Survey Shows Gen-Z Not Listening To Radio

[TheBigA]

When looking at the now antiquated video above, it's impossible to overstate the shift that took place with the advent of the internet.

It's so quaint to see them say essentially, "stay tuned tonight thru a bunch of stuff you don't like and thru a bunch of irrelevant commercials for the chance so see this music video by Kool & The Gang."

Correct, and that's what killed MTV and the other music channels. They realized it over 20 years ago. Realtime linear TV is dead.

They instead built on-demand video players on their websites so fans could see the videos they liked whenever they wanted. Now even those players are obsolete.

People keep complaining about MTV dropping the videos, but the writing was on the wall in the 90s. Music tastes were splintering and there was no way that one channel could address what was happening to taste in music.

 

[landtuna]

But Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles was a hit in 1979. That was forty-four years ago. One must ask; if good music on the radio ended 44 years ago, then why is Landtuna on a radio discussion board that frequently also talks about music? There's been a lot of popular music and entertainment over the span of 44 years, don't you think?

You, and others, are not reading my posts or you don't comprehend. One last time.....I have said repeatedly that post-1985 Rock/Pop is mostly junk BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN EVERYTHING IS. But these past decades have been nothing like the experimentation, genius, diversity and general excellence of proceeding Rock/Pop music. Not all songs for sure but many more than anything out there today.

My point about the Buggles hit was simply they recognized what was then happening to music and it came largely to pass several years later. Once again, I am talking only about Rock/Pop although some generalizations can also be made about Country as well.

Except for a few remaining genuine star performers left from the golden era we have pablum served up by people like Taylor Swift and ludicrous circus-like performers like Lizzo. The Kardashians of modern music.

The golden age of Black and cornerstone Doo Wop groups and early Rock/Pop artists have given way to vulgar and tasteless 'urban' noise and the constant whining of new Country is like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Why do I mostly comment on music and not radio? I spent 4 years as a Radioman in the Navy. I loved radio as a young kid and I carried that through the military and well into adulthood. But the radio I knew has changed both physiologically and technically and has become something less and much more political than I once enjoyed. As a result I don't pay attention to most of the technical aspects of the radio biz today. Virtually all the once great personalities are gone. I won't outlive broadcast radio but the signs of trouble are not difficult to miss. I gave it up in the late 60's and moved on to a new technology. Music radio is just bare entertainment these days. I live in the old days musically and am perfectly happy. If all broadcast radio died tomorrow it would affect me about as much as the current Hollywood actors and writers strikes - virtually nothing.

 

[landtuna]

More like the mid-50's to late 50's. The freeze on new TV channels extended into the early 50's, and many markets just had one station until the freeze was lifted. And sets were horribly expensive when you look at the average wage then. My family, well seated in the "middle class", did not get a TV until around 1957.

I was raised in a lower middle class town of moderate size. We bought our first TV in 1954 and we were among the last on my block to buy one. Yes, they were expensive but I don't recall my folks griping about it. In '53, '54 and '57 all three original broadcast stations came online - one every year.

The effect of TV on radio was to change "prime time" from 6 PM to 10 PM to 6 AM to 10 AM with drive time. TV reduced adult radio listening severely in evenings, but the creation of all-music formats during the 50's and the expansion of the variety of formats with the explosion of FM in the later 60's gave radio a new audience bases that was not soap operas, variety shows and drama and comedy half-hour and hour blocks on the radio.

I was raised in a Western town where TV prime time was always 7-9pm. In NYC it seemed to be an hour later due to the longer commuters trips. We have always had our "live" shows tape delayed. Commute times for virtually all day workers was about 15 minutes or less in those days. It's about double that now unless you live in a big metro where it most likely has doubled (or more). Prime time on radio back then was 6-8am (morning shows, news etc.) and 3-8pm for music oriented kids and 6-9pm for their parents.

This is probably a bit different in different parts of the country and rural areas were very different than urban.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

You, and others, are not reading my posts or you don't comprehend. One last time.....I have said repeatedly that post-1985 Rock/Pop is mostly junk BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN EVERYTHING IS.

That’s because post whatever random year you pick, it is not remotely mostly junk. Ot remains a you issue, not a music issue.

 

[Oldbones]

I remember V-66 well. I used to listen to John H. Garabedian, who owned it before cashing in big by selling it to Home Shopping Network, on WGTR Natick and, before that, on WMEX.

According to Garabedian's autobiography "Harmony Of Parts" V66 was a money pit from day one. By his own admission he tried to run it like a radio station, but tv viewing is a different animal than radio listening and it was hard to retain viewers. The electric bill for the transmitter alone was astronomical, and the ad revenue just wasn't there. It was only weeks from weeks from pulling the plug had the HSN deal not taken place.
BTW, I believe the transmitter site was in Stoughton, not on the Pru.

 

[fybush]

BTW, I believe the transmitter site was in Stoughton, not on the Pru.

The transmitter was in Hudson, and the tower is still there. These days it's home to the old channel 27 from Worcester and to ion's channel 68, as well as to the old WAAF 107.3, now K-Love.

 

[michael hagerty]

It's so quaint to see them say essentially, "stay tuned tonight thru a bunch of stuff you don't like and thru a bunch of irrelevant commercials for the chance so see this music video by Kool & The Gang."

That notion is utterly absurd from today's perspective.

And that in and of itself completely explains why Gen Z and later Millennials (and all other humans when you boil it down) generally speaking want nothing to do with a medium that isn't on demand, dynamic and social.

...which brings us back to radio---the original linear, "put up with stuff you don't like for a chance to hear (maybe, if you stay tuned long enough) something you do."

And the audience has been telling us this for at least 55 years. Each time pop music radio fragmented, with a narrow, more focused format entering the market, the "everything for everybody" station lost audience. Because of course someone who was over 18 who liked rock from groups like Deep Purple preferred not having to sit through the Carpenters to hear it.

But ultimately, even that's not enough---because within the focused genre, there's still stuff some like and some don't. Some of that gets fixed through music research---narrowing down the library to a core of songs that the listeners have in common as loving, liking or at the absolute worst being willing to tolerate without changing stations. But, even then, only one song comes out of the speaker at a time.

It's why streaming will win out over radio and TV.

 

[Greg Goodfellow]

It's nice when a 12-year-old is introduced to Elvis and The Beatles, but it proves my point - for every pre-teen who discovers classics like 'Let it Be', another 20 are discovering current artists on social media, especially rappers.

As a fledgling elementary teacher, I would like to use times like Black History Month to introduce my 4th or 5th graders to musical acts who inspired generations of fans - like Stevie Wonder, Fats Domino, and The Supremes, breaking down barriers in American music. Kids learn a lot about MLK by the time they exit elementary and middle school, but what about the musical talents that came out of it? We spend so much time on core math/ELA to get them ready for that "big, humongous standardized test in the spring!!!!!!" that we don't have time to cover things like this - or we just let the music teacher do all the work.
Perhaps I could introduce a 'new artist' to them every week whenever we do Morning Meeting and the icebreakers at the start of the day. Encourage them to really listen to the lyrics and what they mean. If we do a novel study, and it's a historical chapter book, perhaps I could find music from that era that 'fits the mood'. "Bud, Not Buddy" was set in 1930s Michigan and is about a young Black boy who sets out to find the father he never met. Jazz music is a big part of the story. Why not introduce students to musicians like Duke Ellington? Questions related to Black jazz artists might not be on that 'big test,' but it will impact the students.

As a retired middle school teacher and HS radio station manager, I am 100% behind this.

 

[MarkW]

People keep complaining about MTV dropping the videos, but the writing was on the wall in the 90s. Music tastes were splintering and there was no way that one channel could address what was happening to taste in music.

MTV's ratings over the past decade plus have been in the toilet. The network is treated like an afterthought now, which is a shame.

I wonder if behavior from the record labels factored into the equation in terms of the decision to eliminate VJ hosted dayparts that featured music videos?

 

[Kelly A]

It's why streaming will win out over radio and TV.

Funny, I was recalling a corporate board meeting that I was part of back in 1998, about the time we were in the throws of rolling out the first TV Centralcasting(tm) model, with the cost savings and efficiencies baked-in. One of the topics being bantered around was how we leverage further technology advances to either cut operational costs or create a new viewing/listening model using the public Internet. One of the senior board members turned to me and asked; what do I think? Caught off guard, I replied that I thought the next big model would probably involve VOD, or Video On Demand, and potentially listening on demand, rather than radio and TV the way it is. At the time Mark Cuban in the same building was fooling around with a type of early streaming via Broadcast.com. After making the statement, I noted several board members were jotting down notes with my boss looking at me like I had three heads. Later he gave me the suggestion that in the future, I shouldn't stray off the topic of how our linear radio and TV can save money through tech, and not ever again bring up the thought of driving the audience away from TV and radio to the Internet.

 

[michael hagerty]

Funny, I was recalling a corporate board meeting that I was part of back in 1998, about the time we were in the throws of rolling out the first TV Centralcasting(tm) model, with the cost savings and efficiencies baked-in. One of the topics being bantered around was how we leverage further technology advances to either cut operational costs or create a new viewing/listening model using the public Internet. One of the senior board members turned to me and asked; what do I think? Caught off guard, I replied that I thought the next big model would probably involve VOD, or Video On Demand, and potentially listening on demand, rather than radio and TV the way it is. At the time Mark Cuban in the same building was fooling around with a type of early streaming via Broadcast.com. After making the statement, I noted several board members were jotting down notes with my boss looking at me like I had three heads. Later he gave me the suggestion that in the future, I shouldn't stray off the topic of how our linear radio and TV can save money through tech, and not ever again bring up the thought of driving the audience away from TV and radio to the Internet.

Around the same time, '97-'98, I had the fortune of working for guys at the ABC affiliate in Phoenix who told me that we'd see the day (in our lives, and possibly in our careers) where the linear newscast would be dead---replaced by stories on demand, and that we should prepare for that.

I left in 2000, they were out within four years of that, but they absolutely saw it coming, as did you.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

MTV's ratings over the past decade plus have been in the toilet. The network is treated like an afterthought now, which is a shame.

I wonder if behavior from the record labels factored into the equation in terms of the decision to eliminate VJ hosted dayparts that featured music videos?

When the labels stop providing free content on their dime for you to monetize, sure. But that’s also irrelevant in the big picture: no one is going to sit there to watch videos the way MTV et al presented them when they have precisely what they want at their fingertips.

 

[Kelly A]

When the labels stop providing free content on their dime for you to monetize, sure. But that’s also irrelevant in the big picture: no one is going to sit there to watch videos the way MTV et al presented them when they have precisely what they want at their fingertips.

And let's be honest, most of the music videos were horrible quality. The record labels were not interested in investing much in production, and you could tell the artists/bands were largely going through the motions. Sure, there were music video fanatics who were less discerning, but just like radio fans on this site with eclectic music taste, those MTV fans were the minority, not the majority.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

And let's be honest, most of the music videos were horrible quality.

Like playing imaginary air instruments?

Or pretty much every single moment of this ungodly mess?

 

[michael hagerty]

Like playing imaginary air instruments?

Or pretty much every single moment of this ungodly mess?

Oh, hell, guys, let's just cut to the chase.

I still maintain that a lot (not all) of this record's bad rep came from how bad the music video was.

 

[gr8oldies]

I'll just leave this here. 38 Of The Most Expensive Music Videos Artists Have Ever Made

 

[michael hagerty]

I'll just leave this here. 38 Of The Most Expensive Music Videos Artists Have Ever Made

In the words of Kelly:

Good Lord!

 

[Kelly A]

Around the same time, '97-'98, I had the fortune of working for guys at the ABC affiliate in Phoenix who told me that we'd see the day (in our lives, and possibly in our careers) where the linear newscast would be dead---replaced by stories on demand, and that we should prepare for that.

I left in 2000, they were out within four years of that, but they absolutely saw it coming, as did you.

Predicting the future is a total crap shoot, but it's pretty easy to recognize that if technology allows humans the ability to choose what and when rather than only giving them a couple of options during limited times, they'll choose choice at their convenience.

 

[landtuna]

Music videos have been around in one form or another since the invention of sound on film. From the jazz band films of the '20s and '30s, through the Soundies of the WW2 era, through rock acts doing promotional films from the '60s and '70s, and the startup of MTV in 1981. If there had been no impact in 1979 and earlier, there would have been no market for MTV.

And don't forget the plethora of daytime music shows such as American Bandstand (and many locals) beginning in the mid-50's.

It's nice when a 12-year-old is introduced to Elvis and The Beatles, but it proves my point - for every pre-teen who discovers classics like 'Let it Be', another 20 are discovering current artists on social media, especially rappers.

I would not class rappers as artists in any way, shape or form. They certainly could be, but they're not.

As a fledgling elementary teacher, I would like to use times like Black History Month to introduce my 4th or 5th graders to musical acts who inspired generations of fans - like Stevie Wonder, Fats Domino, and The Supremes,

This is exactly why my generation, who grew up in the 50's and 60's, is way ahead of the ones following. Our RnR and a lot of Pop music came from Black groups; Fats, Platters, Skyliners etc. Way too many to mention. I'm a white person and grew up in a majority white location but some of my favorites are Earl Grant (easy listening), Charlie Pride (Country), Johnny Mathis (romantic ballads) and a bunch of others. My generation, at least in my geographic area, was color-blind to the pop music of our day. Although the music didn't necessarily add to our understanding of the Black culture it sure opened the door if you felt like taking advantage of it.

 

[TheBigA]

And let's be honest, most of the music videos were horrible quality. The record labels were not interested in investing much in production, and you could tell the artists/bands were largely going through the motions. Sure, there were music video fanatics who were less discerning, but just like radio fans on this site with eclectic music taste, those MTV fans were the minority, not the majority.

I don't agree with this, although it depends on the format. In the country format, and entire industry was created around music video production, and the most artists saw these as extensions of their creative process. The videos became eligible for awards, including new Grammy categories.