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Who Needs Radio?
DragonMagic writes "MSNBC asks what many /.ers have been asking: Who needs the radio anymore? Rather, it goes on to really ask, who needs the RIAA anymore? With online music distribution sources, television, and the internet itself, how much longer will it be before the radio, and the RIAA, will be an obsolete means to promote artists?"
Why do you assume that only music is played over the radio? I listen to NPR for hours every day on my daily drive to/from work.
Anyone who doesn't have fast internet access or a television (or who doesn't want to pay for cable television).
Anyone who likes to camp and take a $5 transistor radio along, rather than lug a satellite uplink system for online-access.
Anyone who drives, and likes to have music or blather going while doing it (driving, that is).
In short, a LOT of people.
Or, to be more specific, I love a few radio stations. WFMU (wfmu.org; 91.1 in the NYC/NJ area), KFJC, a few other great stations. The radio we don't need is all the monopolized Clear Channel stations. We all know they suck. But great, personal, free-form radio is still out there, and with web streaming is thankfully more available than ever. Maybe I'm crazy, but I like to be surprised by what I like once in a while. Without WFMU, I'd be listening to the same stuff over and over. If you're tired of radio, you're listening to the wrong stations.
... or did everyone in the world become a computer user/music downloader over night?
...
Not everyone has a PC and not everyone get's their taste of new music from the interent.
In fact I would say that most people hear music on the radio then either buy the CD or download the mp3.
I doubt that services iTunes will make radio stations disappear
"Yeah Tommy, before Zee Germans get here
How does that change the question? Can't you theoretically get talk radio content over, say, the Internet?
While driving?
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
In case you weren't affected by the GREAT FEARSOME BLACKOUT OF 2003 , those of us who were crowded around radios to get news.
Don't forget the 20 million so-called "dittoheads" that hang on Rush's every word every day. Republican shill talk radio has never been so popular (depending on where you read your stats).
There's big money in radio and the guy who owns it is raking it in.
Speak truth to power.
For sure. News stations that feature only news all the time are a godsend when commuting, and important in emergencies as well.
Remember The Blackout? I was at work patching the office for the Blaster worm when the lights went out. If it wasn't for radio and other wireless communication, we would have had no idea wtf was going on. Thankfully radio stations with reserve power managed to transmit so everyone could get into the car or use battery powered tranceivers to get the news updates.
I used to drive to and from Toronto all the time across a strech of the 401 and if it wasn't for 680 news I would have gotten into a lot of traffic jams.
Thus radio is still needed because it is an important way of disseminating information quickly, especially when only battery or small generator power is available.
(yes, I'm old enough to remember more than one) everything failed. My internet connection went down, my TV went black, my electric lights went out ( my oil lamps chugged along like always).
My portable radio worked like a charm and the emergency generators the radio stations employ kept them on the air.
Promoting RIAA "stars" is hardly the only use for radio. In fact, small radio stations are still the most used medium for promoting obscure music unaligned with the RIAA, why do you think they oppose the proliferation of small neighborhood radio stations?
Radio is one of the true modern marvels, its usefulness is far from past.
KFG
NPR is left-wing only if you believe that "if you are not with us, you are against us"
Well, it's a bit unfair to tout noncommercial radio on this discussion. But Pacifica Radio is full of fresh surprising viewpoints, and my local Houston affiliate kpft.org actually plays great music. It gives you a sense of how fun dj's used to be.
Robert Nagle, Idiotprogrammer, Houston
Rather, it goes on to really ask, who needs the RIAA anymore?
No, it doesn't. If the the submitter had read the article without his anti-RIAA glasses on, he would've realized that the article just questions the relevance of radio in a world dominated by the internet and visual media.
The article specifically mentions Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken. Kelly received quite a bit of radio play, while Clay was seldom heard on the airwaves but still outsold Ms. Clarkson. Quote:
But the heir to her throne, runner-up but reigning king, Clay Aiken, didn't have as much luck with radio. Deejays across the country mocked him, didn't take him seriously, and often refused to play his music. Well the joke just might be on them.
Despite little radio play, Aiken's debut album went double platinum in its first week of release, out-selling Clarkson's album by a landslide. Aiken's success serves as a shining example of the power television now has over the music industry, and the arguably insignificant power radio has these days. (emphasis mine)
This article addresses radio's lessened impact on the recording industry, and not the recording industry's impact on society.
A suicide bomber is someone that blows themself up.
A homicide bomber is someone that blows themself up with the intent of blowing others up.
If someone shoots a bunch of people and then shoots themself, do you call it a mass suicide or murder?
To me, it's obvious. I don't know why the rest of the news media doesn't recognize the obvious.
Yeah, three groups that vote overwhelmingly liberal. I hope that's a troll, and that you're not actually as stupid as you seem.
"NPR is left wing (although it seems middle-of-the-road to liberals)."
Um... I'm "conservative" by most peoples' reckonings. I'm pro gun rights, pro states rights, I like the idea of free trade, support the continuing mission in Iraq, and I even voted for Bush in '00 (although I'll probably be voting against Ashcroft next year). About the only thing I'm not is a member of the GOP (political parites... blech...). But I can't stand Fox News and routinely rely on NPR for all my news above all other options.
If NPR is so "left-leaning," there'd be a lot more opinion-based commentary, kind of like Fox News. NPR is about the only place where you can find a news group that routinely reads letters over the air from dissenting listeners, and they don't even comment on/reply to/belittle those.
About the only "left" part of public radio is the funding scheme. But even then, I've never heard programming on a public radio station underwritten by a labor group.