The Radio...Or The Lack Of

Being into a style of music like metal has taught me things over the years. One of the main things is that I’m not going to be able to hear the songs I want on the radio. I’m not talking about internet radio (which rocks) or a pay service satellite radio (which also rocks). I’m talking about the freebie radio that you are forced to listen to when the CD player or iPod in your car craps out. AM talk radio I’m fine with, and I listen to that every day. It’s that whole FM dial I have a problem with (wow, I do remember when car radios would have an actual dial to tune the channels…total tangent, that’s another blog).

I have a lot of friends that listen to the radio all the time in all the different genres that are available. I have friends that work or have worked in radio. I know it won’t be the most popular thing to some people, but not only do I not listen to FM radio, I don’t like FM radio. Ever since I really started getting into music, I was always looking and searching for the next awesome band. The radio wouldn’t help me, so I had to go on that journey using other means. Word of mouth was the beginning, and then once the internet made it easier to access more and more information, I would use that. I remember in college how I would go to one of the used CD stores and spend hours going through the used bins because the college radio station would dump all the promos that they didn’t want there. I could get, essentially, a brand new unreleased CD (sans artwork) for $2-5 if I put in the time to search for it. And I’ve continued to use that mentality ever since to discover the best music I can.

The interesting part about using those routes to find music is that you rarely come across the mainstream music that is played on FM radio, and I just accepted that. I listen to music that most people don’t listen to, and I’ve tried to expand people’s musical interests as much as I can, but I know it will always be an uphill battle. And then it came to me why it would always be so hard.

If you listen to the radio, you don’t necessarily want to find out about good music. You will listen to whatever you are fed by mainstream radio because you don’t have to put any effort into it. The idea is so foreign to me, but I think that is what has happened. People are content to listen to whatever music is on the radio because they don’t have to do anything, and it doesn’t cost them anything. To put it in a political context, it’s a liberal way to enjoy music: ‘I deserve to have music and not pay for it, so I’ll settle for whatever you play because it’s free’. I don’t subscribe to that. I’ll take my conservative approach to music: I’ll search for the music I want to hear, and I’ll pay to hear the music I enjoy.

I will always be the guy buying a physical CD or vinyl (no iTunes downloads unless it’s the only option). I’m the guy that reads and studies the liner notes. I want to know what you play, where you recorded it, and who you thank. I’ll bring my physical CD to your show and have you sign it, and keep it like a trophy and show it off to everyone whether they care or not. I’ll never hear my music on the radio…and I’m fine with that. Maybe things will change. Maybe the mainstream will prove me wrong and radio will branch out to cover all genres. Until then, I’ve got a date with a record store.