No big surprise. Radio sucks and has for years. Even public radio has gotten narrower in focus and less adventurous, as it has learned to be self-sustaining. So those of us who care have been undeniably gleeful at Eliot Spitzer’s pursuit of Sony on payola charges.
But I think some people are fooling themselves if they think payola is the only reason that modern radio stinks or if they think that it might get better if the record companies could be prevented from using these techniques.
Radio today is based on narrowcasting to specific demographics and working off of extremely tight playlists. Some stations are experimenting with new “podcast” formats, such as the Alice format. Such changes are a mark of desperation, for that’s what it takes for the radio industry to respond. Today’s Washington Post has an article on satellite radio; the accompanying graphic shows that listening to broadcast radio is down 5 percentage points from last year, while streaming music is up 1 point and satellite radio is up 2 points.
When you may have heard Jennifer Lopez’s most recent album (not to pick on her specifically), you may have thought, “Man, you couldn’t pay me to listen to this.” Hearing about the payola scandal might cause you to think, “Of course! The only way that junk gets on the air is by paying for it.” It’s one reason, but not the only reason, and I’m not holding my breath for radio to suddenly improve.