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volk wrote:

What bugs you the most about the current state of radio?

Clear Channel

Radio has become just another corporate orifice with conformist sludge flowing from it.
Its all just formulaic crap and 37 1/2 minutes of commercials per hour.

The commecials drove me away from radio.  It seems as if all these stations insist on funding huge thousand-dollar contests to bribe listeners.  I can handle a commercial or two every few songs.  Maybe 4 songs, then two commercials, repeat.  No contests.

Oh yeah, it would also help if they played more obscure music that most listeners haven't heard before.

volk wrote:

I have been working in radio for 8 years now, and the more time I spend in "the business", the more convinced I am that it is moving in the wrong direction.  I know there is a lot of competition for radio right now, but I think radio's decline is more than just competition based.  It seems everyone I talk to has some general hatred for radio these days.  As a group of progressive MAF'ers, help a fellow MAF'er and radio PD start to change the industry a couple of stations at a time...just how out of touch is radio these days?  Do you listen to music radio anymore?  Why/Why not?  What interests or bugs you the most about the current state of radio?

In many markets, consumers are willing to pay a premium for a quality product. Apple computers, Ferrari cars, FedEx overnight shipping-- you get the idea.

Broadcast media lacks this. Nielsen and Arbitron ratings do not show the quality of the audience, just the quantity. It stands to reason that broadcasters will refuse to seek the high-margin, high-quality niche markets because they don't exist. Thus, they will always seek the raw numbers with safe programming that will not alienate listeners. The result is dullness.

Satellite radio and the internet have a potential to disrupt this by creating "premium" markets for those who seek higher quality. If you are bothered by your place in broadcasting, perhaps you should seek a position with upscale content.

I listen to Bob and Tom in the AM and then to local Sports Talk on the way home from work.  I will occasionally listen to FM but it all really begins to sound the same after a bit.  Pop/Alternative seems to be so formulaic (sp?) to me.  John Mayer sounds just like Dave Matthews who sounds just like...who sounds like....   You can make the argument for just about any band out there.  The variety is very little and gets mindnumbing after a while.  Between that and the advertising mentioned earlier.  I'll take my iPod over having to listen to FM for any length of time.

I think Egress is absolutely right as well.  (not to mention more eloquent than I am)

I listen to music a lot more than I watch television.

For me it's between these three:

KRXQ 98 Rock  (Usually Rob Arnie & Dawn in the mornings.)
iPod/iTunes
Last.FM  (This one is new for me, but I really like it.)

too much classic rock

Satellite radio kicks ass.  I don't listen to the normal broadcast radio because they don't play anything I want to hear, pure and simple.  With my Satellite radio I can scan a few channels and find something I like 99% of the time.  In an age where we can fill our iPods with 10s of thousands of songs, listening to a few "alternative" stations that are playing the same crappy songs over and over isn't going to cut it.

I just got tired of listening to the same music over and over and over. Thanks to my ipod I listen to what I want when I want instead of what some ratings numbers say i want. Talking to some friends at work who both have XM they will never go back to broadcast.

I'll echo what other people have said:
1. Too many annoying advertisements
2. Clear Channel

More specifically, the downfall of truly local stations and the services they provide, and the elimination of knowledgeable DJs who really care about the music.  Also, small and repetitive playlists.

I listen to a few different stations in the car.  Primarily I listen to NPR/MPR news.  If I'm in a mood for music, I listen to a Heartland oldies station coming out of Wisconsin.  The Clear Channel oldies station, amazingly enough, somehow manages to have one amazing DJ who puts on wonderful shows.  Not only can one tell that he really cares about the music, but he goes so far as to have regular interviews and guests, talk about local happenings in the oldies music seen, his "lost oldies" are actually songs I haven't heard before, and he'll even play local oldies from Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I don't know how or why Clear Channel hasn't hung him out to dry yet.  Sometimes I think about writing him a fan/thank you letter, and maybe I should.  Anyway, I'll also listen to him in the car.

Other than that, when I'm in the Twin Cities area or at my computer (home or work) I'll stream MPR's The Current, which made its debut about a year ago.  This station finally convinced me become an MPR member.  Now some critics are quick to point out that MPR is a non-profit that competes in a for profit environment, which may give them an advantage, and it is in fact the largest and wealthiest broadcasting corporation in the state.  That aside, the fact is, The Current plays what I want to hear, and they do a great job of it.

1. They have a playlist of over 13,000 songs and growing.
2. They regularly play local music, and don't just have a "local hour" or something.
3. While I would say there is a generally consistent feel to the station, there is no formulaic format that it has to follow.  The DJs actually get to play what they think is good music.  One minute I might hear Leadbelly, the next Patsy Cline, then the Beastie Boys, Peter Ostroushko, etc. (Well, see for yourself!)
4. They have amazing in-studio performances and interviews on a regular basis.
5. Fund drives suck, but I'd rather listen to that than car commercials all day!
6. The DJs are smart, entertaining, and you know they love their jobs and the music they play.
7. They are a good source of local news and other information.
The list could go on and on.

My dad got a free trial of XM when he bought his new car.  He was always in the "I'm not going to pay for radio" camp.  Of course it didn't take long until he was hooked.  His reasons are the same as pretty much everyone else's in this thread, so no need to state them again.

Is radio dead?  Erhm, I think that perhaps the majority of it will have to go through a rebirth, or it could be in trouble.

Last edited by Malkin (2006-01-24 6:47 pm)

I posted this once before years ago and it's a bit dated, but since it fits the topic, I'll post it again.  It's an essay my sister wrote back when she was in high school.  While in many ways, it is just a crappy high school essay, I think the message is very true.  So here you have it:

If you have never heard of a San Antonio company called Clear Channel Communications, it's because you aren't listening. This once modest, family run owner of a handful of radio and TV stations in south central Texas has exploded into a media giant, dominating radio like nothing has before. Unleashed by a government deregulation in 1996, one of every ten commercial radio stations in the country belongs to Clear Channel, including seven in the Twin Cities alone. The company gives new meaning to the phase "control of the airwaves". there size and aggressiveness has given them unprecedented say not only over what you hear on the radio all over the united states, but in how music is sold, promoted and preformed. You should really start to think about radio and what it can do.

Radio crept up on us under the cover of silence. Today it belongs to the inventory of a household like potted plants and silverware. It can play all the time, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, on the pool deck, in the car... the thing is, radio can be more than just background noise, it can have a meaningful impact on people's lives. If Clear Channel or a company like it runs our radio, then Clear Channel has the capability to run our communities, education, and our over all well being as humans.

In 1997 a radio station was sold and unexpectedly changed formats. Around me I saw tears from my sister and on the news I saw footage of kids like us plastering themselves in the station's bumper stickers and protesting the sale by sitting outside the studio blaring the deceased radio stations theme on car stereos. they were all playing the Beatles "Revolution", mourning the surprising death of a station for people who adored music, run by people who loved it too, Rev 105.

This was the first time I realized how radio could tightly bind people into a community. Ever since I have been on a search for that same passionate feeling. It's difficult to find a sense of belonging in a radio station who's DJs are satellited in from california. One key to a sustainable community is it's humanization. Steve Price is quoted in the essay "Twelve Gates to the City" in saying, "More is more. People need interesting things to look at in cities- flowerpots, murals, window displays." I think it is the same way with radio, it feels nice to keep a full spectrum with things that are more familiar to you, Rev 105 did it by taking people who had a natural ability to communicate and teaching them how to DJ, rather than hiring career broadcasters and teaching them how to communicate. Also, they played a variety of music, including local artists, because people just don't listen to one type of music. You do not go into someone's house and only find Yanni records. That is one way Rev 105 built a strong community, by humanizing radio.

One of Rev's goals was to educate, inform and enlighten it's listeners. Yes, even rock and roll radio has the power to educate. The station I volunteer at is the University of Minnesota's Radio K. Radio K takes part of its broadcast time and uses it for news and other information, it also does features on influential musicians. The show I used to work on does plenty of interviews with a wide range of people from Michael Moore, to a german exchange student. All of this is informative, and that is just on an indie rock station. I'm sure we have all seen those Garage Logic stickers in car windows, Garage Logic is your basic radio call in talk show. Some guys talk about cars and people call in with problems that relate. One can learn plenty just by listing to twenty minutes of a show like that. There are also hours of BBC news broadcast all over the dial, and thats about as educational as you can get. The thing is, these are a variety of sources, there are many points of view. Why would anyone want only one media giant telling them how to live and what is going on, think of what you could miss, how easily things could be covered up or looked over.

The most obvious function of radio is entertainment. wether it is listing to A Prairie Home Companion, or swing dancing to Ella Fitzgerald, radio is fun. Slowly though, mediocre cookie cutter radio stations are spreading across the country. It's easily comparable to urban sprawl. Convenience and familiarity eat up what was once vital farmland and wildlife habitat, and suburban shopping malls and industrial parks pull investments and your dollars away from cities. It is very much the same with radio, the convenience and familiarity of a station such as Kool 108 and WLOL are taking up vital airspace, not to say the oldies don't deserve to be listened to, but don't you get bored hearing that same Steveie Nicks song over and over on every station you tune to? Wouldn't hearing a song you hadn't even thought about in thirty years make you feel great?! To have new and old mixing together, with latin pop and german techno, being exposed to the newest up and coming sensation so you can absolutely fall in love with it before your next door neighbor, then when your neighbor finds out about it you can go have big dance parties at each-others houses. Isn't sharing, creativity, and imagination more fun than one big company making the same set of radio stations across the country!

Radio plays an important part in everybody's life. It can educate, inform, enlighten, entertain and build strong communities. We have the right to keep something so vital, diverse, independent and creative.

Malkin wrote:

My dad got a free trial of XM when he bought his new car.  He was always in the "I'm not going to pay for radio" camp.  Of course it didn't take long until he was hooked.  His reasons are the same as pretty much everyone else's in this thread, so no need to state them again.

My friend who wont go back was exactly the same with the "I'm never paying for radio" But now, "It's worth every penny"

Last edited by davic3 (2006-01-24 7:49 pm)