Fixing Radio

I remember being on a plane ride back in 2002 or 2003 where a good friend of mine and I got into a lively discussion about how to save the music business with a couple of music executives.  This was back when Napster was king and everyone was pirating music.  It was our conclusion that people would pay for music if they could buy the way they wanted to, not the way the industry wanted them to.  We obviously weren’t the only people thinking this, and it turned out that iTunes and the iPod brought music to us the way we wanted to buy.

I spend a lot of time in the car with my family going to and from sporting events.  I am constantly amazed at how bad commercial radio is.  The choke-hold that large broadcast companies have on content is amazing.  It’s the same songs, all the time, no matter where you are.  Obviously plugging in one’s iPod fixes this, but there are times when the radio experience is still preferred.  There is something to be said for the mystery of what’s next when listening to great radio.

Streaming Pandora or similar services is OK, but even Pandora gets repetitive if the playlist is not nurtured.  That’s hard to do when blowing down the road at 70 MPH.

As cars become wireless hotspots, there is a huge latent opportunity to re-invigorate radio.  It has all of the same markers as music and publishing.  As producers and consumers are allowed to more directly connect, the walled gardens will start to fall.

And it’s not just about music, either.  Imagine the podcast library, but with real-time interactions.  Podcasters will be able to broadcast and get users worldwide, all live.  It’s UStream meets podcasting while driving down the road.  Compelling talk radio.

We will be discussing this topic in detail on this week’s episode of the 350 Third podcast.  Tune in and join the discussion on our website after the show.

Question:  What would be the first thing you would change about radio?