From the Listeners - Bart German, Trimble, MO
In Internet radio | 1 comment | permalink
When I was in high school in the mid-90s, ‘alternative’ music dominated the popular music world and I was an avid consumer of it. Then when I went to college, the landscape changed and one by one the radio stations that fed me changed formats and left me in a musical limbo in northwest Missouri. At one time I was buying one or two CDs a month, going to at least two or three concerts a year; for several years this dropped to one or two CDs a YEAR (only new releases from longtime favorites like REM or Weezer, never anything from new artists) and no concerts, even though I was in college.
Then I graduated and got my first ‘real’ job with a desk and computer to sit behind all day. I wanted to help pass the time by listening to music, but my music collection was severely anemic, so I went online to explore the new world of streaming Internet radio. Almost immediately I discovered Radio Paradise and I have been an avid listener every day at work (and at home when I can manage it) for over 4 years now. I discovered that my passion for music had not died, it has just atrophied in an environment where I was not exposed to anything new and interesting. And as soon as I was hooked, I started spending money again.
I discovered new favorite artists like Neko Case, Spoon, the Shins and so on, and have bought several CDs from these groups I never would have otherwise. I bought an iPod and began buying downloads left and right of the new favorite songs I was hearing. I rediscovered bands that I liked in high school and gained a new appreciation for them. I went to the occasional concert again (saw Cake twice after rediscovering them on Radio Paradise). I even started buying OLD music from artists I knew but never appreciated enough like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones (after hearing their music that has NOT been worn out by repeated play on classic rock FM radio).
I have to say that I can credit NOTHING more than Radio Paradise for rekindling my passion for music and by extension my willingness to lay down money to listen to the music that I love.
~Bart German
Trimble, Missouri
Sphere It
Internet radio is really great for me, because I’m older.
When I was in my teens and 20’s, there were alternative radio stations to listen to, and of course, my friends, who would play new music for me. But now that I’m in my 50’s, It’s harder to to get exposed to new music. Even I can tell most of the stuff on commercial radio is drivel. I look at the ads for clubs in the local rags, and not knowing who the bands are or what kind of music it is, I don’t go out to hear live music as much as I did when I was younger.
I don’t have kids, and my peers are stuck in old pop or disco. Not that I don’t enjoy occasionally listening to old rock or punk or new wave or grunge music, but that music is 20-30 years old, and there’s a whole world filled with new music out there that I will only get to hear on the internet. I sure hate to see that go away!