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Are you old enough to remember the earliest days of FM Radio?

If not, you won’t believe what was possible then.

The air personality not only got to choose what music s/he played on-air, they got to bring in their own personal albums if the station didn’t have one s/he wanted to share.

There was no playlist you had to follow! 

There was no music research.

And – probably because there weren’t enough listeners – there wasn’t the kind of corporate payola that exists on most commercial radio stations today, where we’re fed what we’re going to hear next like it or not.

No one at either the corporate or station level told you what you had to play!

The beauty of that system was that these personalities turned us on to lots of artists and music we would’ve never heard otherwise.

They shared it because they loved it!

Whole hours, sometimes entire air shifts, were produced with great thoughtfulness for mood and flow and introduction.

It was called “curation,” organizing a collection of great artists for the benefit of the listener, who might not have access to the sheer amount of albums you did.

While working at these stations, listeners would phone in their own ideas, and express their appreciation for the music you were sharing.

Really.

It was a magical time, before Big Business owned every signal you can hear.

Before algorithms controlled the next song you hear or the next film you watch.

What’s the big deal, some may say? You’re still getting to hear different stuff you might not have heard without the algorithm, aren’t you?

But it is a big deal. It’s a BIG difference!

Here, I’ll let Marty enlighten you…

“[Curating is] an act of generosity—you’re sharing what you love and what has inspired you. … Algorithms, by definition, are based on calculations that treat the viewer as a consumer and nothing else.” ~ Martin Scorsese

He may be talking about films but what he says is just as relevant for Spotify and Apple Music – and, for that matter, corporate commercial Radio.

You, the listener, are a demographic, a number used to sell advertising, and nothing more.

Those early days of unfettered, undisciplined FM Radio didn’t last long.

And I’m not sure we, as listeners, are better off without it.