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I was going to send a letter into the local paper about this but figured I might as well just do it here. Today’s rant topic: local radio/radio in general.
If you listen to the radio at all (local not satellite) then you probably are well aware that regardless of how many artists and songs there are out there, radio stations always seem to play the same thing over and over again. In fact, it seems that with all of the selection out there, how could they ever have to play the same thing again and again? But yet they do.
On a daily basis, you can tune into any of the local radio stations and hear the same tunes over and over again. It seems that the radio DJ’s are given instructions to play certain tracks repeatedly until they are SO overplayed that no one wants to hear them again and then they move onto something else. Can someone please explain to me why it is that radio consistently plays the same stuff over and over again?
For example, Tamara listens to the local XL96 Country station. Now I am not a big fan of country but I tolerate it since Tamara likes it. Within the last few days, I have heard that damn Joey song I’m sure a half a dozen times, and that’s just within a few days. Throughout the course of a day, it is not uncommon for you to hear the same song twice if not three or four times. But yet there are literally THOUSANDS of songs out there and somehow the radio station finds it necessary to hound you with the same ones over and over again.
Why oh WHY is this necessary?
It’s a wonder that radio even survives. In a recent independent study of radio listeners, it was determined that 100% of listeners found that repeated songs was one of their top 3 issues with local radio. The other two issues were lack of selection and annoying DJ’s.
It’s not just limited to one station either. The new MaxxFM that is supposed to be an alternative to C103 was only on the air for three days when I noticed a definite repeating of music. This one instance stood out in my mind because of the song. I mean, when it comes to classic rock songs, there are a ton of them out there. However, within the course of 3 days, this brand new station found it necessary to play Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil twice. Seriously. I mean come on. The station was 3 days old and it’s already recycling material. How is it possible that they couldn’t come up with a better selection of material instead of just cycling the same old stuff. They aren’t a new station. They’re C103 v2.0.
I really wish I understood how the whole “business” side of radio works. I mean I get the fact they make their money through advertising, but what is the driving force behind them having to play songs 4 and 5 times in the same day? Is it the labels that push it on the station or just the stations complete and total lack of originality?
The fact is, with things like streamed radio and satellite radio gaining more popularity, local radio needs to do something to keep up with the times. Enough is enough. I got so sick and tired of hearing crap radio that I decided to play 80’s Shoutcast which is not fantastic, but at least they don’t recycle the music every few days. Hell, I’d even listen to the Screaming Channel over that.
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