One of the most important technological revolotion, in the same way as Internet, the radio knew how to evolve for more than a century. It changed the habits of million persons from its arrival while opening new horizons; a shape of interactivity was born.
Like a companion, the radio amuses, informs us made discover. It became integrated as a new member of the family. The housewives could finally feel less alone.
During the second world war, the radio played a major role and changed the face of the world. Finally we lived real time events which took place in one thousand miles from us.
Its biggest role, over the years, was to make us transcend musically and make us relive or discover so many new songs which became successes afterward.
Pole of position, headlight, the radio knew how to make the musical currents circulate. All the musical stars owe in party their successes to the broadcasting of their songs.
The promoters and the record companies understood very early that if they wanted to take advantage of a greater visibility, they should join to her to benefit from their public. At the same moment, the payola originates, a practice which consists in paying the diffuser so that his work receives a bigger broadcasting. This practice considered as a sort of corruption becomes illegal in the fifties further to numerous scandals.
Taboo, but always inked well even today, we learnt in 2005 that Sony BMG Entertainment had been condemned to pay 10 million to have paid the employees of radio station playing certain artists.
Further to it, it is easy to conclude the reason of the broadcasting of certain songs. You never asked yourself how this song was able to go straight to the top of the hit list?
We can notice how these doubtful practices today catch up the industry. With the arrival of the internet, the on-line music, the digital radio and Web radios, the democratization of the music is made in a way which nobody could expect it. The consumers take finally the control of what they really like and not of what is imposed on them for a long time. A fragile industry as it is said, especially for the multinationals which are confused and which did not know how to adapt themselves and whose original formula does not have taste anymore. The hour when the "Majors" and the radio controlled our musical environment is coming to an end.
The new generation of consumers is for the innovations, for the variety, for the originality, all the prefabricated contain the bitterness of deceived auditors. In an era where the money controls, radios are again influenced by a sort of " payola " worse: the announcers. All the musical directors will say to you that they have to take into account their musical programming without eccentricity not to hasten their auditorat for fear of falling in the polls and seeing their income decreasing because the announcers appuit on these also.