I think philosophically, this goes to a deeper debate on culture and influences. Look at "influencers" now. Look at DJs, in the days when some of them did have choice or a niche, or championed specific artists and songs, or music directors who listened and found hits. What I think a lot of people are nostalgic for (and sometimes this is more perception than anything) is the era when there were more exceptions and individual chances taken within radio itself. And in a certain era, and to this day in some niches, especially non-comm, still holds true, what radio chose to expose could impact culture or make a career. Because you can't make people like something, but as Steve Jobs said, sometimes people don't know what they like until you expose it to them. A lot of my taste was shaped by unique stations and personalities, who lived the music.
That's why I got into Americana and roots influenced music, because as a young radio nerd I thought the brand of KPIG in Freedom, California, was interesting and got tapes from a personality of theirs who hung out in an AOL Radio Pros chat, hearing stuff like Greg Brown, Chris Isaak, Dar Williams, Lucinda Williams. I developed a taste for broad spectrum album and adult alternative because I heard the final 90 minutes of KSCA and a mix of music I'd never heard living in small towns, and the passion of their DJs. I'd never heard You Can't Always Get What You want or Dancing Barefoot, or Into the Mystic, or Something Fine by Jackson Browne, much less on one station, that wasn't the type of area I grew up in, it was all country and southern rock and AC CCM. And later, when I lived somewhere with a "modern rock" station that was fixated on Korn & Limp Bizkit, I discovered a real alternative on an independent commercial FM in a college town that would sometimes fade in, playing a mix that started in the morning with more Triple A stuff - Lunar Drive, James Iha, the Bottle Rockets, newer Stones, and as it moved through the day, would play stuff like Johnny Cash off American Recordings, Morcheeba, Tori Amos, Love and Rockets, Material Issue.. and late at night would dive into the electronic scene. So obviously, I get it. It meant something to me at the time, and having access to that did open my ears and broaden my tastes. If I'd never had that opportunity, in the pre-broadband and smartphone days, who knows?
There's a myriad of business and demographic reasons that changed. But it is true that there are fewer DJs, fewer music directors, less specialty and feature programming or events used to champion new or interesting music that may not be a "hit" yet, fewer independent owners that might deviate slightly from the norm. And I'm not arguing that it can go back that way. The internet happened. Genie's not going back in the bottle. And there's not much incentive in most cases to go back to doing it, and increasing costs. It exists mostly on non-commercial radio and a handful of independents. Also, I'm not saying it has to be "hipster" music, there are still CHR and Country programmers who are proactive, and champion things most of the stations in their format don't. I appreciate the effort.
But in fairness, I wouldn't say everyone who has that nostalgia is calling for freeform to return, or thinking it's a business plan to go wall to wall obscurity. I sense many of them are just missing the sense of independence or varied approaches they remember pre-consolidation and pre-internet (I leave it to others to decide if that's an accurate memory, or not. I think it is to some extent, but not always.)
Sure, there's always the musicologists who think if you just played Can and Wire and The Fall, the masses would be converted. Most of the ones here on this board, IMO, are more rational and just preferred what, inevitably, changed. The "free sample" to them, used to allow them to sample a bit more. And now they can gorge on everything (streaming) and may not know quite where to start.
