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Music industry troubles caused by radio?

Apparently the music business is in trouble. For the first time since the Beatles, sales are diminishing. Some people think it's because of internet downloading and perhaps that is part of the problem but I think it's more because there's not much new worth listening to. The thing is, I'm sure there are amazing musicians out there who we're just not hearing. They probably fall outside of the narrow range of music that most radio stations choose to play.

I can remember discovering FM in the '70s. It was amazing. Low key, huge variety, minimal commercial content, and whole album sides sometimes. In the '80s, I enjoyed a paricularly cool modern rock station where once again, variety ruled. Then along came the '90s. The bean counters took over and issued an edict that the same 40 songs should be played over and over ad nauseum. Pick a genre and you can almost predict the song that will be played based on the time of day. With less variety, there are fewer opportunities to introduce new artists and a bland, homogenized form of radio pap results.

Maybe I'm just becoming an old fart but I can't think of many bands worth mentioning that actually came on the scene in the '90s. The artists that I find are still worth listening to emerged in the '60s, '70s and '80s and continue to record today.

There might be reason for hope. If XM can offer a more diverse pallate of music, maybe some of the fun of radio could return.
jlambrick

Showing 1 response by jlambrick

jlambrick OP
138 posts
 
I gave a listen to WCNW and KCRW and liked them both a lot. We have a similar station here in Salt Lake (KRCL Community Radio) and I spend a fair amount of time listening to it. It's very much a labor of love in that they have volunteers producing the programs. They cover everything from Blue Grass to Vietnamese Folk to New Age to Thrash Metal. I've found much of the newer music that I listen to there but unfortunately it's just one station to cover everything. Even folks with an extremely diverse taste in music will only sporadically find programs they can enjoy. I wish we had about 10 of those stations.

BTW I agree that the music industry itself is to blame for many of it's own problems. I especially like Ozfly's comment about industry execs creating a temporary local optima. I think that the mega-greed in many industries is causing a similar effect. When it comes to music which many of us consider almost sacred, I wish they'd just find another industry to rape and pillage.
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