[gorickey]

http://www.nypost.com/business/25421.htm

July 21, 2004 -- Apple's red-hot iPod digital music player is the latest rival to batter the radio business.
The iPod has become a radio station-in-a-pocket that pumps out thousands of songs, at random, from your very own personal hit parade.

No bad songs. No DJ chatter. No commercials.

And that's meant plenty of harm to radio stations already suffering from a stagnant ad market, dismal stock prices, bored listeners, and online competition.


The ability to go to iTunes.com, pay 99 cents for a song, and put it in your iPod � something that 3 million people have already done a total of 100 million times � can't be good for radio, which has already seen listening levels drop nearly 10 percent in the last five years.

Five years ago, 15.7 percent of all 18 to 24-year-olds were tuned into radio, on average, at any given moment. Last winter, it was down to 13.5 percent, according to Arbitron ratings data.



"By leaving the 'computer' behind, Apple's new devices bring your MP3 files out of the personal, private sphere of a headphone environment and into the space where radio currently lives," said Tom Webster of Edison Media Research.

"A high-capacity MP3 player set to randomly shuffle through gigantic playlists can provide the sense of surprise and discovery that was previously the exclusive domain of radio," Webster added.

But two prominent radio programmers told The Post they've got what computers don't � and never will.

"If they want to listen to nothing but music, they'll go to iPod," said Power 105.1's Michael Saunders. "People are entertained by the radio . . . that's why you have huge morning personalities."

Added Hot 97's Tracy Cloherty, "They've got a great ad campaign, and kudos to their marketing people, but radio still remains the most portable, the most local and the most personable."

Although radio boosters also say that, unlike iPods, their medium exposes listeners to new songs, singers, bands and trends, Edison's Sean Ross said that's changing as well.

"It seems more people are now getting to music faster than radio gets it to them," Ross said, citing clubs, portals, user groups, MTV, BET and the consumer press � not to mention iTunes browsing.

[mdc]

radio often just plays the same bunch of songs over and over, and that is why i never listen to it. morning radio personalities get to be a bit much after a while.

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by mdc:
radio often just plays the same bunch of songs over and over, and that is why i never listen to it.

Same here. I like some college radio because it's more diverse. But even that too is now getting crappy.

[xi_hyperon]

Radio where I live is so homogenized and overrun with 15 minute ad segments, I rarely listen it for music.

[gorickey]

starman...what are your thoughts on this?

Just wondering from somebody who is in the business.

[wataru]

Originally posted by xi_hyperon:
Radio where I live is so homogenized and overrun with 15 minute ad segments, I rarely listen it for music.

Radio has dug its own grave.

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Originally posted by gorickey:
No bad songs. No DJ chatter. No commercials.

That's why I bought my first Walkman almost 20 years ago. Gosh, the Post is really up on things.

[jorgem4]

The radio is just good for the talk programs like Bob & Tom...that is all I lisen to in the moring and that is the only time I use the radio.

[Ghoser777]

Roe Conn [and Gary Meyer] - funniest radio program ever! We'll see if Gary ever comes back.

http://www.wlsam.com/showdj.asp?DJID=20892

[boots]

Yep, media consolidation sucks. And it seems that it is killing itself.

Some college radio stations are cool, but I mostly listen to Minnesota Public Radio now. No music, but the other stations aren't playing much of interest anyway. Listen for an hour and you've got the whole day's line-up.

There are still a few good morning shows out there, but most of them are just poor Howard Stern imitators.

[starman]

Originally posted by gorickey:
starman...what are your thoughts on this?

Just wondering from somebody who is in the business.

Haha. I'm not in the biz. That radio station's just a Live365 station I'm paying for myself.

However, I can say that I get two kids of email:

1) Thanks for the station - never would have found these artists without it.
2) Please try and mix the music more.

Although it's not a litmus test for the business in general, it does show that people can't listen to the same crap over and over again.

I have an iPod and I love the thing, but I'd say that if you consider I commute 10x/week including back and forth to work, I listen to the radio and iPod equally. Why? The stations that I listen to don't repeat the same crap over and over. I listen to WDHA-FM and Q104.3 Fm - both classic rock stations. I admit they don't play enough "deep tracks", but there's enough material out there to keep the stations going indefinitely. I also like hearing about upcoming concerts. Although I couldn't make it, I found out while I was passing by the store that Queenschryche was playing in a local record store. Try that with an iPod or XM Radio.

That said, there are times when I'm itching to listen to what I want. I'm sure there are people out there like me that just itch to listen to certain music. Yesterday I wanted to listen to nothing but "Sweet Child O' Mine". I did. Three times.

Morning personalities SUCK. My biggest gripe with all of them is that they go off on tangents that you can't stay and listen to in the car for. Apart from that, the only good DJ in the area left for Detroit a few years ago (Rocky Allen). They got rid of the Radio Chick, I can't stand Howard Stern, and all I really want to listen to in the morning is music.

Considering everything I said, please note that I didn't mention POP music. THAT is where the problem lies, I think. THAT is where you hear the same songs over and over again. THAT is where the kids are pirating music from. It's not as bad with my genre, I'm sure.

Mike