I've been in radio since the mid 70's and obviously have seen many, many changes in the medium. We all have fond memories of some of the great stations and air talents through the years. But I would like to hear your thoughts of where you think radio will be in 25 years. Will radio still be a thing? Will talented, live on-air talent ever make a comeback? Me personally, when I travel, I listen to podcasts or music from my iPhone. If I want traffic or weather for a city, I have it on demand with an easy to tap on an app.
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The future?
- Thread starter Wazzie2
- Start date
I suspect radio will still be around in 25 years. There may not be too many listening on radios.
I go primal in my thoughts. I think humans are social creatures. We want human contact. We are concerned with the world around us. We still want to know what is going on before we leave the home for wok, school or whatever. While we can get information everywhere, much of that information is not on the level of accuracy from an impartial venue like radio (TV, print). Media is a gathering spot at least geographically and officials tend to communicate with media entities. Yes, you can get the same information if you have the time to check all the sources but media, including radio, gathers it all and presents it without the user of the media having to do it.
Musically, radio will likely find itself trying new things as time moves on. This is not to say the formats we find today might very well exist in the current style as today. Many times people just want something easy without all the work.
Advertising on radio may change dramatically as radio become more and more something beyond just simply audio.
I believe we will find time spent listening will diminish as phones and online listening replaces over the air listening. That means less money per unit sold, so radio has to have a way to reach the listener beyond the simple commercial to retain the dollars from the budget. Obviously we cannot increase commercial loads another 50% or more.
I go primal in my thoughts. I think humans are social creatures. We want human contact. We are concerned with the world around us. We still want to know what is going on before we leave the home for wok, school or whatever. While we can get information everywhere, much of that information is not on the level of accuracy from an impartial venue like radio (TV, print). Media is a gathering spot at least geographically and officials tend to communicate with media entities. Yes, you can get the same information if you have the time to check all the sources but media, including radio, gathers it all and presents it without the user of the media having to do it.
Musically, radio will likely find itself trying new things as time moves on. This is not to say the formats we find today might very well exist in the current style as today. Many times people just want something easy without all the work.
Advertising on radio may change dramatically as radio become more and more something beyond just simply audio.
I believe we will find time spent listening will diminish as phones and online listening replaces over the air listening. That means less money per unit sold, so radio has to have a way to reach the listener beyond the simple commercial to retain the dollars from the budget. Obviously we cannot increase commercial loads another 50% or more.
When you say you listen to music on your smartphone is it via streaming (from a distant terrestrial or online-only radio station) or one of the digital jukeboxes like Pandora and Spotify?
Neither. Music that I downloaded.
Broadcast music radio just pisses me off more and more the older I get.
Yes it is still important to listen to new emerging songs, thats why I cannot cut off broadcast radio yet.
Yes it is still important to listen to new emerging songs, that's why I cannot cut off broadcast radio yet.
But the trouble is that MOST stations today will not take chances at anything new until it has been sliced/diced, researched at the wazoo, run up a flagpole to see who salutes and only if the suits at corporate give their approval. I can remember back in the late 70s that the station I worked at would take a chance on just about anything as long as it fit the format. Today, if you want to hear new music, it's almost always down at the left end of the dial [college stations, etc.] I'm hearing songs that one station in my area is claiming as the newest, freshest music FIRST. Well, no it's not, I've heard it anywhere from 6 to 9 months before that on 91.3 The Summit, a station that's owned by Akron Public Schools. Not sure what WMNF is doing nowadays but back in the early 80s could almost always count on hearing something new. And if you want worldwide new music, check out Passport Approved. They're on the web, google it.
But the trouble is that MOST stations today will not take chances at anything new until it has been sliced/diced, researched at the wazoo, run up a flagpole to see who salutes and only if the suits at corporate give their approval. I can remember back in the late 70s that the station I worked at would take a chance on just about anything as long as it fit the format. Today, if you want to hear new music, it's almost always down at the left end of the dial [college stations, etc.] I'm hearing songs that one station in my area is claiming as the newest, freshest music FIRST. Well, no it's not, I've heard it anywhere from 6 to 9 months before that on 91.3 The Summit, a station that's owned by Akron Public Schools. Not sure what WMNF is doing nowadays but back in the early 80s could almost always count on hearing something new. And if you want worldwide new music, check out Passport Approved. They're on the web, google it.
Radio still has the “easy” part down, for now. But streaming services have been beating radio for music discovery for years. Spotify usually turns me on to new music with their curated playlists weeks before radio plays it.
It depends on the person's age and their format of interest. Here's an article from last summer about music discovery:
New-Music Seekers: An Infinite Dial Report - Edison Research
How do listeners in the U.S. discover new music?
www.edisonresearch.com
Radio will be around for a while...for something.
Even TDF, France's 800-kilowatt (reduced from two-megawatts) longwave station in Allouis, which no longer broadcasts the "France Inter" service is still covering France with time pulses to calibrate clocks and watches. Radio stations can always be used for data transmissions.
Even TDF, France's 800-kilowatt (reduced from two-megawatts) longwave station in Allouis, which no longer broadcasts the "France Inter" service is still covering France with time pulses to calibrate clocks and watches. Radio stations can always be used for data transmissions.
I hope it's still around. The radio use to be my main source for new music in the 80s and 90s. Then the internet came, and music became easily accessible, and for free. The music industry and radio were negatively impacted in various ways not having the same cash flow coming in, people loosing jobs, radio stations going under,etc etc....... During that era in the mid 00s, I found out about BBC radio, when I was overseas. I was surprised how different of a vibe it was over there.
I eventually got into music streaming and was able to find some of the types of music the radio was no longer playing here in the states. Then Apple Music started their own radio programs. They would play a good variety of songs, no matter the genre. I started to realize how much I preferred radio curation, over searching for the music myself. Which got me me thinking of terrestrial radio. I think if the stations took risks and played more of a variety, people would tune in more.
I eventually got into music streaming and was able to find some of the types of music the radio was no longer playing here in the states. Then Apple Music started their own radio programs. They would play a good variety of songs, no matter the genre. I started to realize how much I preferred radio curation, over searching for the music myself. Which got me me thinking of terrestrial radio. I think if the stations took risks and played more of a variety, people would tune in more.
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