Commentary: The Changing Face of Teenage Music Habits (8:48pm, July 29, 2004)

a. the radio
b. television.

And that was that.

As a teenage boy, there wasn't anything on the radio for me that I could relate to. Many stations were playing past hits for my parents, some played today's songs I couldn't relate to such as love songs, some played rock so heavy I couldn't stand it for long periods of time, and some kept playing the same songs I couldn't stand day in and day out.

Fast forward to 2004. Today's teenagers are faced with the same problems I had back then. Fortunately, they have many additional choices:

c. The Internet (downloads, streaming radio, etc.)
d. Satellite radio
e. mp3 sharing (through Internet or on CD-R)

Why Clear Channel Radio San Diego's performance for 2004 is below par is partially because of the wave of upstart radio competetors to their alternative 91x (FM 94.9), z90 (MORE 98.9), and competetion to their CHR 40 station Channel 933 (downloads and file sharing). Today's teenagers, as well as this former one, have many avenues to get the music that an individual can enjoy without hearing all the bunk the commercial radio stations are dishing out to them.

Today's teenagers know what I have known for over seven years...

Radio Culture Irrelevant To Digital Age

Today's teenagers are doing just that, and more.

For the teenagers who are sick and tired of hearing the songs from the past they can't relate to, as well as pop songs of today they judge as bogus, radio is making an even worse impression on today's teenage generation then they did when I was a teenager 30 years ago.

Today, we have many stations playing songs from 20-40 years ago for the parents of the teenagers as well as the grandparents before age 65. Nothing much different than it was in 1974.

In 1974, KOGO, KFMB-AM, XTRA-AM, KEZL, etc, played past era music basicially for adults, but teenagers couldn't care less what was playing on these stations because for the most part, this music wasn't made for them. Thanks to education in colleges and private schools, the kids can get a better understanding on what the music meant to their parents through college and high school courses if they're majoring in an understanding of the history of popular music as part of their cirriculum.

In 2004, we have (or may have had) KPOP, Magic 92.5, My 94.1, 91X, FM 94.9, KYXY, KGB, Planet, and KOOL playing music from 20-40 years ago, but today's teenagers, naturally, don't care about what's on for the most part. They don't have any knowledge about the music of the past, like I didn't, because today's public schools don't see knowledge of past popular music as part of what students need to learn. I didn't know what the Beatles were until I ran across a partially-eaten cassette tape on a road while riding a bike. The songs sounded familiar but back then I had no cluse what it was. When KCBQ played a few songs a few days later and announced it was the Beatles, then I finally was taught something, anything, about the music of the past. Radio needs to do a better job teaching the people about hits of the past and how they releated to the culture back then.

That's why teenagers don't like the oldies stations. They have no understanding of the songs in the first place. Nobody taught them about them.

Back in 1974, except for some of the gems that were fun on KCBQ 1170 such as Cheech and Chong, Kool and the Gang, Frank Zappa, Dickie Goodman, and cool MOR rock and roll songs from CCR, Elton John, KC and the Sunshine Band, etc, radio back in the 1970's was basically an afterthought for me when there wasn't any school to attend or any good TV game shows or comedies to watch. To me, radio back then was basically a filler, background music when I was doing something else such as studying or even watching a rerun of "Gilligan's Island."

Today in 2004, corporate radio, as well as television, the mainstays of my teenage years, are basically meaningless if you're a teenager today. They just don't care what's #1 on the Billboard Chart that Ryan Seacrest counts down, and neither did I back then for that matter. All they care about is what they like to hear, and radio isn't delivering what they want to hear for the small but growing minority of teenagers who are digitally educated enough to discover streaming Internet radio, mp3 downloads, satellite radio, and illegal CD sharing with their friends. That way, they're getting the kind of music that radio isn't playing that is relevant to them, whatever the genres and styles they're enjoying, which takes time away from listening to the radio or watching videos on cable.

Clear Channel and Inifinity run over ten minutes of commercial spots per hour, which in part have also contributed to the teenage exodus from listening to the radio.

From Vancouver's The Province:

"Mark Weir, 16, doesn't listen to the radio as much as he used to.

'There are too many commercials,' he said. Instead, he listens to the computer.

"'With the computer, you can download whatever you want, and you don't have to listen to what you don't want.'

"He's part of a national trend. Statistics Canada says the time teens spend listening to radio is plummeting.

In 1999, when Britney Spears was the queen of the pop charts, teens listened to about 11.3 hours of radio a week. Last year, it dropped to 8.5 hours. That's less than half of the 19.5 hours a week adults devote to radio, which hasn't changed significantly in five years...

"Gisele Baxter, a University of B.C. professor who studies popular culture, said, 'radio culture has become largely irrelevant to teens.'..

She compared the fragmentation of TV's audience by cable to what is happening to radio when confronted with the huge choice the Internet offers...

It's through Internet music magazines such as epitonic.com and betterpropaganda.com that the Internet will become the savvy consumer's front line for finding and enjoying music, said Peter Gouzouasis, a UBC professor of music education.

"With sites like olga.com, you can read about Hendrix or the Red Hot Chili Peppers and then you can listen to it and download the tablature and learn how to play it," he said.