From the time I was still in diapers, there was music in the air. Growing up in the 1960's in Tiffin, Ohio, I was introduced to Rock & Roll music by six older brothers and sisters. My father's beloved Big Band era music also became very familiar at an early age. Dad's music was simply tolerated, but the radio was tuned in to CKLW at every opportunity. The rise in popularity of the transistor radio meant that I could now carry my music wherever I went. What a wonderful thing that little handheld box was! Every kid had one.
CKLW, "The Big 8". Back in the 60's that was THE ONLY station to turn to for all of the latest hits. Millions of 45 RPM records were sold entirely on the strength of the airplay of those iconic AM stations.
As time passed by, the more serious listeners began to tire of narrow playlists, too much talk and not enough quantity and variety of new music. Recognizing this, investors created new stations and new formats over on the FM band, which also offered the advantage of a static-free environment.
As the 1970's came I was turning into my teen years, and just beginning to become a "serious listener". The FM revolution was just getting underway. A classmate told me about a great new station on 104 FM, which was WIOT. That day I made the switch from AM to FM, and my own evolution into the realm of "serious listeners" was off and running.
In my view, FM radio took off the way it did primarily because people were tiring of AM's tendancy to talk too much & not play enough of a variety, and quantity of music. People wanted more music. They wanted to hear more new music, more new songs and a lot less chatter. Remember the days when your FM station would play 4 songs back-to-back without any interuptions? Or the nights when they played an entire album that had just been released? Or better still, when the DJ had almost complete control over his playlist?
FM has become the same beast that they helped to kill off. As a result, FM radio is dying a slow but certain death. It is indeed a death of their own doing.
The XM/Sirius/Pandora's and other Internet Radio alternatives of the world are already picking up the pieces and making huge strides on an ongoing basis. To underscore my point, you need only to look at the large increase in the number of multi-platinum artists who have achieved their high sales without the benefit of any significant conventional airplay whatsoever.
Serious music fans are turning to internet radio, and pay services entirely by choice. In my own case, I pay a yearly subscription to Pandora Radio, which allows me to choose exactly the type of music that I want to hear more of. I can pipe it into my home surround sound system, or into the stereo system in my RV from my Blackberry. This new portability will cause these formats to skyrocket in popularity in the years to come.
I really do hate to see FM Radio in such a sorry state. But, as they say, time marches on. The impending death of FM Radio is truly of their own doing.
SJH
PS - The following video from 1978 is a striking example of an artist's own love for their fans and their music.
PSS - Specific to the rise & fall of CKLW
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