Radio & Popular Music - Week 3 Response

This week’s lecture considered political economy in the context of the music and radio industries. In basic terms, political economy follows the funding, organisation and regulation of an industry, and how production and consumption activities dictate the allocation of resources.

Wall’s 'The Political Economy of Internet Radio' exemplifies these terms by discussing Internet radio. Wall’s primary argument is that technology has a huge influence over the political economy of the radio industry. Stiernstedt’s text 'The Political Economy of the Radio Personality' compliments Wall’s reading. It argues that radio presenters have become the primary reason for why audiences are drawn to a particular radio station. This is mainly to the huge amount of multimedia platforms available (e.g. streaming), thus using the radio solely for accessing music is uncommon.

Wall argues that the Internet has changed the relationship and harmony between the radio and music industries, claiming it has 'undermined the settlement' (Wall 2004: 41) between them, as new means of accessing music have emerged, such as streaming. I agree as consumers now have far more control over the industry, and the Internet is impossible to regulate. As a worldwide apparatus, it is no-one’s sole responsibility to regulate it.

Wall’s reading is now out-dated, as Internet-only radio stations are less of a phenomenon. However, he was roughly predicting the growth of subscription based streaming services where consumer choice is paramount. Stiernstedt, writing in 2014, builds on this. He highlights the need to develop new models to adapt to the changing industry- for example by giving more airtime for spoken word and presenters. He states that 'radio presenters and their playful and ambiguous performances of authenticity increasingly become drivers and engines in the multiplatform media environment of contemporary broadcasting' (Stiernstedt 2014: 303). Because we can now listen to music anywhere for free online and on demand, radio personalities are the main attraction to a station, andI agree with Stiernstedt that 'it is through their talk and studio interactions that shortcuts to the hearts of audiences can be created' (Stiernstedt 2014: 300). In Stiernstedt's opinion, the allocation of funding should be shifted towards presenters.

Stiernstedt's proposed political economic issue could be further researched through an ethnographic study, in which you could examine how fans choose to listen to music. If they frequently listen to an over-the-air station, you could ask them why they chose that particular station instead of streaming music on another platform.

Bibliography

Wall, T, (2004). 'The Political Economy of Internet Radio'. In: Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media. 2 (1), pp.27-44

Stiernstedt, F. (2014) ‘The Political Economy of the Radio Personality’. In: Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 21(2), pp. 290–306.