Finding equilibrium before it’s too late…
Radio is in an age where we over-value analytics and under-value feelings.
Music research is one example. Short, safe play lists win the Arbitron game but also helped open the door for Pandora.
Could a KBCO or KINK be created today even with a growing awareness that, if anything, taste for new and diverse music is growing, not shrinking?
Think about the way you speak to your listeners, the essential concepts about yourself — your station — that you try to help them remember.
Is it more about what, and how much — basically statistical stuff — or why, and who — emotional stuff rooted in empathy and feelings?
I’m not saying left brain offerings don’t have a market. Microsoft, the ultimate left brain organization, has a huge market.
But, Apple ended up ahead of them, and Apple is the ultimate right brain business.
Ideally, there would be balance, but I think consolidation has forced out all the feeling part.
Consolidated radio reflects American society and politics.
Aggression and dominance have trumped humility and sensitvity and left us less than we could be, on a more precarious perch.