The Wired Generation

Greg Kot has a new book out called Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. “Art thrives best when it’s created without regard to making any kind of compromise,” he tells Time, saying labels have long forced artists to adapt to mainstream tastes. In it he discusses how the Internet has fractionalized music tastes and points to the end of the “big bands” that have dominated the music industry for decades. He says that we may never see another Michael Jackson, Elvis or the Beatles again and that U2 might be the last of a dying breed as far as “big bands” go. Depending on which side of the fence you are on, this all points to a good news bad news scenario. It’s good news if your one of the many thousands of artists slogging it on your own without the backing and support of a label, as the playing field is getting more level every day and the ability to effectively market yourself to a niche audience becomes easier. Of course its bad news if you’re the manager of a band or artist trying to build and negotiate a long term career with the masses. As the Internet fragments music tastes the ability to galvanize a movement or moment with a soundtrack disappears. This will be another challenge for terrestrial radio to face as it tries to massage its musical offerings to an ever changing and ever fickle audience.

The Role of the Taste Maker

As a radio programmer I have always viewed the “mission to deliver”as a three step process.
1. Find your audience
2. Continually give them what they want
3. Try and find the largest common denominator within you audience without alienating your core.

Depending on how you do with #3 usually means the difference between a good book and a bad one and a happy sales department or a grumpy one. Picking the right songs for your audience isn’t as simple as it used to be thanks to the Internet. That small group of multinationals that for years controlled the majority of the music being released to radio has been splintered alongside the average person’s music tastes. Connecting the musical dots on your radio station requires more than a visit to a few mentor stations on Mediabase or BDS. In light of the overwhelming amount of musical choices available to your listening audience, the role of the “taste maker” has never been more important than it is now. A successful radio station, whether its current or gold based, needs to be able to go in between those home run songs and find the “oh wow” ones as well. Whether it’s introducing a new song or band that has created a story for itself online before radio like "Death Cab for Cutie" did or perhaps its dusting off "Wall of Voodoo’s"- Mexican Radio for a spin or two. As a gracious tenacious "taste maker" you will be doing your listeners a favor.