Radio Digs Its Own Grave

Quote :

There’s a fiction that we still live in a monoculture. This concept has been blown apart on television, where there are five hundred channels available, but the Luddites in radio still believe the Internet didn’t happen, that we’re all prisoners of the dial, where there are few stations and little innovation.

There are radio alternatives (i.e., Pandora and the forthcoming iTunes Radio). Please don’t confuse Spotify and Rdio and Deezer and MOG/Daisy with radio, they’re nothing of the sort. Oh, they might have a Pandora or iTunes Radio component, but these streaming services are retail replacements, lending libraries wherein for 10 bucks a month you can go into the store and borrow anything you want, as long as you return it. Also, you’re not limited to one album at a time.

The radio alternatives represent market fragmentation. Because Internet in the car is not yet here on a widespread basis, they’ve had little impact on car listening. … Then again, we’ve experienced tapes in the car, CDs and iPod hookups. Terrestrial radio listenership is not close to what it once was. Radio used to dominate; it’s still the biggest player, but its market share has receded dramatically.

Sirius XM benefits from its automobile deals. That was the essence, even more than the programming. At this point, 10 years past launch, almost all cars are satellite-ready. Not everybody pays, but subscriptions exceed 20 million.

When Wi-Fi hits the car, or whatever type of cheap Internet access deploys in automobiles, Sirius XM will be challenged too. Right now, Sirius XM’s Internet play is laughable.

Most people under age 20 have never experienced good radio. So when baby boomers and Gen X’ers start waxing rhapsodically about their old-time favorites, wanting them to come back, it’s the equivalent of wishing that musicvideos would come back to MTV.

Insiders believe that there’s no revolution in terrestrial radio because the owners know it’s headed into the dumper. They’re just milking it for all they can before it falls off a cliff. So if you’re waiting for format innovation and fewer commercials … you’ll be waiting forever.

The challenge of Spotify/Rdio/etc. is … to tell their subscribers what to listen to. That’s what traditional radio has done best. So far, these services have not succeeded because they’re run by techies, and curation is all about human effort, not algorithms, otherwise we’d all be in relationships determined by computers.

READ MORE: http://variety.com/2013/music/news/radio-digs-its-own-grave-as-cultural-currents-shift-1200500285/

I grew up before there was an Internet. And I can remember when there was no MTV. So I have fond radio memories. But these days, I rarely listen to music on the radio. When I do have the radio on, it's usually to listen to talk radio. It's not even all the commercials that bother me. I just no longer see the point of listening to a bunch of songs I'm not all that interested in and waiting for them to play something I'm in the mood to listen to, with no way to skip past songs that I hate. The old radio format no longer works in the digital age.

Wallace108 wrote:

Quote :

There’s a fiction that we still live in a monoculture. This concept has been blown apart on television, where there are five hundred channels available, but the Luddites in radio still believe the Internet didn’t happen, that we’re all prisoners of the dial, where there are few stations and little innovation.

There are radio alternatives (i.e., Pandora and the forthcoming iTunes Radio). Please don’t confuse Spotify and Rdio and Deezer and MOG/Daisy with radio, they’re nothing of the sort. Oh, they might have a Pandora or iTunes Radio component, but these streaming services are retail replacements, lending libraries wherein for 10 bucks a month you can go into the store and borrow anything you want, as long as you return it. Also, you’re not limited to one album at a time.

The radio alternatives represent market fragmentation. Because Internet in the car is not yet here on a widespread basis, they’ve had little impact on car listening. … Then again, we’ve experienced tapes in the car, CDs and iPod hookups. Terrestrial radio listenership is not close to what it once was. Radio used to dominate; it’s still the biggest player, but its market share has receded dramatically.

Sirius XM benefits from its automobile deals. That was the essence, even more than the programming. At this point, 10 years past launch, almost all cars are satellite-ready. Not everybody pays, but subscriptions exceed 20 million.

When Wi-Fi hits the car, or whatever type of cheap Internet access deploys in automobiles, Sirius XM will be challenged too. Right now, Sirius XM’s Internet play is laughable.

Most people under age 20 have never experienced good radio. So when baby boomers and Gen X’ers start waxing rhapsodically about their old-time favorites, wanting them to come back, it’s the equivalent of wishing that musicvideos would come back to MTV.

Insiders believe that there’s no revolution in terrestrial radio because the owners know it’s headed into the dumper. They’re just milking it for all they can before it falls off a cliff. So if you’re waiting for format innovation and fewer commercials … you’ll be waiting forever.

The challenge of Spotify/Rdio/etc. is … to tell their subscribers what to listen to. That’s what traditional radio has done best. So far, these services have not succeeded because they’re run by techies, and curation is all about human effort, not algorithms, otherwise we’d all be in relationships determined by computers.

READ MORE: http://variety.com/2013/music/news/radio-digs-its-own-grave-as-cultural-currents-shift-1200500285/

I grew up before there was an Internet. And I can remember when there was no MTV. So I have fond radio memories. But these days, I rarely listen to music on the radio. When I do have the radio on, it's usually to listen to talk radio. It's not even all the commercials that bother me. I just no longer see the point of listening to a bunch of songs I'm not all that interested in and waiting for them to play something I'm in the mood to listen to, with no way to skip past songs that I hate. The old radio format no longer works in the digital age.

Especially since we have MP3 players that can hold as much music as we want and we can change it to that particular song, the radio just isn't as appealing as it once was. Plus, you don't have to deal with commercials and such.

We have BBC radio 6. If I'm home that's on pretty much all day (no commercials either), streamable for you lot aswell.

A few years ago, my wife bought me a Bluetooth radio for my car. For the longest time, I was using Pandora any time I drove somewhere. It certainly helped that my radio had a Pandora function that would tell me what song is playing, and would allow me to thumbs up or down any song without having to touch my phone.

I signed up for Spotify at the beginning of this past summer when they were offering 3 months for $0.99. I've always preferred listening straight through albums, so this has been a godsend for me. It's also introduced me to new artists that I wouldn't have discovered from listening to the radio.
You can also make your own "radio stations" that I'll use when doing chores around the house. I haven't used Pandora since.

Digital killed the Radio Star....

I can tell you my local radio stations are a joke. Some company called Cumulus came in and bought out a lot of the local radio stations. Ever since they all suck. KGGO used to play nothing but classic rock, and in the mornings they played Lou, Roundguy, and Heather. One of the only morning talk shows I actually enjoyed listening to. Cumulus ousted them, and now we get Bob & Tom in the morning, and IMO they are not funny anymore. Bob & Tom used to be funny a decade ago, now they just sit around and laugh hysterically at their own jokes which really aren't very funny anymore. On some nights, KGGO plays some dumbass talk radio show... It's maddening. I used to love my local stations, now I despise them. If it isn't talk radio ruining things, it's the insane amount of commercials you're forced to listen to.

I listen to Sirius/XM more than anything else right now. I particularly like Octane, and BB King's Bluesville. I also like to listen to NFL Radio to get the latest news, fantasy updates, etc... Other than that it's my trusty Ipod. My 2015 Charger doesn't even have a CD player in it.