And I don’t mean to sound like a pessimist but locally owned and programmed doesn’t necessarily mean great.

And I don’t think that playing what listeners want to hear is really the right thing. Listeners aren’t programmers. I know it’s going to ruffle some feathers but it’s true. That’s why you used to turn the radio on in the first place. You’re trusting someone else to do that for you. The same way you would hire a decorator to decorate your home or a contractor to remodel your kitchen. Programming requires expertise. Unfortunately, nobody knows that anymore because it’s been so shit for so long. Programming is an art. And to do it well, you’ve got to have great music, you’ve got to have flow and you’ve got to have connection. As long as we trust the person behind the music they can take us pretty much anywhere… a beautiful thing.

Essential qualities for whoever is cracking the mic: Do they have interesting things to say? Are they human? Do they make mistakes? It’s important for DJs to make mistakes… that’s real.

Getting back to flow, flow almost doesn’t exist anywhere not even on the handful of radio stations that are fairly decent. That’s what makes radio true art. Same key segues? Actual hand mixes? Do they have commercials? Are they the same dumb commercials that everyone else writes? Or does the production staff at that radio station make sure that whenever commercials they air pass some sort of quality test? I’m not kidding. I’ve worked at stations where we actually did this and it made for an amazingly improved listening experience, that is, if you are under the impression that commercials are a must. What’s the imaging like? Does it sound fake? Do the voices yell at you or talk to you in some way that sounds completely abnormal?

Simply put, the whole package, every single sound coming out of that dial better be great or it’s all Bullshit.

Now I am sounding really pessimistic, I know but I really have a hard time believing that any radio station is doing all of the above. And I’m just saying, this can be done. I know it. I’ve lived it. Recently. It can be done right and it can be done to make money, which of course is the bottom line.

If, on the other hand, radio continues to not do all of the above, every last bit, it’s all just a jukebox. B-sides or not. Presentation is everything. Every single detail matters because we, the listeners, the long-lost fans… we notice. You know what I mean? Just because we’ve been eating McDonald’s hamburgers all these years and suddenly they improve the quality of the lettuce doesn’t mean it’s still not a McDonald’s hamburger. And I think we deserve prime rib.