“I can’t live without my radio!”
Today LL Cool J’s line might seem dated. We know longer think of the radio as a large boom box we can walk around with pumping the latest cassettes and hot mix shows. Today’s technology has changed that for good. Radio ain’t dead though. It’s expanded, multiplied and become wildly diverse and more personal. It’s become homogenized and highly programmed. Sounds like differing descriptions, no ? Well, yes. The latter might closely resemble the old idea of the radio. A radio station transmitting its content to your boom box, home stereo or portable radio head set (classic!). You, the listener, decide on which call letters you wish to listen to. The listener’s only choice.
Choice is what has changed it. The internet changed it. Lala, Pandora, podcasting, Last.FM, SoundCloud and the many more streaming, on demand, internet based listening portals have given the listener an infinite amount of choice. Not total choice, mind you, because radio’s most important role has always been in introducing and breaking news and music to the listener. Now, instead of just the narrow and limited selections on the AM/FM bands, the listener has all the choice to fit their mood, whim, need and curiosity.
dreaming on crunk 