continuing series of cascading issues for traditional radio that have only gotten worse as digital technology introduced listeners to a more rewarding music listening experience.
Advertisers redirected much of their traditional radio budgets and the value of stations began to decline. Station owners who were relying on the next generation of young adults to continue to respond to radio ads found difficulty as radio’s hold on in-car listening was tested by easy Bluetooth access to streaming and, to a lesser degree, satellite music service. Radio had been very good to me, but the market was shifting and new brand-built media opportunities were not to be found within the new, highly consolidated world of financially strapped broadcast conglomerates. That’s when we hopped the fence to build brand-themed digital radio channels.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Here’s where we are today: BE THE MEDIA. DON’T JUST RENT SPACE ON IT. Now in its ninth year, RFC Media is a highly specialized digital media firm that designs and publishes exclusively in structured streaming radio.
Example: “You’ve landed on the best new rock out there. Welcome to the Space Station.”
RFC produces and publishes a Rock Station for NASA – Third Rock Radio – Powered with NASA Explore and discover new worlds of music with NASA’s Third Rock Radio. Working under a Space Act Agreement with NASA, RFC Media matches “new rock discovery” with tales of NASA’s exciting, on-going mission to create one of the most talked about digital radio channels on, or off the planet.
Third Rock’s Music Explorers, a talented staff of radio over-achievers, share their discoveries of “the best new rock out there – really out there!” The whole artful presentation is disarmingly contemporary to build community and help NASA deepen relationships with its next generation of avid supporters. Third Rock’s audience is a blend of scientists, engineers, researchers, innovators and astronauts, together with students and music lovers everywhere, all of whom share a love for the new and undiscovered. There’s really nothing else quite like Third Rock Radio.
THIRD ROCK RADIO – America’s Space Station NASA’s Third Rock Radio connects nearly 2.5 million listeners monthly worldwide Third Rock is heard anytime/anywhere streaming live through NASA’s mobile app, online through www.thirdrockradio.net, via Amazon ALEXA enabled skill and on the TuneIn platform Third Rock is in 7th season on air in support of the communications priorities of NASA Along with my business partner, Cruze, Houston-based RFC Media designs and produces private-label streaming music & messaging channels for brands, events and ideas. Don’t confuse this with a “playlist” on Pandora.
Our clients spend more time with customers through their own live-hosted/hand-crafted digital radio channel that streams their brand message and music signature from their own website and social media. RFC Media has been built around a team of high-functioning radio overachievers to become the leading developer and publisher of custom produced, content-rich, digital radio channels for business.
RFC artfully designs streaming webcasts that build community and deepen relationships among a specified constituency. These on-purpose radio channels lend flair to any brand story and then wrap it around the perfect music signature, whether one already exists or not. RFC clients enjoy a new on-ramp into the social dialog for brand linking and activation. They become the content, not just the advertiser. They make a dent, not just an impression. Advertising alone doesn’t do any of this. BrandCasting by RFC is Brand Built Media, not the other way around. That’s why it’s not Pandora. www.rfcmedia.com.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Streaming radio has exploded. RFC Media is pointing the way to BRAND-BUILT-MEDIA, a highly refined level bridge to their fans for the nation’s most high-profile businesses. Have a website? Have a companion streaming radio channel so fans that identify with what you do – and want to experience more if it – can do that through your company Owned & Operated streaming music/branding channel. Think NASCAR MUSIC CHANNEL, HARLEY-DAVIDSON RADIO, MOUNTAIN DEW SUMMER MUSIC and even RADIO TRUMP. Everything is on the table.
Fans now have an enormous affinity for brands they follow, in lieu of station call letters from yesterday. We help brands co-op existing pop culture and music to imprint their own musical signature into the existing digital pipeline. The key is messaging, not just a one-dimensional computer-assembled playlist.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4544 Post Oak Place Suite 333
Houston, Texas 77027 - Website: www.rfcmedia.com
- Phone: 713-256-5144
- Email: pat@rfcmedia.com
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
