Polluted Airwaves
December 13, 2006 by Jo Minor
The quality of music on our local radio stations is appalling, to say the least.
I can’t stand a minute listening to the obnoxious, fake-as-plastic, nasal-voiced teenage “singers†that have taken over the radio - I wonder how long Paris Hilton is going to torment us with that rubbish. The people responsible for giving her the license to kill (by driving us to suicide with her terribly irritating singing) should be sentenced to life in prison.
There is just no room for talent on the radio. It’s all about the big bucks, people.
Surrender your naïve thoughts. Don’t be a mindless drone - if you care about music, get some CDs, or listen to music online - the radio isn’t the gospel of all that is good, folks. There is a wealth of talent outside of the corporate-controlled radio stations, just begging to be discovered. Listen to what you want to listen, and don’t accept radio-friendly songs as your only choice of music. If the songs on the radio suit you fine, then by all means go ahead and buy your copy of Gwen Stefani’s latest CD - I won’t tell you what you can or can not listen to - but do not limit yourselves to what the money-minded radio stations are trying to feed you.
Our local radio stations, especially Hitz.fm, glorify these tasteless flavor-of-the-week pop artistes because they rake in the revenues. They achieve this by repeating songs from several selected artistes to the point of insanity - in an attempt to brainwash the listeners. If you think what I just said is a load of hogwash, Google up the term “ear wormâ€. It’s frightening how little people know of this.
Based on my observations, a radio station like Hitz.fm plays fewer than 30 different songs in the span of a week due to heavy repetition of the same few songs each day. So much for variety, huh?
Enter the savior: the internet.
The internet is a remarkable outlet for music without strings attached. It doesn’t only cater to trendy pop listeners like our radio stations do - there aren’t even decent rock or classical music stations in Malaysia - yet no one is complaining or making an effort to set up more radio stations.
Why?
Making music requires money, but the internet has somehow overcome that factor by allowing budding musicians and even established artistes to post their songs (either for streaming or for downloading) for someone else to pick them up for a listen. It even has the power to propel virtual unknowns into the limelight, thanks to online hype and publicity.
The internet allows almost anyone to endlessly try out fresh and exciting music - for little or no charge at all - with no constraints or limitations whatsoever. The same can’t be said for our local radio stations - listeners aren’t in control of what they want to listen to, simply because the songs played over the airwaves are hand-picked and closely-monitored by the elements of the music business: the music labels, the press, and the sponsors.
The radio is free for anyone to listen to, but it will never be an option for those who want freedom in music.
Real music enthusiasts do not conform to the rule set by the mainstream media and the corporations running the music industry. We find, listen, and sometimes, even make the music we want to listen to. We have given up on the radio a long, long time ago and know all too well that it is a medium for a generation that has given up on talent and artistry for trendy MTV.
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