Radio… there she blows

By David
February 29, 2008 | 7:39 am CST

In the early 90s, the lead-off track from R.E.M.’s breakthrough album Out of Time was a song called literally “Radio Song”, which was an unabashed take on the state of radio. Michael Stipe had no issue with singing “the radio makes… me… sad”. And that was 1991!

You have to wonder what they will say about the state of radio on their forthcoming album Accelerate. Sad describing radio is like saying Perez Hilton’s new label deal at Warner Brothers Records is worrisome. Cutting to the chase, terrestrial pop/rock radio is listening to the same five songs, or indeed, songs that sound incredibly similar to those songs.

Yesterday a co-worker kindly played a band whose name & music was not familiar, but upon hearing it you couldn’t help but say “that’s a radio song”, whether or not one actually heard it on the radio. It just had that radio-friendly sheen. And that isn’t meant in a kind way. The songs just sounded like something played between the weather report and an ad for Big Boy’s Hot Dog Emporium. Radio is no longer the place to hear new music and experience Your New Favorite Band.

When people ask “why is it that radio sucks” (to put it bluntly), it has to do with what pop radio has become. It has little to do with art or music, but it is merely a delivery mechanism for advertising and little more. If the same people who own billboards around the country own radio stations around the country, you can assume they have one thing on their mind and that is to inform you (at a price) about the hot dog emporium and not showcase the latest song from your favorite band.

Radio cannot afford to play new music. Why? Simply because of how people surf the dial… if you hear a song you know, you are inclined to stay on the channel. If you do not know the song, typically you will change it until you hear something you’ve been exposed to and is familiar. It could be the best song ever, but it is the same song. Over and over.

Nickelback. Daughtry. Kelly Clarkson. Fergie. Radio music. There could be a great song in these artist’s catalogs, except for the fact that it is dangerous to overplay a single song as the backlash results in burn out. Labels typically fight to get a second song in rotation if only because of fear of the act being labeled as the dreaded one-hit-wonder and also showing depth to the album, making it viable for purchase rather than people buying the single song digitally.

Satellite radio is great… but is anyone listening?

REM - “Radio Song”

Hey, I can’t find nothing on the radio
Yo! turn to that station

The world is collapsing
Around our ears
I turned up the radio
But I can’t hear it

When I got to the house
And I called you out
I could tell that you had been crying, crying
It’s that same sing song on the radio
It makes me sad
I meant to turn it off
To say goodbye
To leave in quiet

That radio song

Hey, hey, hey

I’ve everything to show
I’ve everything to hide
Look into my eyes
Listen

When I got to the show
Yo, ho, ho
I could tell that you had been crying, crying
It’s that same sing song and the DJ sucks
It makes me sad
I tried to turn it off
To say goodbye, my love
That radio song
Hey, hey, hey

The world is collapsing
Around our ears
I turned up the radio
But I can’t hear it
Yeah

I tried to sing along
But damn that radio song
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

I’ve everything to show
I’ve everything to hide
Look into my eyes, listen to the radio

I turned up the radio
But I can’t hear it
No, I can’t hear it
Hey, hey, hey

Check it out
What are you saying
What are you playing
Who are you obeying
Day out day in?
Baby, baby, baby, baby
That stuff is driving me crazy
DJs communicate to the masses
Sex and violent classes
Now our children grow up prisoners
All their lives radio listeners

1991

(Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe)

« Kanye = Puffy Topics of the day »

Add a CommentCOMMENT (5)

Matt said:

Mmmmmm….Big Boyâ€™s Hot Dog Emporium.

Michelle said:

Growing up in the 80’s I seemed to have experienced this same thing. The station I listened to, one of the most popular in my area at the time, literally seemed to have the same ten songs on their play rotation every hour–and at least half of those songs were by Michael Jackson and Madonna! So maybe this whole radio thing has been going on longer than we realize…probably even back to the days of Elvis and the Beatles. Unfortunately, most stations have a protocol to play what they consider to be “hot”…however, it does seem they overplay the crap out of some songs/artists more than others.

Bertha (Jherara) said:

The problem with radio today is bigger than massive amounts of advertising. Not only has the competition from MP3 players and music grabbing (hears it find it) phones or other wireless devices increased, but so has the censorship of music. I’m tired of hearing heavily edited tracks. The radio stations, while trying not to tick off advertisers, family-oriented folks, and the FCC, forget that a large percentage of their listening audience wants to hear a song in its entirety and wants the music to be as diverse and varied as the country it’s playing in.

Kate said:

Don’t get me started :-).

So what’s the solution?

Bring back the human being. Live DJs who are informed, intelligent music heads. People who actually listen to music. That’s the main problem. No one is actually listening anymore because of payola and research. Most radio stations don’t even get full records from the labels anymore, just singles. If the DJs were trusted to be human, and have some taste, that would bring back the art of radio to some extent.

The great radio that is out there, and it is, does this.

The mantra should be: screw Arbitron, find great music, play it.

It’s not rocket science.

DarylG said:

Man this is good. I am extremely anti-radio. Its just another industry that was lost sight of whats important and to them its all about the dollar. I think Sirius is great and I love podcasting as a medium since there is no filtering yet. I listen to internet streams on my Wii and carry my IPOD everywhere so for me I could care less if radio just went away. I think more people should explore the other options available to them to make it even harder on the radio industry. I know a lot have and that accounts for some of the trouble that radio is in now but I say since they have turned their back on their users then turn about is fair play. Thanks for letting me rant.