Radio Killed The Radio Star
What the fuck happened to radio? When did EVERY station on the dial become dance or pop music? I can recall a time (like last year!) when there was actual variety on the radio. You could listen to: Rock, Alternative, Oldies, Top 40, Hip-Hop, etc. But today, that is not the case. There must’ve been a memo I missed that radio has to be completely dominated by the same 4-5 songs ALL goddamn day! Who are the big wigs running these stations that came to this conclusion? Was there a survey where people said that if they did not hear a Lady Gaga song every 12 minutes then there would be mass hysteria?
Recently I was listening to Adam Carolla’s podcast (as I daily do, and I suggest you do the same) and he went off on a rant about how the radio stations in the LA area have also been affected by this epidemic, and as a result, you can only choose between 2 options: pop music or Ranchera music. The Spanish music makes sense for the area, as there is a large population of Mexicans in LA. It is the pop music stations that are rising like wildfire across the country. What happened to us a society that this has become the norm and acceptable?
The fact that our options are limited is one problem. Another one is that due to this new mandate, we are subconsciously being brainwashed. Now, I do listen to some pop music, but I am a rock/alternative guy more than any other genre. However, since I have been having “Poker Face” crammed down my throat, I find myself singing it randomly. It has punctured my skull and camped out in my brain, due to the lack of stimulating music I am used to. I even innocently added a few pop acts (P!nk, Jordin Sparks) to my Pandora channel, thinking it would spice up the mainstay of rock and hip-hop I have going. Well, within 1 week, the ratio of my music to pop went from 90%-10% to 50%-50%. Even the web has succumb to this musical bullshit! What is going on? Am I taking crazy pills???
The even bigger issue is that some of these stations that have pulled an Airheads and “changed formats”, have been around for 5, 10, 20 years! How can this new direction be so conquering that established entities are willing to change their colors? And we are talking about stations that had huge market share in NYC (uh, 92.3 KROCK, anyone?). Just 5 years ago it was home to Howard Stern. Now it is home to Kelly Clarkson and The Black Eyed Peas.
Just to clarify, I am not anti-pop music. I just think that the ratio of stations who play that type of music is completely out of whack. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they also thought about diversifying their playlists as well, instead of sticking with the same 5 songs week after week. Are there really that many requests, throughout the day, hour by hour, that are asking for these tunes? I highly doubt it. But, the bottom line is cash revenue for the stations and their parent companies. They are going by whatever research they have, and it must state that the only way to make money via advertising is to play what the people want. I just didn’t realize that what the people craved was to be treated the way Brett dealt with Marcellus Wallace.
