Ding Dong The Witch Is Dying

Saw this article in Digital Music News today. For those too lazy to click, here's the gist:

"US-based terrestrial radio stations suffered an absolutely brutal decline in 2009, according to data released Friday by the Radio Advertising Bureau. Across various revenue-generators - on-air, off-air, digital - revenues slumped 18 percent to roughly $16 billion. Of that, local stations suffered a 20 percent decline to $10.8 billion, and national stations slipped 19 percent to $2.4 billion."

For music-lovers and artists of my generation who grew up under the tyranny of terrestrial radio, this trend is fantastic news. No longer do behemoth's like KROQ in LA or K-ROCK in NYC control which bands and artists we're exposed to. Instead there are thousands of music sites, blogs, and services like Slacker, Pandora and La La, each one of them pointing us to scores of artists that heretofore would've gone undiscovered amidst commercial radio's iron fist hegemony.

These days, when I'm driving the freeways of LA and I dare to tune into KROQ (usually to giggle at how bad "modern rock" radio has become), I will inevitably hear a deep voice remind me that I'm listening to "The World Famous KROQ." News flash: you may be famous to the remaining 4 people who turn to you to discover new music, but to most music fans that I know you're a has-been, a totally obsolete relic. I mean, seriously: who listens to commercial modern rock radio anymore? I think the answer is 15 year olds who are discovering Nirvana for the first time, or people stuck in their cars, desperate for something to break the silence. As for me, if I never hear "Come As You Are," "Longview" or any song by the Foo Fighters ever again it will be too soon. At this point I have an almost Pavlovian reaction to hearing that stuff. I literally can't stand it. That's sad, and it is totally commercial radio's fault.

So here's to the continued decline of Big Radio. One thing for which I'm eternally grateful is that I've lived to see its power and influence totally eroded. Good riddance. ~ Tim