The Erlangen-based market research company MusicTrace will also provide the airplay evaluations for programme planning and programme analysis for public radio programs from 2018 onwards. The ARD broadcasters under the leadership of the SWR therefore continue to rely on the expertise of the market leader in radio recording.

MusicTrace GmbH has been active in the German market for more than a decade with its Airplay Monitoring service and, on behalf of the German music industry association (BVMI), is creating the lead currency for the entire music and radio industry with the official German airplay charts. Among other things, the company supplies all major labels with extensive analyses, which have always been an indispensable component of music planning for radio stations.

The public radio programs of the ARD in the past relied on the sound evaluations of MusicTrace. However, as this agreement ended at the end of 2017, the service was re-tendered for a follow-up bidder from 2018 last year. Demands were made for continuous, fast and reliable information about the music service in the German radio market.

MusicTrace was recently awarded the tender. 'We are very pleased that we will be able to continue our cooperation with ARD’s radio programmes in the next few years', explains Ralph Kulessa, Managing Director and Head of Airplay Monitoring at MusicTrace. 'We are constantly putting a lot of effort into optimising our airplay coverage and our evaluations, and we are delighted that we have once again been able to convince the ARD broadcasters of our complete package of quality, service and price.'