On radio.

Yesterday in class the topic of radio was touched upon, discussing where the medium is going (if anywhere). Regarding that, I thought I'd share this blog post I found this morning. It approaches the issue from more a business viewpoint than a strictly scholarly point, but I found it nonetheless illuminating.


Music Think Tank - Music Industry Trends have a Lesson for Radio

The graphs, in particular, warrant great attention. While graphs for radio aren't shown, I can imagine very similar rises and falls (or, rather, shifts) occurring with radio formats -- AM radio having peaked and fallen long ago, FM entering now into its decline. What next, then?

The only two real paths right now for radio are internet radio and satellite radio. The former was mentioned in class and in the book, and falls subject to the many of the same struggles as music downloads and sampling -- that is, copyright law and fair use. While not major issues for a professional radio organization (i.e. satellite radio) these threats of legal action cripple those who could give the most to internet radio: part-time internet DJs simply doing it for fun. This medium I can see best suiting underground radio.

The other major movement in internet radio is personalized radio stations via music networking sites, such as Last.fm and Pandora. This is something that interests me greatly, and I'll wait to comment on that until I have more time to explore the topic fully.

As for what will end up replacing* FM radio in the mainstream, I can only see satellite radio as a real contender, though I might be biased since that's my personal radio choice. Unlike internet radio, it is specifically suited to listening to in the car, by far the most common time for radio listening. I only worry that the global reach of satellite radio will lose some community sense brought by local radio.

In other news, Nine Inch Nails' new album Ghosts I-IV appeared in physical copies in stores today, though it has been available for purchase online in digital form for over a month now. I'll wait a week to comment on that, as I'd like to see how it sells in physical form compared to digital. I will say this, though: I waited a month, personally, to get the CD in person, although I doubt that I'm in the majority.

Now, to go listen to it. 'Til later,
-Kramer

*I'm using "replace" in the same sense that FM "replaced" AM, or that downloads are "replacing" CDs. While shift is inevitable, I do not doubt that older formats will still be not only present in the future, but even preferred by some.