Radio vs Pandora

Apples and oranges…

Radio is not now, nor has it ever been, merely the experience of listening to songs.

It is a unique experience of listening to songs, or words, alone usually, individually always, but in the presence of another personality — the radio personality.

By whatever means, the best of these radio personalities create human connections with each of these individual listeners, no matter how many hundreds of thousands or millions are listening.

So, the experience feels shared, not solitary.

The joy of hearing songs and stories is shared with someone else who makes me believe s/he loves the song as much as I do, who cries as I do, who remembers as I do, even if we didn’t share the original experience that leads to this emotional reaction.

It is an act of reminiscing and sharing nostalgia with someone I feel I know, or enjoying something brand new with someone I have somehow persuaded myself cares a bit about me because of the sound of his/her voice or demeanor or words.

That is what makes listening to radio unique over all other forms of entertainment.

It is shared as it is happening with someone on the other side of that signal, someone I can imagine is not unlike me in most important ways.

Pandora’s not trying to do that. Neither is Sirius, nor Spotify, nor any of the other streaming services.

And as long as they’re not, we have such a huge advantage.

Don’t waste it.

Think about it — all the time. Use it. Cherish it. Nourish it.

Protect it.

Fund it!