Radio, where'd you go? Radio stations losing appeal

It is frustrating to listen to the majority of mainstream radio stations today. They play the same playlists over and over, listening is constantly interrupted by commercials and new up-and-coming artists and songs are rarely introduced. For these reasons I’ve never been a huge listener of mainstream radio. I’ll flip it on when I’m driving or cleaning, but I’d rather just pull up my itunes library and pick out the music myself. Perhaps mainstream radio stations are just catering for too large a group of people. Most listeners of these stations don’t understand what music should and shouldn’t be. They don’t understand how harmonies can come together and move you to a new place in the world. They can’t comprehend how a slight adjustment to the beat can change the whole perspective of a song. The listeners of mainstream radio stations don’t know much about music except to hear a simple melody and try to take it away. These people are content with just hearing what is “hot” right now. They are okay with constant commercials and DJs that always seem to be using the products they are advertising (how does that work?). Maybe these listeners don’t really know what they are missing, or maybe they just don’t care. Don’t worry! If you are a “listener that cares,” you have many options. Here in Houghton, there are a number of independent radio stations that don’t advertise constantly, play a huge variety of music and do a good job of introducing you to new artists. One of the best is actually WMTU (91.9 FM), Michigan Tech’s station. WMTU is run completely by students and powered by your listener requests. You can’t get bored listening to WMTU because there are so many different shows and genres. In addition, as an independent radio station, WMTU isn’t worried about whether or not listeners will like every song that is being played, but rather are willing to take chances and launch new artists into the scene. Another option for music lovers who are fed up with mainstream radio is online radio stations. Stations such as Pandora (www.pandora.com) provide listeners with a way to listen to only the music that they like. Not only are there no commercials, but these radio stations use what is known as the “music genome project” to find music especially for the listener through artists or songs that the listener already likes. I am a big user of Pandora because I love finding new artists and listening to a variety of different genres. Don’t let radio lose its appeal! Mainstream stations may be repetitive and commercialized, but there are other options for radio listening. Even if you love mainstream radio, I hope you are willing to sample some of the great independent radio stations that Houghton and the Upper Peninsula have to offer. I believe your eardrums will be pleasantly surprised.