CBC News Viewpoint
March 16, 2005
Greg Hughes

Since the term MP3 became part of everyday parlance, many people in the
business of broadcasting have been wondering what effect downloading would
have on radio, let alone the music industry. For decades, radio has been the
technology of choice for musicians, record labels and listeners to consume
music, news and information.

The internet's rapid ascent was, at one time, a source of dread for radio.
Who among us would rather listen to radio stations that programmed music
play-lists for you than to on-demand MP3s?

But those fears have proven to be wrong-headed. Today, the internet has done
more to fuel a creative renaissance for radio than any other major
technological advance in the past 40 years.

But it's not quite the change people expected.

Radio in the 21st century will no longer be just the AM/FM model. It will be
a mix of analog, digital, satellite, podcasting and even shortwave. It will
be a decidedly democratic medium. It will blow away the conventions we've
become accustomed to with analog.

And most of all, it will be the kind of listening experience that will break
down barriers between genres, ideas and people in ways never seen before.

To understand what this all means, take a look at this very network, the
CBC. CBC Radio One and Radio Two - two analog, mostly FM-based networks -
remain mainstays of our daily lives.

Chances are you listen to them mostly via analog, whether through a car
stereo or office radio tuner. But you're also likely to tune in to radio
broadcasts via digital radio, which broadcasts a crystal-clear digital
signal as opposed to the unpredictable nature of analog broadcasts.

More and more Canadian radio stations are switching to a dual mode signal,
given digital's expected dominance of land-based broadcasts by the end of
the next decade.

But in the age of the internet, you're also increasingly likely to listen
to, say, Radio One through webcasts. You can even download files of past CBC
programs archived on various show websites.

Entire CBC networks - specifically, the youth-oriented CBC Radio Three - are
internet-based networks for on-demand listening. Listening to the CBC
through the web is as common an experience nowadays as turning a dial tuner
on your home stereo.

And this is where things get interesting for the future of radio. The
digital age is slowly turning radio into a more free-flowing, non-linear
experience.

But online radio is only one digital format. What's got many broadcasters in
North America truly excited is a kind of technology that will almost assure
the end of radio as we know it - satellite radio.

Already huge in the U.S., satellite radio involves the beaming of radio
signals into orbit and then back to radio receivers. Combined with
CD-quality sound and an almost-total absence of regulation from broadcast
watchdogs like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the
multichannel, commercial-free broadcasts that provide everything from
Beatles-only stations to Gregorian chants 24-7 are growing at a phenomenal
rate.

American providers, such as Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio, may have
given radio the biggest boost since the dawn of the FM format.

It's easy to understand why; aside from the clarity of sound wherever you go
(new cars built in the U.S. are increasingly being equipped with satellite
technology) and no cracking or signal strength problems, broadcasters can
say and do almost anything they want on satellite radio.

Wired magazine reported in their March edition that Howard Stern, fed up
with the meddling of broadcast conglomerate Clear Channel and routine
complaints of indecency by the FCC, is jumping to Sirius for a five-year
contract. Rapper Eminem, as well as Playboy and other media are also going
satellite.

Here in Canada, the CRTC is beginning hearings on the establishment of
Canadian satellite stations. Two main partnership plans are now facing the
regulator to set up shop: Sirius Radio Canada, a partnership involving the
CBC, Standard Radio Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio in the U.S., and
Canadian Satellite Radio in partnership with XM Satellite Radio Holdings
Inc.

Yet satellite's just the tip of the iceberg. With the MP3 player now an
absolutely essential device, it's only natural that radio employs the
red-hot medium to its advantage.

Take podcasting, a new kind of radio that combines the do-it-yourself spirit
from movies like Pump Up The Volume with the advanced technology of MP3s.
Borrowed from the iPod moniker, podcasting involves the use of a microphone
connected to a computer that allows a user to record their voice as an audio
file.

From there, a podcaster can save his "broadcast" as an MP3 file and post it
on a website, blog or file-sharing service for people to download.

The potential for podcasting is huge. The technology may allow people to
create their own radio for download around the world, as well as making and
producing content for established radio networks like the CBC much easier.

Cheap and easy to distribute, podcasting could become this century's version
of pirate radio - whether it be a young person making a show only about
bands like The Killers, or political rebels transmitting an MP3 to
supporters desperate for information against an oppressive government.

In this age of so many varied tastes and options for the radio fan, even
older radio technologies are starting to enjoy a rebirth. Shortwave radio, a
global broadcasting format used in various propaganda battles during the
Cold War, is starting to see an increase in growth. AM radio, once
considered a place where music went to die, remains strong with the
near-total dominance of talk radio.

So while some lament for an era of the radio disc jockey as celebrity, it
seems the digital age is making radio, as a medium, larger than life once
again.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_.../20050316.html

Of course its possible, but technology can also REINFORCE existing power
structures as well as undermine them.

People thought MP3 and the Internet would herald the demise of the big
record companies and would put the money directly into the pockets of the
artitists and push record prices down - and for a while it did, and then
"the empire struck back", whereby the big record companies harnessed the new
technology to its interest

Nice try Terry, but a caser of back to the drawing board in terms of
revolutionary theories but the technology you say will herald some
changes - but not a revolution and democraticisation. After all CNN could
not allow that!

73's
Richard
SO5GB


"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
CBC News Viewpoint
March 16, 2005
Greg Hughes

Since the term MP3 became part of everyday parlance, many people in the
business of broadcasting have been wondering what effect downloading would
have on radio, let alone the music industry. For decades, radio has been
the
technology of choice for musicians, record labels and listeners to consume
music, news and information.

The internet's rapid ascent was, at one time, a source of dread for radio.
Who among us would rather listen to radio stations that programmed music
play-lists for you than to on-demand MP3s?

But those fears have proven to be wrong-headed. Today, the internet has
done
more to fuel a creative renaissance for radio than any other major
technological advance in the past 40 years.

But it's not quite the change people expected.

Radio in the 21st century will no longer be just the AM/FM model. It will
be
a mix of analog, digital, satellite, podcasting and even shortwave. It
will
be a decidedly democratic medium. It will blow away the conventions we've
become accustomed to with analog.

And most of all, it will be the kind of listening experience that will
break
down barriers between genres, ideas and people in ways never seen before.

To understand what this all means, take a look at this very network, the
CBC. CBC Radio One and Radio Two - two analog, mostly FM-based networks -
remain mainstays of our daily lives.

Chances are you listen to them mostly via analog, whether through a car
stereo or office radio tuner. But you're also likely to tune in to radio
broadcasts via digital radio, which broadcasts a crystal-clear digital
signal as opposed to the unpredictable nature of analog broadcasts.

More and more Canadian radio stations are switching to a dual mode signal,
given digital's expected dominance of land-based broadcasts by the end of
the next decade.

But in the age of the internet, you're also increasingly likely to listen
to, say, Radio One through webcasts. You can even download files of past
CBC
programs archived on various show websites.

Entire CBC networks - specifically, the youth-oriented CBC Radio Three -
are
internet-based networks for on-demand listening. Listening to the CBC
through the web is as common an experience nowadays as turning a dial
tuner
on your home stereo.

And this is where things get interesting for the future of radio. The
digital age is slowly turning radio into a more free-flowing, non-linear
experience.

But online radio is only one digital format. What's got many broadcasters
in
North America truly excited is a kind of technology that will almost
assure
the end of radio as we know it - satellite radio.

Already huge in the U.S., satellite radio involves the beaming of radio
signals into orbit and then back to radio receivers. Combined with
CD-quality sound and an almost-total absence of regulation from broadcast
watchdogs like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the
multichannel, commercial-free broadcasts that provide everything from
Beatles-only stations to Gregorian chants 24-7 are growing at a phenomenal
rate.

American providers, such as Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio, may have
given radio the biggest boost since the dawn of the FM format.

It's easy to understand why; aside from the clarity of sound wherever you
go
(new cars built in the U.S. are increasingly being equipped with satellite
technology) and no cracking or signal strength problems, broadcasters can
say and do almost anything they want on satellite radio.

Wired magazine reported in their March edition that Howard Stern, fed up
with the meddling of broadcast conglomerate Clear Channel and routine
complaints of indecency by the FCC, is jumping to Sirius for a five-year
contract. Rapper Eminem, as well as Playboy and other media are also going
satellite.

Here in Canada, the CRTC is beginning hearings on the establishment of
Canadian satellite stations. Two main partnership plans are now facing the
regulator to set up shop: Sirius Radio Canada, a partnership involving the
CBC, Standard Radio Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio in the U.S., and
Canadian Satellite Radio in partnership with XM Satellite Radio Holdings
Inc.

Yet satellite's just the tip of the iceberg. With the MP3 player now an
absolutely essential device, it's only natural that radio employs the
red-hot medium to its advantage.

Take podcasting, a new kind of radio that combines the do-it-yourself
spirit
from movies like Pump Up The Volume with the advanced technology of MP3s.
Borrowed from the iPod moniker, podcasting involves the use of a
microphone
connected to a computer that allows a user to record their voice as an
audio
file.

From there, a podcaster can save his "broadcast" as an MP3 file and post
it
on a website, blog or file-sharing service for people to download.

The potential for podcasting is huge. The technology may allow people to
create their own radio for download around the world, as well as making
and
producing content for established radio networks like the CBC much easier.


Cheap and easy to distribute, podcasting could become this century's
version
of pirate radio - whether it be a young person making a show only about
bands like The Killers, or political rebels transmitting an MP3 to
supporters desperate for information against an oppressive government.

In this age of so many varied tastes and options for the radio fan, even
older radio technologies are starting to enjoy a rebirth. Shortwave radio,
a
global broadcasting format used in various propaganda battles during the
Cold War, is starting to see an increase in growth. AM radio, once
considered a place where music went to die, remains strong with the
near-total dominance of talk radio.

So while some lament for an era of the radio disc jockey as celebrity, it
seems the digital age is making radio, as a medium, larger than life once
again.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_.../20050316.html