When will the Music Radio Stations die?

[audioicon]

I listen to NPR religiously back home we listened to the BBC and also the VOA (Voice of America).

These platforms will be around for a while but I am mainly referring to music radio.

 

For the sake of context, I will say what everyone here already know, these stations play the same songs all day everyday and with many other platforms out there, why are these stations still around?

 

If I turn on KQ, I hear the same Rock songs all day, like a Daft Punk loop.

 

Am I the only one asking this?

[MikeRivers]

Widen your horizons. If you listen to major rock music stations, you'll hear the same songs all day until the next round comes along. But listen to community or college radio stations and you'll hear a wider variety of music. Some have playlists or DJ favorites so you'll hear some repeats, but tune in two hours later and you'll hear something completely different. My Winamp bookmark list includes WWOZ, WEVL, KBCS, KKJZ, KEXP, and Bluegrasscountry.org.

 

I could have interesting music all day . . . as long as I'm near a computer. As far as listening in the car, that's a different story.

 

Usually a discussion like this goes down the path of "I listen to music on YouTube and discover all sorts of unheard things." I won't go there, but you might.

[Anderton]

Terrestrial AM radio is pretty much all talk these days - agenda-driven current events, mindless "sports talk," and religious radio. You can still find some decent music on terrestrial FM, but as Mike intimates, the real action for music is on the internet.

[audioicon]

Widen your horizons. If you listen to major rock music stations, you'll hear the same songs all day until the next round comes along. But listen to community or college radio stations and you'll hear a wider variety of music. Some have playlists or DJ favorites so you'll hear some repeats, but tune in two hours later and you'll hear something completely different. My Winamp bookmark list includes WWOZ, WEVL, KBCS, KKJZ, KEXP, and Bluegrasscountry.org.

 

I could have interesting music all day . . . as long as I'm near a computer. As far as listening in the car, that's a different story.

 

Usually a discussion like this goes down the path of "I listen to music on YouTube and discover all sorts of unheard things." I won't go there, but you might.

 

 

YouTube can be the same if you do not search, I noticed when I visit the page it has all kinds of loaded content. I do not listen to music radio anymore. The best songs I have discovered recently came from YouTube and SoundCloud.

 

Just browsing forums and listening to what other members are working on. It is amazing what you will find.

 

I am just flabbergasted because given internet radio and digital devices, how are these guys still making money. There has to be some kind of following.

 

For example: There is a song by Maxi Priest: For the Love in you. I tried to buy the song after listening but it may not have been released.

I even contacted the guy who posted the song but he did not reply.

 

There is so much gem out there.

[philboking]

College radio stations are the only oasis in a sonic desert full of discarded crap and debris. I would sorely miss the public stations around here if they were to go down. One of them, KUNI, is a statewide network that hosts a number of great music shows like Mountain Stage, Blues Till Sunrise, Blue Avenue, etc. The other, KCCK, plays a huge variety of jazz, with wonderful blues-rock shows on Fri and Sat nights.

Without them I'd have no reason to ever turn on a radio.

Disclaimer & spam: Both of these have aired tracks from my solo album released this year, Philbos Blues, available on Cdbaby and spotify.

[Geoff Grace]

Radio has two advantages that keep it alive: the first is that just about every vehicle in service today has an AM/FM radio, and the second is the ability to keep locals informed about the goings on in their area: weather, traffic, concerts, etc.

 

Sure, competition from the Internet, streaming services, and satellite has severely cut the market share of terrestrial radio; but until those two advantages are gone, AM/FM isn't going away.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Bucksstudent]

I haven't listened to the radio in years. Of course, I can't avoid it all together. My wife insists on turning it on and flipping through stations.

 

When I was a teenager, I brought along CDs everywhere. After I got an iPhone, I put WAVs and MP3s on. I have Spotify now.

 

But radio stations are free, so people still listen. The commercials and terrible quality drive me nuts.

[MikeRivers]

KUNI, is a statewide network that hosts a number of great music shows like Mountain Stage, Blues Till Sunrise, Blue Avenue, etc. The other, KCCK, plays a huge variety of jazz, with wonderful blues-rock shows on Fri and Sat nights.

Without them I'd have no reason to ever turn on a radio.

 

I have one - when driving locally. If I'm on a long drive (not long like across town, long like 7-9 hours) I'll load up my phone with music programs I've recorded from Internet streams and listen to them. But there's too much haywire involved for a drive to the grocery store. I can still fill those times with the one classical FM station we have left. I used to listen to Bluegrass Country but they recently gave up their low power standard FM repeater. They have an HD channel, but my car radio doesn't have an HD tuner, or a USB port, or Bluetooth, or even an analog line level input, and a changeout costs more than it's worth to put into a nearly 15 year old car.

 

 

 

 

[AJ6stringsting]

The Classic Rock station in my area , only play practical only three songs per band.

For instance if you hear Zep, they only play The Lemon Song, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Ozzy : Crazy Train, Mamma I'm Coming Home, Mr.Crowley, The Rolling Stones : Satisfaction, Start Me Up or Its Only Rock N Roll.

They never play anything from those artists , out side of those "list of fixed songs'.

The Metal station was great until they added some of the newer B.S. / Lallapaloser / Metal.

Besides that all they have is Neoconic Cranial Impaction radio ( 💀💩 ), religious radio, sports talk, Hip Hop , Country and Mexican Radio.

No one is helping to expose the local music scene to the masses or thinking out side the box.

Back in the 1980's, MTV kicked the Music Industry's butt by opening the door to a variety of music genres and artists that the Industry snubbed.

By 1993, MTV hijacked the music industry and artists were flaunted and became disposable and many to forgettable.

The Music Industry blamed the Internet for their money losses, while in truth, it was their fault for investing monies on disposable / forgettable artists.

Turns out that the most downloaded music was from the 1964 to 1993 era.

[Anderton]

...the second is the ability to keep locals informed about the goings on in their area: weather' date=' traffic, concerts, etc.[/quote']

 

Sure, competition from the Internet, streaming services, and satellite has severely cut the market share of terrestrial radio; but until those two advantages are gone, AM/FM isn't going away.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

 

"Energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed." I think that's what's happened to radio - it hasn't changed at all. The only thing that has changed is the medium by which the information traditionally carried by radio is delivered. Weather? I see the radar maps before the radio station can say anything about it...Google Maps or Mapques lets me know what's happening with traffic.

 

If you're traveling by yourself in a car, it's convenient to have a voice tell you things without having to switch stations or whatever. But if you're traveling with someone who has a smart phone,I can't think of anything radio can offer in a car that the smart phone can't do.

[MikeRivers]

If you're traveling by yourself in a car, it's convenient to have a voice tell you things without having to switch stations or whatever. But if you're traveling with someone who has a smart phone,I can't think of anything radio can offer in a car that the smart phone can't do.

 

A smart phone can't get you live radio for free. Until we have free wi-fi everywhere you pay for your listening by the byte.

[Notes_Norton]

I don't listen to much radio anymore because the stations in my area are either light classical (music to nap by), Top40 (I'm not interested in filtering through tons of one-chord no melody songs to get to the good stuff), Classic Rock (with the same play-list of 50 songs over and over and over again), Country (with the top 20 CW hits in heavy rotation), and way too much advertising.

 

I tried Satellite radio and their classical station was too boring (what about Prokofiev, Shastakovitch, Suk). The DJ actually said, "Here is a piece by Beethoven before he got too wild!!!!

 

Then the other stations were two focused. Wanna hear Jimmy Buffett tunes all day? How about just the 70s rock with no 50s, 60s, 80,s and 90s in the mix? And these guys talked too much for me. Chatting with a truck driver on the phone for 4 or 5 minutes instead of music isn't going to get me.

 

Instead I have "Radio Bob". A digital walkman with over 10,000 tunes on it culled from my own collection that includes jazz, rock, Caribbean, Latin American, country, Soca, Reggae, classical (exciting stuff), and world music from Brazil, Cape Verdi Is, Africa, various European/Asian countries and even a bit of Tuvan Throat singing. No ads, no talking, random play, and I won't hear the same song for weeks.

 

But do I think AM/FM is going to die? Definitely not. Yes it has more competition but I don't think it's going away in the foreseeable future. Did the movies die when TV came along? Did CBS/NBC/ABC die when cable came along?

 

Some stations will die as Radio gets a smaller percentage share of the market due to increased competition, but the stations that know how to analyze their market and provide a service to their listeners will survive.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[daddymack]

commercial music radio will die when the advertising revenue stream falls away. It has always been about the money, not the music. As long as advertisers think they can get you in the car via am/fm, they will support it. The day all cars have web access...radio is kaput.

[MikeRivers]

commercial music radio will die when the advertising revenue stream falls away. It has always been about the money' date=' not the music. As long as advertisers think they can get you in the car via am/fm, they will support it. The day all cars have web access...radio is kaput.[/quote']

 

Unfortunately, non-commercial radio will also die when the underwriting and listener support (donations) falls away. Listener support seems to be working for large NPR stations with the majority of their programming being news and analysis, with minimal, if any, music. There are a couple of exceptions to this, of course, but these days their fundraising campaigns are becoming more frequent and last longer.

 

The donations model seems to still be working for small community or college stations who are happy if they take in $20,000 in a fundraiser, but the main NPR N&I station in my area cries for help if they don't take in $250,000 twice a year and nearlly that a recently added third near-week of fundraising blather interrupting our listening.

 

Sadly (for us listeners who make a reasonable donation once a year), statistics show that constant pounding during a fundraising campain brings in lots more money than polite reminders.

 

[Mikeo]

There are very few independently owned radio station left, if any. I know WEQX out of Manchester VT is independently owned. It's an alternative rock station.

 

WAMC, my local public radio station does a fund drive every 3 months, they need to raise millions just to keep it going, and they do.

 

 

Even if you listen to SIRIUS radio, all the stations have a format and it's quite repetitive.

 

I'd like to plug WRIS out of Northampton MA.

 

You can always hit the clubs and see what new and happening. Buy the bands cd and merch if you like em.

[daddymack]

 

Unfortunately, non-commercial radio will also die when the underwriting and listener support (donations) falls away. Listener support seems to be working for large NPR stations with the majority of their programming being news and analysis, with minimal, if any, music. There are a couple of exceptions to this, of course, but these days their fundraising campaigns are becoming more frequent and last longer.

 

The donations model seems to still be working for small community or college stations who are happy if they take in $20,000 in a fundraiser, but the main NPR N&I station in my area cries for help if they don't take in $250,000 twice a year and nearlly that a recently added third near-week of fundraising blather interrupting our listening.

 

Sadly (for us listeners who make a reasonable donation once a year), statistics show that constant pounding during a fundraising campain brings in lots more money than polite reminders.

 

We are fortunate here to have an NPR/University station that is possibly the last jazz station in America, their money-whine is monthly., but, their on-air talent are well known jazz musicians and reviewers. So they need to pay them folks. College stations typically have low overhead and limited reach, and they certainly do not pay the on-air talent [typically just college credits...at least when I was doing it...] much, if at all. I was offered a position as assistant station manager at my alma mater, but the money...well, let's just say it was inadequate.

I worked in radio on and off for a number of years, including producing at KIIS-FM in LA [during the Rick Dees era, before Ryan Seacrest], and those folks were getting paid big time....but KIIS was raking in ad money faster than we could air ads.

[audioicon]

Radio has two advantages that keep it alive: the first is that just about every vehicle in service today has an AM/FM radio, and the second is the ability to keep locals informed about the goings on in their area: weather, traffic, concerts, etc.

 

Sure, competition from the Internet, streaming services, and satellite has severely cut the market share of terrestrial radio; but until those two advantages are gone, AM/FM isn't going away.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

 

 

You mean Like Internet Explorer?

Very true, I think if people had to pay to put conventional radios in their car, it will be the end of the era for radio.

 

I recently got a car with XM Radio and was offered a deal to activate the radio and I refused. I rather load all of my songs as needed to a USB or SSD and play in the car.

[MikeRivers]

I think if people had to pay to put conventional radios in their car, it will be the end of the era for radio.

 

I recently got a car with XM Radio and was offered a deal to activate the radio and I refused. I rather load all of my songs as needed to a USB or SSD and play in the car.

 

I remember when a radio and a heater were options for a car (pre air-conditioning, which was an option, too, when it was first offered). Up through the 1950s, not every car had a radio. And the car radios with tubes and vibrators were really well designed radios, too. I used to repair them.

 

A friend of mine got a new car with an XM (or maybe Sirius, whoever they are now) equipped radio about 3 years ago. He never signs up for anything and didn't even know that he was supposed to pay for a subscription, but he still listens to the '50s music channel exclusively and whenever he's in the car. He hopes to hear some songs he used to hear when growing up in south Texas in the 1950s, and he's still hoping. He's odd.

 

Another friend is constantly switching her car radio from a music station, the NPR all news station, and a station that has traffic reports about every five minutes. She can do that at the touch of a button (three buttons, actually) without taking her eyes or attention away from the road. I suppose it's possible to make a car radio with buttons that can be programmed to your favorite Internet streams or news, but do they? Even tabletop Internet radios that they were trying to market half a dozen or so years ago were intentionally not that simple, because they wanted you to be able to listen to everything.

 

 

[Notes_Norton]

Our local NPR is a college run affiliate.

 

They are mostly talk and the classical they play is a snooze fest. Nothing with any dynamics Bach, Mozart, Hayden, mostly music before Beethovan's 3rd symphony (which is where classical music starts with me).

 

I remember suggesting some Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsokov and the program manager told me my tastes are more sophisticated than their market. Sounds like a lame excuse for subscribing to a Midwest classical snooze-fest service (I forget where, I think Wisconsin).

 

So they don't get my ears or my money.

 

But I listen with musician's ears, not everybody does.

 

So in the car I put in my digital Walkman with over 10,000 tunes on it and call it Radio Bob.

[daddymack]

My Rogue came with a free XM trial...never used it. I experienced XM in a friend's car a while back on a long ride, and was unimpressed with the programming.

I listen to two things on the radio: News channels [with traffic, we have two good ones] and the Jazz station.

[daddymack]

I hear you on the classical stations not having enough variety...where's the Mendellsohn, Bartok, Shostakovich, Salieri, Vivaldi? I can only take so much Bach and Beethoven sitting in traffic.

[audioicon]

he program manager told me my tastes are more sophisticated than their market. Sounds like a lame excuse for subscribing to a Midwest classical snooze-fest service (I forget where, I think Wisconsin).

 

This is so funny.

 

What I do not understand is: Why do they play the same thing over and over? I may have asked this a while back but I still do not get the logic.

[gismo recording]

The NPR station where I live has a second channel or something. The radio in my wife's car is able to tune in. They play nothing but music, most of it local. And the display shows the artist and song so if you hear something you really like you can google the artist.

 

[Notes_Norton]

I have a CD rack with perhaps 400 Classical CDs, and I've only scratched the surface of what I'd like to own. (And I've got that many jazz, and rock, and quite a bit of world music too).

 

I suppose the radio stations are trying to play music that the average listener feels comfortable with. And unfortunately, they push this "Classical music to relax by) theme way to hard.

 

"Music should strike fire from the heart of man and bring tears to the eyes of woman" ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

 

I like passionate, exciting classical. Romantic era onward. I like the work-horse pieces, but I also like others that are just as good, just not as well know. Arensky, Suk, Borodin, De Falla, Villa Lobos, Khachaturian, and on and on and on.