Power plug
The internet can be blamed for many things… the proliferation of pornography, the harvesting of ‘personal’ data, annoying Hollywood… pretty much anything you’d care to mention really. That said, one thing you can’t accuse it of is destroying radio.
Before the internet, radio came in two flavours – local and national. Local radio being for the most part parochial and mundane with a playlist lifted from a car boot sale… National radio being comercial, ‘hit’-orientated drivel with a playlist that repeated every hour.
I would find myself forever searching the airwaves for a half-decent song or perhaps a conversation about a topic I was mildly interested in… before giving up and listening to Hot Chocolate’s ‘It started with a kiss’ for the second time that day.
Radio was dead to me.
Then some smart type invented internet radio – using computers and the internet meant that anyone could start their own radio station and one that wasn’t tied down by locality. The result was a plethora of channels covering every musical fetish and spoken word genre. Talk about the second coming.
Radio had changed from an elitist advertising system to an open-access medium available to anyone with the will to fill the airwaves. It goes way beyond the democratisation of broadcast… not only were the internet-based stations available for consumption, but they were competing for listeners with their commercial rivals.
Take my new-ish local station Diversity FM, they wouldn’t have been able to exist without the internet, and that would have been a pity… we wouldn’t have a station that supports local music performers and artistic endeavors in my home town.
And then there are podcasts, the natural extension to live radio. As a listener I could now choose when I listen to shows, I could pick subjects that interest me and I had been given full rewind and pause privileges.
I doubt Radio 1 will ever give me full rewind and pause privileges. I guess they think I can’t be trusted.
…and the reason for this ode to the new radio? Well, that’s because today’s strip was written by Fes from The Webcomic Beacon podcast (I have to admit, they’re only a missing letter away from ‘webcomic bacon’… and that sounds good to me).
The thing that’s really great about The Beacon is that it’s not just for fans or creators of webcomics, but both, and that fits in with my view that the boundary between audience and entertainment has never been thinner than it is with webcomics… and it’s a jolly good listen.
So, thank you, Fes, for the comic and the fantastic stuff that you make for me to put in my ears.
Philippa on
If you’re searching for new and different radio, I recommend ckua.com. And don’t mind that they say “every stream costs us money, so please donate.” I give them $30 a month, so you can be on my tab.
They play a wide variety of folk, blues, jazz, and even some of the less-played mainstream music. It’s a rare day when I have to turn CKUA off.
You know what’s great about CKUA? It’s the fact that it has the BBC world service on at 9.00.
I might have given terrestrial British radio a bit of a kicking, but I can only say good things about the World Service… and BBC Radio 4… and occasionally 2 and 6… but other than that it’s rubbish.
I’ll certainly be giving them a listen, thanks.
Huzzah!
I love the idea of music as fetish:
a feather duster (sans dust)
lightly applied to the cheek,
across the back of the leg,
commercial free radio
until the ears begin to redden.
Do you also like the idea of CD cover art (and liner notes) as a fetish?
Webcomic bacon? Is that like bacon shaped like characters from all your favorite webcomics? Or perhaps regular bacon with little comics drawn on them?
I was thinking webcomics cooked into bacon that you could read and eat when you’re done.
I want waffles now. WIthout bacon.
Dunno why you made me think waffles.
comic waffles?
why hasn’t that been done?
why? why? why?
Do you like Waffles?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtlaTNI1TaU
Try waffles with bacon. The combination of crunchy, delicious bacon and sweet, sweet waffles is surprisingly good
I haven’t listened to the radio in any form since I was a young teenager. Since then, I’ve survived on mix tapes (mix cd’s doesn’t have the same ring) and downloaded music.
Mixapes… I have a small fascination with them, as I do any technology that has become a retro-word.
‘Mixtapes’ will be used as a phrase even after people have forgotten what ‘tapes’ are. Similarly, I still refer to my CD player as a ‘Stereo’… the technological equivalent of calling my television a ‘colour’.
I’d highly reccomend giving the radio another bash though, there’s something about the lack of control, having music delivered to you via the tastes of another…
Nope, stereo is a legitimate term for a piece of tech.
You buy a stereo or a tv.
It also happens to define a sound formatt.
” there’s something about the lack of control, having music delivered to you via the tastes of another…”
Sounds a little BDSM to me.
Might try it….
I know what that’s like. I started listening to Asian pop music my last year in high school–the radio was silent since, with the exception of the news and classical music stations (and only as part of the alarm when I wake up).
I’m not a big fan of radio.
I used to love it, I loved our nationwide youth station JJJ, but then it turned as pop and self-promotional as the regular commercial stations.
Also, it moved on from the 90’s rock and grunge, bastards.
I love the idea of internet radio, but I am confused by the fact that you can just download the music free from any number of file sharing apps for the same amount of bandwidth.
I have yet to seriously use internet radio because I am normally using my limited bandwidth on downloading or content browsing.
I think I need internet radio, I am lacking new music in my life.
ugh, trust ben to diss triple j. i am a very faithful listener. be quiet ben.
Meh, JJJ sold out.
Did you know that JJJ was the first station in Aus to play Eminem and I think also with Limp Bizkit?
Even tho they are continually playing new non mainstream music, the ratio of good music to shite mainstream music is getting far worse.
Listen to the first Hottest 100 and then to the last few.
The firsts one were great, you couldn’t hear that music any where else, except maybe early sunday mornings on Rage.
Now the Hottest 100 almost resembles Pepsi Chart Hits or any other pop compilation CD.
They have started advertising alot more aswell.
I realise that it is their own products or other music events, but still, JJJ shouldn’t have ads.
It’s often the way… something starts out really good, gets popular becuase it’s good, gets less good because it’s popular and sells out… It’s the circle of life, as far as media is concerned.
You’ll all know I’ve sold out when I colour my comics using only standard pepsi-colours.
dude seriously i love the simplicity of your humor. good s**t man.
Thanks – although I can’t take credit for this one since it is reader generated…
It makes a nice change for the word ’simple’ to be used as a compliment and not as an insult.
Hey! I just realised the link between you and Day in Pictures, aces.
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