Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Mainstream Radio, This is Why You're Failing

I haven't been listening to the radio at all recently because -- basically -- I got a huge "Fuck you" when I suggested a change in the line-up. Not in so many words....they sugarcoated it by pandering to my ego and telling me exactly what I wanted to hear but, yeah, the message I got was that they couldn't give a flying f*ck about what their listeners think or want. 

Just a little background -- I felt like a hypocrit for writing off my local radio station without actually trying contribute and make it better.  So, instead of just continually bitching, I wrote a very pleasant e-mail making a few suggestions about adding local artists and not playing "Moves like Jagger" every other minute.  (Just for the record---I effin' hate that song.  It is the epitome of everything that is wrong with the music industry right now.)  This is the reply I recieved:
Hey! Thanks for the email and thanks for listening to ****. It's nice to get an email from someone who knows music. I can tell because you feel **** is getting stale. At the end of the summer, the charts start to slow, making the playlist seem to be in a slump. You picked up on this, therefore you are "music aware". I wish there were more like you.
    I listened to the songs and will give a few spins next week to see how it is received. Thanks for the tip.
    The local artist show has been kicked around the station for about a year now, they are looking for a sponsor for the show and discussing the platform (On line or on air) for a local spotlight. For example, if we did it online we would make it a weekly contest where the winner would get a spotlight play on the air.
 I listened to that radio station nonstop for two weeks straight and I didn't hear any deviation from the norm.  Lying bastard.  You can't decry your audience for not having taste when you simultaneously control the content they hear.  They didn't even give people a chance to say whether or not they liked the change of sound.

Oh.  And he straight up lied about the change of new music slowing down at the end of summer.  I know for a fact that more albums came out during one week of September than the entire month of July.  And more awesome stuff is coming out soon (Hello Vanaprasta!)  I'm tired of this sh*t.  Internet radio all the way, baby.

3 comments:

  1. i've always hated the crap the play on the radio. pop radio stations and tv channels such as VH1 and MTV are controlling popular music, creating a ton of mindless drones that only listen to whatever is "in" at the time. how many songs from even 5 years ago sit in someones ipod waiting to be listened to but is being neglected because of the more popular, current music? ugh... i'm done ranting for now

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  2. I couldn't agree more! Radio is the poop deluxe! (in a bad way) Nuff said

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  3. You know what really "grinds my gears" about mainstream radio? All these dumb love songs they keep playing where guys promise totally asinine stuff to girls. Like in this newish Bruno Mars song he says "I would step on a grenade for ya" as if there isn't plenty of regular s@#$ for you to do for someone that you don't really want to. Like, how about, "I would wait in the hospital waiting room for 3 hours for ya", or "I would talk to you outside the bathroom door while you drop a deuce, for ya"? Huh? Do you think these artists are just pandering to ding dong teeny boppers, or do you think they really "feel it dog"?

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