“I have a Master’s degree, so fortunately I haven’t had too many shitty jobs. I used to be a media/ marketing specialist for the University of Florida. I was a spokesperson for the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which most people would never guess. They were good jobs, but I’m glad I don’t have an 8-5 now.” – Storm “Wendy’s, Shop Rite, Transamerica, Hertz, and a few barbershops.” – Tab D’Biassi “Before I started making a living off of DJing, I was an electrician and I DJed private parties on the weekend.” – Tre “Marching Band Consultant for Jackson State University and Resident & Leasing Director for The Palisades at E-City, which is a student and faculty housing complex.” – Unpredictable “Bartender and student.” – Whitey “I used to work at McDonald’s, and in a warehouse packing wholesale grocery orders. I hated it.” – Wrekk 1 “I’m actually still a Behavior Therapist. I work with special needs children under the Autism spectrum.” – Yorkie With all the new outlets for spinning music, we wondered if internet, satellite, and podcasts are making traditional radio obsolete. According to most DJs, terrestrial radio is still alive and kicking, but artists and listeners alike are slowly appreciating other radio entities more: Are internet radio, satellite radio, and podcasts killing traditional radio stations? “I don’t think they are killing traditional radio stations; I just think they give artists on the come up a viable place to be heard as not everyone can get played in the traditional radio format. Internet radio, satellite radio and podcasts are the wave of the future.” – 2Mello “I would say they are attracting a different listener, but they aren’t killing regular radio. Regular radio is still in high demand and has major input on what’s hot and what’s not.” – 31 Degreez “No. They’re a totally different forum from traditional radio. A lot of people are looking to the net to fulfill their radio itch but in the same token, a lot of people aren’t internet savvy enough to find a radio station on the net so I’d say they both serve their purpose.” – Averi Minor “It’s killing their revenue perhaps, but not the musical art form. There is a much better variety of outlets for music to be heard in the modern era, and it puts the power in the hands of the artists more so than the record companies and corporations.” – Bedz
“All these mediums serve a purpose, but at the end of the day, how do you kill something that’s free?” – Big Sue “No because until internet radio, satellite, etc. are made easy to obtain like normal radio, traditional radio will continue to win.” – Bishop “Yes because they are breaking records; they are
letting mixshow DJs be DJs; and they are not playing the same records you hear in rotation all day long.” – Chill “I don’t think so. At the end of the day, it’s all about the listeners’ preference. Everyone doesn’t have access to the internet to hear internet radio or a podcast broadcast. Also, the consumer pays for satellite radio so why not just listen to traditional radio for free? I think it’s beneficial to have different sources of radio for people to choose from, but traditional radio will always be a fan favorite in my book.” – Civil Rightz
“No not really. Traditional radio is free. You can’t beat free. The rest cater to a certain type of audience that will pay for or search for content, which is a small percentage compared to those struggling with gas prices and the way the economy is right now. Who wants to pay a monthly fee to hear these artists curse at them all day?” – Cristal Bubblin “No. It’s kind of like having cable television or Direct TV. You’re always going to have basic radio stations like having your basic television stations but satellite radio, internet radio, and podcasts cater more to a wider audience without watering down what the listeners are looking to hear. They give listeners more options and encourage traditional radio stations to step their programming game up.” – DNA “A lil bit. The airwaves are saturated just like the rest of the industry right now. It’s not like back in the day where you would tune into that one dope show every week to hear some crazy exclusives like a Future Flavas or a Stretch Armstong show. Now you just find it on the net and download it. There are still a few good shows left. You still have Premo’s show on a Friday night, so Satellite radio is good in that sense.” – Flatline “Satellite is killing the radio ‘cause we have the ability to play what we think the people would here and break acts and not be handcuffed.” – Furious Styles “Not at all because there’s nothing more personal than tuning into your local station for the 411 and local hits.” – H-Dub “No. I really appreciate them, to be honest. Whatever we have to do to keep good music out, I’m with it. It’s still a lot of unheard voices and the web, satellite, and podcasts pick up where traditional radio slacks off.” – Incognito
“Traditional radio is killing itself. It isn’t about giving the people something they want to hear. It’s about advertising dollars and running commercials, so they take the 10 most popular songs and run them into the ground whether we like it or not.” – JoNasty “They brought that on themselves by having strict rules on what to play. Play something different for a change. Satellite and internet radio are doing that.” – Lil Steve “Yeah and no. The only way they are killing radio is by leaking new music before commercial radio gets it, but artists are not getting deals off internet and satellite radio yet. When artists can benefit from them, then commercial radio will have to give indie artists more play.” – Marlei Mar “I don’t think any of the new mediums are killing traditional radio. The station I’m on, iPower 92, is
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interactive. People can listen to podcasts and look at the people in our studio on ipower921.com. As far as satellite radio, not everybody wants to pay for it, and some people can’t afford it. Traditional radio stations will always be here, but they may have to make some changes.” – Peachez “Yes and no. New media is affecting the sales and ratings but commercial radio will always be community driven. Your iPod can’t tell you where the hot club is on Friday night. Terrestrial radio is learning how to adapt in ways that will create a whole new look and sound, like b96hiphop.com.” – Peter Parker “Hell yeah. People get tired of listening to the same songs and long ass commercials – they play more commercials than music. FM radio is terrible in my city. Satellite radio is getting so much love in the new cars and devices and all that ‘cause you can get a better variety of music, interviews, exclusives, etc. I wouldn’t close the casket on traditional radio stations, but they are definitely losing the War of Radio. Podcasts are a good look too. I definitely got one of those for my XM mixshow on www.DJRNS.com.” – DJ RNS “No. In the end the format with the strongest personalities and freshest product will win.” – Slab1 “Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of people switch over to satellite radio and iPods within the past couple of years and I know traditional radio is feeling that change. Unless radio starts breaking new music, adding more specialty shows – Reggae, local artist spotlight, etc. – they’ll continue losing that battle.” – Spontaneous
“Someone needs to kill traditional radio, quickly. Traditional radio sucks! This is coming from someone with 10 years in the biz. It’s way too corporate. It’s lost touch with artists, DJs, and most importantly, the people who listen.” – Storm “Yes. Most people I know like it much better because it’s raw and uncensored so you get more raw interviews. Along with getting to hear the club versions of songs, it’s commercial free.” – Tre “No. Radio gives you mainstream hits that are being pushed by the labels and internet and sattelite give you exclusives and underground hits. They work hand in hand in my opinion.” – Whitey The average listener might not realize that the DJ doesn’t always call the shots when it comes to radio. Playlists dictated by PDs and MDs, and politics in general, often control which songs reach the mainstream and which don’t: How restrictive is your playlist? Have you ever gotten in trouble for playing something that wasn’t on the list? “Fortunately for me, I get to play what I feel as long as the bad language is edited out. I’ve heard conversations with radio DJs and label reps asking that a certain record be played and the response from the DJ was ‘I have a boss. I can’t play that record until he says I can.’ It’s sad.” – 2Mello “At my prior radio station, yes. I got in trouble because there was nothing but playlist mix shows. Currently I’m enjoying the freedom on satellite radio and my White Shadow Radio show has