Many people say that broadcasting on the radio is a dying art. After all, whenever technology evolves, people usually toss aside older models. In the world of media, technology has generally evolved from written text, to radio, to television, to the internet, and many other things in between and beyond. However despite common sense, the radio industry is stronger than people believe.
I recently went to a conference in the city dedicated to college radio programs for a class I’m currently taking. There I met many students who work for their respective college radio programs and attended seminars featuring professional radio jockeys. Surprisingly, they are doing quite well and do in fact have many listeners. These professionals broadcast current events, weather and traffic reports, and various types of music that appeal to various people. Apparently studies show that there are indeed people who listen to an actual radio, especially in the morning and afternoon when people travel to and from work. Even if this is hard to believe, it’s perfectly understandable that people listen to these radio stations on the internet. In fact, these radio professionals have dedicated quite a lot of their time to online radio broadcasts. It’s an excellent example of how older media platforms adapt to modern society and thus are still gaining an audience.
The idea of radio programs having a larger audience than people expected is indeed a curious thought. It’s also possible for someone to join their own college radio station. Better yet, it’s possible for someone to actually make their own radio program. As long as someone has interesting topics to have discussions over and/or have a fun music playlist for people to listen to, there’s a radio station in the making. What would you do if you had your own radio broadcast?
I found the discussion of the current state of the radio rather interesting here. Getting involved in college radio is something that has always been a fleeting interest to me, and this post makes the idea seem much more possible than ever before. The radio is a great platform for discussions of all kinds to take place, as well as to hear music that you may not hear on mainstream radio. One idea that has always been a bit beyond me was the role that music copyrights play in determining what can and cannot be on an independent radio station. I’ve never been entirely sure what the rules are surrounding this, but granted, the need to lean towards playing more obscure music would surely lead to a diversification of my musical tastes.
To answer the final question posed in your post, if I had my own radio program I would like to do one of two things. The first, potentially less desirable one would be to host a music station that focuses on playing both borderline mainstream and underground rap / hip-hop. To me, rap is a genre of music that I grew up on in a somewhat self-induced fashion. It is often highly under-appreciated due to the negative connotations the music often perpetuates about themes such as the glorification of crime and objectification of women. However, that is not all hip-hop and although I’ve felt that at times I would grow out of this genre, I realized one thing is for certain: you can take the kid out of the hood but you can’t take the hood out of the kid. People are granted the freedom of choice and despite the nasty looks I receive from my parents and people at red lights when they hear what’s playing from my car, I could personally care less.
The second, more desirable option would be to host a comedically oriented talk show, featuring a variety of segments that range in level of severity. Being able to execute a format in which young, aspiring comedians and funny people alike (me, as I like to think) are given the opportunity to discuss whatever comes to mind seems to be an endlessly fruitful idea. I almost always want to imagine a world in which the banter I share with my friends on a daily basis could be heard by the world, to not only make people laugh, but to inspire them to think and view the world a bit differently. Overall, solid job, this blog post made me think a lot!
One of the main appeals may be the accessibility of the radio. It’s slightly easier to produce a radio show than a television show. There’s also the general idea that the radio isn’t as ‘controlled’.
I guess one of the main reasons that people say that radio is ‘dying’ is because most of the available audience has moved to other forms of media.
Radio isn’t dead, nor is it going totally extinct, entirely, but I will try to channel my father (in the industry for…a long time, let’s guess thirty-plus years) in the pessimistic view everyone seems to take about it “dying”. What’s happening is that CLASSIC radio is dying. Radio jocks are being replaced by computers in a lot of major stations — the guy changing records or CDs or MP3s? The guy that’s playing the sound collages my father makes? That’s no longer a guy. That’s a computer. That, and radio is in major competition with other media, such that it’s a LOT smaller in impact than it was. Radio personnel are a “dying breed” because computers are replacing them, and while radio may flourish yet, it’s the radio where you’ve got a guy at the mic and a guy at the soundboard that are starting to go away. Talk radio will persist, hopefully, yes. But the pukey jock announcing the next song is sadly becoming a rarity, and as he fades away, so may the humans who help make him and his station sound good.
Your optimism about the medium is refreshing, though, and it makes me hopeful that radio WON’T die the way my dad has been worrying it will. That video (and the Internet) WON’T totally slaughter the radio star, as the Buggles sort of predicted oh so long ago. Radio’s benefits of airing opinions in talk shows and making it easy to hear new music at the turn of a dial…it would be great if that didn’t go away.
[[P.S. Check the last sentence in your blog post, I think some feedback got tacked on there by accident.]]