14 May 1994
Norman McLeod
I've never regretted the money I spent on a modem to get connected to the Internet - the world-wide network of computers which is apparently gaining a million new users a month. There is some fascinating information to be found if you know where to look for it.
The enclosed is an excerpt from a discussion between two Americans on an international bulletin board debating the future of broadcast radio I pulled off-line a few weeks ago:
"... We're each a part of lots of different audiences. In the great Venn Diagram of life, my various tastes overlap with the tastes of many other people. Just maybe, there's a way to create my own 'programming' and get it to the other people who would enjoy it in some way that makes me a profit.
"If radio can't do what we want it to, we should each try to invent or co-opt some other medium. My Honda won't go off-road, but I don't curse it out. Instead I get a mountain bike or borrow my brother-in-law's Jeep. The kids in Santa Cruz who are loading sound and album-art files onto the Internet are trying to design their own 'off-road vehicle'. I just want to see more people acknowledge the realities of capitalism and physics and then create better, more economical machines to connect talented artists with appreciative audiences..."
"Very interesting observation, and one that those of us in the radio biz would just as soon not even think about. Radio - due to its built-in limitations - has never been able to please all of the people all of the time, and success has been achieved by devising various ways to keep people listening despite the fact that what they're hearing is not 100% to their liking.
"Everything that a modern PD does: contests, promotions, music scheduling - everything - is oriented toward this goal. If the digital phone/computer-network/cable revolution that has begun in the past few years results - as so many of us think/hope that it will - in the ability to micro-target audiences of a few tens of thousands spread out worldwide profitably with programming that does satisfy that audience nearly 100% of the time, and if consumers are - through interactive media services - able to program their own customized versions of audio/video services, then where does that leave mass-market broadcasters?
"When I was growing up, my peers and I would spend every Sunday night glued to the TV in the hopes of getting a glimpse of our rock & roll idols on Ed Sullivan. Imagine today's kids - with 24 hour access to MTV - sitting still for hour after hour of acrobats, spoon-players, and mouse handpuppets in order to see a couple of rock videos. Well, folks, it seems to me that the fragmentation & narrowcasting that we hear on the FM dial today is just the beginning.
"Yet I attended one of the world's biggest radio conventions recently, and the subject of new-tech radio alternatives never even came up. Even DMX - the forerunner of even more specialized services to come - and one that is already in place in most urban areas - wasn't discussed. Everyone seemed to assume that what has worked in the past will always continue to work, and that the only competition they needed to worry about was the FM station across town.
"How do I think radio can respond to the changes that are sure to come? I don't know, but I'll bet that a locally programmed, audience-responsive, idiosyncratic, unpredictable, musically adventurous station would have a better shot at hanging onto its audience that one that was programmed strictly by national charts, dependent upon syndicated features & personalities, and "safe" in its presentation..."
A 'locally programmed, audience responsive, idiosyncratic, unpredictable, musically- adventurous station? What a great idea! The nearest we have to that format in this location is, however, a pirate...
Any readers wishing to comment on what I have said are welcome to call me on 01 273 684 172 or send e-mail to normac@fastnet.co.uk
Copyright NJ McLeod 1995