Soundcheck Blog

Yeah, yeah, Clear Channel is bad; live, local radio is good. The huge media conglomerate owns and operates a gazillion radio stations and makes them all sound alike. They are a behemoth that crushes the smaller, more interesting stations in each market. But you know what, that wouldn’t happen IF WE WEREN’T ALL LISTENING TO THEM!!! Really – whose fault is it that the sound of American radio is Clear Channel’s one-size-fits-all, pre-digested classic rock? Or that the emblem of American TV is the warbling of Mariah Carey-wannabes and the psychodrama of the judges on “American Idol”? Or that for most of the world, including most of us, “American cuisine” means a Big Mac? They say “give the people what they want.” Is Clear Channel, in the end, the radio we want? And if it isn’t, why are we getting it anyway?