Radio is the last bastion of hope for the shared musical experience.
The other week, the live events industry took yet another kick to the balls when the vital Government support that it desperately needs failed to materialise, yet again.
People in the industry fear a ‘tidal wave of job losses and business closures’ in the wake of this.
And, with Facebook now changing its policy on Live Streaming due to copyright issues, it seems there is little opportunity left for people to enjoy music in any collective experience.
The great tragedy is that music helps people, music heals people, music saves people, music unites people; and when we need the shared experience of music more than ever before, it isn’t there as an option for us.
It seems Radio is truly the last bastion of hope for bringing people together around music.
This shouldn’t surprise us really.
It was the first.
It could well be the last.
Radio has always lead the way in bringing music to the masses.
It has outlived all the other technologies; first the phonograph, then the record player, tape cassettes, CD’s.
Remember, it was 40 years ago that The Buggles sang that ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’.
Where’s video now?
But Radio’s survival hasn’t been without challenges, the shame is that many of its biggest problems have come from within its own industry.
Listeners became demographics; the music simply a carrot dangled temptingly to build statistics to attract advertisers.
It’s about time we gave Radio the proper acclaim that it wholly deserves.
We should stop and appreciate what it has brought us, how it has enlightened us, entertained us, informed us, brought us together.
Look at all those other things we wrongly assumed would always be there for us; live music, concerts, music festivals and nightclubs.
This year has shown us that nothing can be taken for granted and that nothing is guaranteed.
It has given us an opportunity to reflect and to appreciate how much we miss it all, and remember just how much it means to us.
But, there will be many musical casualties, both physically and financially, when we eventually emerge from this current chaos.
And once something is gone, it’s gone.
Imagine a world without Radio; it doesn’t bear thinking about.
But, in order for Radio to survive it has to change. It can’t survive much more of the commercialisation that is destroying it from within.
People need to support those independent stations, like ourselves, who are trying to do things differently in the hope of guiding Radio through these difficult times.