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Music radio is irrevelant...

I

Insideradio

There was a day when radio was KING... people listened for their favorite songs... listened to their favorite Dj's... waited patiently to hear the brand new song from their favorite band...

Well... that was then.

Now... music radio is irrelevant. They don't break new music anymore. They play the same ol safe songs. Dj's can't be creative anymore. SHUT UP AND PLAY THE MUSIC is the motto... Radio is in a sad, sad state but you can't blame it all on the economy... this started a while ago.

It started to fall apart when PD's couldn't program anymore. Passionate, creative, hungry programmers used to make a difference. They could turn around a bad station and make it a great one. The whole 99x creation is proof of that. Well now we know Program Director is just a title. They don't program anymore.

There is no fix for music radio... it's dead. People go everywhere BUT FM radio for new music now... and they certainly don't go there to be entertained. Jimmy Baron anyone?

I hope music radio stations continue to lose their butt... maybe it will force the execs to blow it up and start over.

I have been a satellite listener since it's inception but even it's starting to get stale. Thank Mel K for that...but at least it's still a MUCH better option than the FM side.
 
You can also thank Clear Channel and their innovative "I-Track-Radio", errr, I mean, "I-Heart-Radio" concept they're running on many of their stations, and guarantee it's used on at least a few CC stations here in the ATL...
 
I-Heart-Radio is a Blackberry/iPhone app. Has nothing to do with what's on the air. Might you be thinking Premium Choice (which has only been around since about Spring? You all think that it was radio utopia in the 70s? Jocks got to talk non stop and bring in their own records? Fraid not.
 
I think to a certain degree, music radio remains relevant when it comes to breaking new music, even if it's not as fast as we "radio" types would like for it to be. I personally don't see satellite ever being a major threat to terrestrial radio. Cost is the prohibitive factor there. Pandora is a real threat when it comes to new music and personalized radio, but getting that technology into the average automobile is still years away. Radio's still got some life left in it, folks.

I think that it's easy for us "radio" types to make the generalization that radio is boring, too slow on music, but ask yourself, does the average Atlantan really care what they're playing on the radio in New York or Los Angeles?
 
two cent's from a non-radio or music industry guy:

I think it's assumed that music radio remains relevant because it's always been the source for music in general...old or new..but also because of simple economics. People are cutting costs just to get by these days so I'm sure terrestrial radio will see growth in listener-ship.

The thing is that radio has been quite the corporate behemoth. Combine that with rough economic times forcing smaller stations/radio networks to either shut down be taken over, the effort to stay safe with what's familiar and what they know people like is clearly the standard.
You have to ask, though..what's considered "new music"? For those radio stations that are staying 'safe'. new music is the new Dave Matthews, new Foo Fighters, new Beyonce, etc and occasionally a small handful of actual new artists. At this point, I consider radio rather conservative because of that approach (I'm sure the reasons are valid)..that not a jab at conservatism or radio..it's just what they've got to do to survive. At this point,I have yet to hear a station claim "The most new music" in the city of Atlanta.

Satellite's problems are obvious...there needs to be more competition in that arena. Less choices in provider means higher price points...how is that better for the consumer? Oh, when you say consumer, you really mean "share-holder". I get it.

But seriously, I'm hopeful for a new network to pop up..though that might be wishful thinking..personally, I think MTV should start up a satellite network....they have the capability...they could cover a wide variety. As for play list, it's safe to say that I could hear GnR or even Usher on four different channels on Sirius. It's a little much..thankfully, I've got other channels that I would listen to. However, my service is up for renewal in February..I may be trying to "cancel" in January with hopes that they will offer me a year at a discounted rate.


Competition for wifi/mobile web access is starting to get heavy. I see it growing in the next year and driving prices down and with so many people trying to consolidate their various services, if you're a satellite subscriber and have mobile service, it's cheaper to get a data plan and download a free app from pandora, slacker or Last.fm and use that as a music source in your car...new or otherwise.


So, all that being said, my thoughts are this: music radio may be relevant but I think it's only because of current economics and that's likely poised to change.
 
The whole music business is changing. I bet there are some record company types that wished the Internet has never been invented! The illegal down loads have really messed things up for the labels. The traditional model is on its last legs. Ask any record label promoter (if you can find one that will tell the truth) and it is still almost impossible to break a new act without video and radio. The major radio chains cookie cutter programming has weaken radio’s prevalence. Completion always makes for better radio. Too many markets have only one station of each format. Radio, Internet Radio streamed, or what ever mobile application getting to peoples hands will still “break” new acts.
 
agentUrge said:
However, my service is up for renewal in February..I may be trying to "cancel" in January with hopes that they will offer me a year at a discounted rate.

Competition for wifi/mobile web access is starting to get heavy. I see it growing in the next year and driving prices down and with so many people trying to consolidate their various services, if you're a satellite subscriber and have mobile service, it's cheaper to get a data plan and download a free app from pandora, slacker or Last.fm and use that as a music source in your car...new or otherwise.
Click to expand...

I told XM that I wanted the $77/year deal I got last year when I came up for renewal this year...they said no can do. I then told them to cancel my service, they sent me to a "saver" and I got the $77 deal again.

Software defined (Internet) radio will eventually kick satellite to the curb...at least in places with decent wireless broadband coverage. And the programming choices are potentially infinite. Satellite radio will become as much of a niche product as satellite broadband.

Terrestrial radio will fare better, if only because it's mostly advertiser-supported ("free") and the installed base of receivers.
 
Internet delivery needs a technology change to delivermass product. Currently each listener increases the necessary bandwidth, unlike on-air broadcast. An internet 'broadcast' protocol where each computer connects to the same stream is going to be required. One of the trades has a discussion of this in the current issue.
 
The OP has it wrong. Most radio listeners don't want to hear NEW music. They want to hear what they like and know.
95% of Americans 12+ listen to bradcast radio at least once a week. Irrelevant?
 
surfdude said:
The OP has it wrong. Most radio listeners don't want to hear NEW music. They want to hear what they like and know.
Click to expand...

A good point... if "New" music was the barometer of successful radio, than why does classic rock do so well (not to mention talk and sports... although that's a lot like comparing apples to oranges)?

I heard someone say once "if radio is irrelevant, than why are labels still spending money to send reps there every week?" Music radio is perfectly relevant. Now... as a business model it needs some serious tweaking but who doesn't today?

The way I see it:

Radio = inexpensive (read: free) and for the most part reliable. What consumer doesn't like that?

Satellite = expensive (monthly costs, which much like your cable or phone company are bound to trend up), but reliable. Good for a niche market of consumers who are willing to pay extra for QoS, such as those who travel a lot.

Internet Radio = moderately expensive (inexpensive if you are just listening on your desktop, but there could be monthly costs for mobile devices) and unreliable. Unfortunately for Webcasters, the engineers have very little control of the the product once it leaves the streaming machine. There could be any number of sources that stop you from receiving the signal (i.e. bandwidth, network protocols that block streaming audio, etc) that you can neither predict or control. With such questions about QoS, it's just not quite there yet and probably won't be for some time.
 
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