Long live terrestrial radio

When Netflix first started, it was a film-lover's dream come true. I was exposed to so many films I wouldn't have seen. Films from France, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, you name it. And then slowly but surely, Netflix decided it was no longer the greatest version of Blockbuster ever, but a studio creating content that varies in quality. For every Stranger Things season one, there's a True Memoirs of an International Assassin, or Mute.

So I find myself wishing some of the video rental places I used to frequent were still around before Netflix put them out of business. Incredibly Strange Video (RIP) in Pittsburgh was a perfect example. But here's the key: The owner of that establishment made the store as much as his selections.

Lately, I'm finding my music listening habits are the same way. I'm unimpressed with the everything and-the-kitchen-sink-selection. And it's not because I don't like a wide swath of choice. It's more like I'm missing a trusted human to recommend the music. Algorithms suck. Trusted, being the key word.

There's also another aspect to this trusted recommender thing and that is a sense of community which is getting harder to find.

My new car has a free one-year subscription to Sirius/XM radio. Most of the stations suck. There are pockets of the city where the sound cuts out. It's a bit like listening to terrestrial radio and then going in a tunnel except there is no tunnel and even on a clear, bright and sunny day it happens.

The stations all tend to play the same twelve songs over and over again. There's rarely any DJ chatter if ever. Yacht Rock Radio only has a Thurston Howell-like voice telling you you're listening to Yacht Rock radio, for instance. I guess they save money by not having DJ's but it brings a certain displacement to the whole experience that is unnerving. The stations could be in Georgia state or Georgia the country for all it matters.

Terrestrial radio is in some ways the last bastion of community coming over the airwaves. I suppose local TV news and newspapers are, too, but that's different as that is news and information and not music or art.

Now it's true a lot of terrestrial radio sucks, especially here in Southern California, with the exception of KXLU. But even when it sucks it at least used to give you a sense of what region liked what kind of music.

Remember, it was the rust belt that broke Rush And Detroit broke Kiss. It gave you a great insight into the kind of music that appealed to each place. That's nothing compared to country, and hip hop stations, too and of course the local college radio stations.

I'm guilty of looking at this through rose-colored glasses. Clear Channel and I Heart Radio have all but destroyed what was unique about local terrestrial radio stations. But it's still nice to know that there are real human beings out there giving you recommendations of what music they think is cool. And it's still nice to believe that down south or in the heartland they have their own idiosyncrasies when it comes to music.

And I don't mean that in an elitist sort of way, in that David Byrne turns the camera on the weirdos who choose to live in Nebraska to mock them while celebrating them a la True Stories or whatever. I'm glad Louisville has its own local bands just like I'm glad Pittsburgh and Rochester and Phoenix have their own scenes, too. Long may they live and long may those local dj's keep playing good stuff. Because the only thing worse than Netflix-created crap is a bot choosing your playlist.

Here's something I can recommend and that is my short story collection A-Sides & B-Sides. It's now available as on Amazon, Google, iBook, Barnes & Noble in both eBook and paperback, too.

Here's what the cover looks like.