Les Jones: It's Half Past the Pussycat Dolls

January 03, 2007

Home Life > It's Half Past the Pussycat Dolls

My wife and I have our clock radio set to Star 102.1 because we like Frank Murphy. Thing is, they play the same Top 40 songs every day. I mean, we only listen to the show for maybe 20 minutes, and we still hear the same songs over and over. My wife says it's because radio stations are paid to play the same songs at the same time every day.

So this morning the clock radio comes on and I say "Oh, time to get up. It's Sexyback o'clock."

Posted by lesjones | TrackBack

Comments

Your wife is partly right, but the real truth is the "DJ" is lazy.

I am old school and I have this embedded notion that a DJ sits in a studio playing the tunes he is in the mood for or you request. That is completely wrong today.

A computer plays the tunes. A DJ programs his 8 hour show in a few minutes. He records a snippet of talking between the tracks and makes the playlst and when it is time, the computer plays the list and his little snippets and the commercials. They turn 15 minutes of work into 8 hours of radio.

So, the real culprit is your lazy or uncaring "DJ". He comes in every afternoon and records his bits and looks at the playlist he had yesterday and might change it, or might not. Probably not. Who cares? Not him. It doesn't matter any more anyway. The way they finagel the ratings, they prop up their stats and create market share on a whim and sell their ads regardless.

I hate on-air radio if you have not guessed. But, no, I think I hate the whole music industry really. One day their business will collapse and it can't come soon enough for me.

The only comfort I have is that there are signs of change. Amazon reports that a huge portion of their CD sales are not for the top acts, but for the little known acts. Although individually they don't amount to much, as a group, the more obscure, higher quality, more original acts make up a bigger percentage of sales than the "stars." People have been given choice online of everything and they are taking it and making an impact. Of course, only Amazon cares. The recording industry ignores these trends and keeps looking for the next Brittany Spears to over-hype...

And if satellite radio would start doing what cell phone compaies do and give you the hardware when you sign a contract, they would soon dominate the airways. If you cell phone/mp3 player was satellite radio enabled, it would all change real quick. I hope that is just around the corner. Please stream my online radio station while you are at it...

-Angry Young Coot

Posted by: Swanky at January 03, 2007