This week's All Access "The Letter" finally gets to what I hinted about for a few weeks, the future of radio that's actuially here right now if you want it, plus a gratuitous and blatant plug for this site dropped in at the end of the gratuitous and blatant plug for the other site:
I have seen the future. Actually, I'm looking at it right now. It's about 6 1/2 ounces, it fits in my pocket, and because of it, I just heard a guy on a Philadelphia radio station arguing with a caller about why the Eagles lost in New Orleans. Live. In Los Angeles.
I've been threatening to explain this for a few weeks now, and here it is: you know how they say that someday we'll have Internet access in the car, and we'll be able to listen to streaming audio in our cars or anywhere else? And how this means that anyone will then be able to have his or her own global radio station without need for transmitters or FCC licenses? You know how they make it seem like this is still years off?
I have that right now. And so do a lot of other people who may not even realize it yet. And that means it's coming sooner than you think.
It's simple: I have a cell phone that has that EVDO semi-broadband Internet connectivity. I can use it to go on the web, click on an audio stream, and hear the audio through the phone speaker. And if I pop the cassette adapter cord off my satellite radio receiver and plug it into my phone, I can hear that stream- in stereo, very few dropouts, not audiophile but perfectly listenable- on my car stereo.
And that's how I've been driving around Southern California listening to live radio from other places. I'm listening to Philadelphia sports hosts trying vainly to convince callers that the Eagles don't have clock management issues, and Detroit talkers taking World Series calls. What's going on in London, or Melbourne, or Trenton? No problem, I can hear it live. If I can, so can a lot of people. If it's this easy, and the technology's already here, how long before a cell phone carrier launches a little box that's dedicated to getting streaming audio into your car stereo- just plug it in and you've got an unlimited number of radio options?
Great. So this means what for your career?
Good question. It could mean that the entire economic model of this industry is going to implode. Or it could mean that you could create your own show- uncensored and live- and sell ads on it and be free of employers and bosses forever. I don't know. All I'm saying is that the Brave New World they allude to at conferences and conventions, the uncertain future, may be closer than we thought. I don't know if it's too early to prepare, but it's never too early to pay attention.
And, again, when there's an infinite number of stations, and anyone can play music, the only thing that other people can't duplicate is... you. So you got that going for you, and, no, I'm not gonna write "Which is nice" here, because I've used up all my permissible "Caddyshack" references for the year.
Now that I've thrown some fear into your life, maybe I should just go to something more comforting, and I'd say Talk Topics at All Access News-Talk-Sports fits that bill with all the topics you need to put together a great show. Examples? So far this week, there's the trouble with body piercing, a list of the most influential non-existent people ever, the saga of the "Skunk Ape," proof that stingrays want to kill us all (one at a time), the winner of the title of Dumbest State in the Union, one really final way baseball fans can declare their loyalty, the real reason the 1986 Red Sox lost the World Series (they were cursed, but not how you thought), another school system that's banning tag, a candidate for sheriff who's hit upon an unusual way to stand out on the ballot, plenty on the Miami-FIU brawl, an airline that plans to pay you- not enough, though- to fly, and, oh, I don't know, other stuff, lots of it, plus "10 Questions With..." WHCU/Ithaca morning host/APD Dave Vie ser and the Talent Toolkit with three really sweet candy websites (sorry) and the rest of All Access with the industry's best/first/fastest/utmost/ginchiest news coverage in Net News, the best radio job listings, the incredible searchable Industry Directory, Mediabase charts, and much more, all free. See? You're feeling better already. (And if that's not enough, there's always pmsimon.com, for which I'll sneak a plug in here- it's stuff I write just because, including the true story of how I ended up in a very embarrassing clothing-deficient situation, the mystery of the Dead Guy In My Neighborhood, and other useless babbling- at least it's free, too)
Next week: Don't know. Depends on my mood. Probably something dashed off at the very last second. Why change a winning formula?
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