Xenia Daily Gazette
CEDARVILLE — Resound Radio, the student-run radio station at Cedarville University, is using the popularity of its mobile app to improve listener experiences and provide people with a way to stay connected from anywhere in the world.
Launched just prior to the 2015-16 academic year, the Resound app allows listeners to hear Resound’s music lineup and various talk shows while also staying connected to the station’s social media outlets.
In addition, the app gives users the option to mark a song as a “favorite” and even access to instantly purchase the song in the iTunes store to add to their personal collection. The app was developed by Josh Erlandson, who serves as a web designer/developer for Cedarville’s web development services team.
Throughout the academic year, Resound tracked how many users were engaging with the app each month. In its first month the Resound app had 358 unique user sessions but saw an increase of more than 162 percent by April, when 938 sessions were recorded.
“It’s been very encouraging and exciting for me and the station staff to see the numbers increase throughout the year,” said Jim Leightenheimer, associate professor of communication and faculty adviser for Resound Radio. “It’s also been amazing to see that people are using the app all over the country, and we’ve been able to connect with people across the United States.”
While the app provides an easy listening experience, it also serves another important purpose. Resound staff members are able to use information from listener “favorites” and other interactions to determine which artists and songs are most popular, and then tailor the station’s playlist to meet listener demand.
“Listener feedback is extremely important to us, we lean heavily on that when developing song rotations and shows,” Leightenheimer said. “The station staff is very excited by the good feedback they’ve received as they work to accomplish their mission of preparing professionals to serve Christ in the media.”
In the future, Resound plans to make improvements to its website by adding more ways for users to interact with their favorite music. In addition, the Resound studios will get a complete upgrade this summer with the installation of state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment.
