Pirate Radio Rocks!

Pirate Radio, a new movie starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, rocks. The story, set in the late 1960's is laced with sexual innuendos, explicit language, drugs, alcohol and rock and roll, all aboard a ship cast off the shores of Great Britain, airing music that the BBC strictly would not play during a time of a music revolution. This story of DJ outcasts broadcasting from a large ship was a preliminary to the deep character of radio as we know it today. It's hilarious, touching, and entertaining.

If you love music, freedom, and revolt of government, you should go see it.

My love and passion of the broadcast medium come directly from radio. I, fortunately, have never had to live in a time when music was restricted from airwaves. Even when I was eight years old, the airwaves served as a comforting place for me to escape, and because of that love, I've been working in radio consistently during the last four years, as a sales representative, on-air DJ, and now a co-host to my own show.

There's just something about radio. The urgency of the airwaves, the tireless dedication it takes to program a station. The work live radio asks of the talent, and the relationships the public create with that talent, is a huge engine to a community. The energy and philosophy behind a live radio broadcast filter through the speakers and into the ears and minds of millions at a time. The entire opinion of the population can be changed in an instant with a radio broadcast. Radio shocks us, makes us laugh from unpredictable talk show hosts, inspires and teaches us, makes us mad, engages us. Even more than television, is the impact of radio. It makes a listener think in pictures, design with the mind. Without radio, all kinds of radio, we as human beings would be ridiculously ignorant to opinions and trends. Radio is responsible for information dissemination, for whatever information you want to consume, be it entertainment, politics, news, or weather.

Radio today faces many, many changes. Radio producers and owners fear the rise of the Internet and what it may mean to the fate of the industry. Now, instead of 29 stations in Anchorage (an absolutely ridiculous number of stations for the population), there are millions of stations available to anyone sitting in front of their computer, or connected to their cell phone. Listeners are seeking a broader taste of their favorite radio programs. Especially in Alaska, where radio isn't exactly pushing the boundaries of innovation or even talent, listeners are tuning in to national and international stations that give them everything they have ever wanted. So what is missing?


The Death of Community Radio

Community radio used to be where anyone could get the latest information on anything they wanted. It's true, today, again while at the computer, anyone can look up anything they desire and find only the information they desire. So the relationship has changed. It is no longer broadcast media feeding an audience information, be it in news reports or in advertising, but now, the consumer has that control through the Internet. Sure, if a listener doesn't like a song or an advertisement, they are at will to change the station to get their information elsewhere, but radio is a relationship medium. People may switch between a few stations, or even all of them, but most people, will find one or two (possibly three) stations they love, and will stay between them because they have developed a relationship with the character of the station and the talent on that station.

What may be easily underestimated is the place radio plays in a community. Internet radio will provide a place for listeners to get the news, talk, or music they want, but it won't have the information about what is happening in your community. Sure, some of this comes from advertising, which most people claim to hate, but think about it; isn't advertising doing you a favor? Aren't stores who are promoting their sales and specials, or even just promoting that they exists help you in your purchasing decisions? Some of it comes from the talent, from news updates, and from talk-show hosts, mostly also driven by advertising.


Good or bad?

There is no doubt radio will have to find a way to adapt to these changes in consumer relationships. I believe competition breeds innovation. While probably not as dramatic as newspapers, radio will indeed succumb to the Internet. And like newspapers, the radio industry will need to find a way to fight for their listeners to stay in touch with them. An old model of radio isn't going to work on the Internet, just like an old model of newspapers isn't going to work on the Internet. That is why they are failing.


The Solution

I don't know what the solution is to preserving the medium of radio, especially community driven radio, but I'm willing to offer one suggestion, and that's convergence.

By adopting a convergence model for all media types, radio, television and news reporting will retain their relationships with consumers. Of all the places to get the information one desires, the place that can offer it all will win. But, but, but... I can hear the buts...but what if? What would it mean to advertisers, who drive any media industry, to reach all types of media consumers? How much value does one place offer that allows consumers to get information of all kinds, their favorite kind, in one place? I'm not sure what it looks like exactly, but I am sure it will happen.

And like pirate radio, it will move the industry forth to include any type of information anyone ever wants to gain, while including community.

So, rock on.

The Count: To all our listeners, this is what I have to say - God bless you all. And as for you bastards in charge, don't dream it's over. Years will come, years will go, and politicians will do fuck all to make the world a better place. But all over the world, young men and young women will always dream dreams and put those dreams into song. Nothing important dies tonight, just a few ugly guys on a crappy ship. The only sadness tonight is that, in future years, there'll be so many fantastic songs that it will not be our privilege to play. But, believe you me, they will still be written, they will still be sung and they will be the wonder of the world.
- from the Pirate Radio movie