Can we hear something else?

I don’t listen to the radio much anymore. I love the Flow morning radio show and I indulge myself for about an hour of it on the way to work. The only other time I listen is at work where they have it on in the background some days at a level that usually I can barely hear. And that is the most of my radio listening. On all other times in the car or at home is all about my own stuff. This is killing a medium that is still needed in our society but it is there own fault.

Music stations seem to have gone from a top 40 music set to a top 10. It is driving me crazy. For at least a month all you hear is the same thing over and over and then if it turns out to be a mega hit then you hear it continuously for months-on-end. The only time anything different is played is at the wee hours of the morning. My question is why? The excessive repetition is annoying and frustrating. All it makes me do is turn it off.

Sitting here at work listening to the Pink song “Rock Star” as it drills itself into my head like a screw driver I kinda feel like freaking out. I have nothing against Pink or the song really, it is just that I have heard it about 6 times and the “Na na na na na. Na na na na na na” is just killing me. There is enough music for there to be variety. And I am talking within a genre as well. How many times do I have to hear a Lil’Wayne song? Never would be preferable but I could deal with once or twice a day.

This is why new music has such a hard time emerging. The only stuff that is heard is backed by names that are already huge. If you are a solo artist or a band that doesn’t happen to have a hook-up with Timbaland or Kanye or Pharrell (I don’t know any big rock ones) then you are destined for a hard life trying to break through. And the thing is that most of the stuff that makes it isn’t even good. And it hurts.

The way I find new music is by asking my friends, a couple of them are into the indie scene, or just keep an ear out for something good. I have no problem asking what something is if I like it. I found Freezepop, the Fratellis (they are kinda big now), Robots in Disguise, and Esthero (a while ago) that way. It’s just great stuff.

I think radio stations need to change up there game. They are not losing listeners just because of the new technologies that are out there but because they do not offer the variety that people are looking for. They need to start providing a new listening experience.

Tra