Read on Twitter
Now that #XPN2020 is over, I think I'm allowed to put my "head up my own as$" in a thread if I want to. So, here is a thread about the power of #radio (with special props to public radio). (1/12)
Spotify, Apple Music and even smart phones in general have changed how we listen to music. We now have music - and the music we want to hear - at our fingertips. (2/12)
It’s wonderful and I’m glad for it. Commuting four hours (one way) at least two times a week for 3+ years made me very glad that I didn’t have to reload my car with new cassettes every week. (3/12)
I love being able to grab whatever album that I’m thinking of and listen to it start to finish whenever I want. Alternately, sometimes one song is in my brain and I just *need* to hear it. And I can. (4/12)
But, even with all of that available to me, I still listen to radio (specifically to @WXPN, most of the time). And there are a couple of powerful and important things that I believe radio does that are missing with other options. (5/12)
When I listen to radio, someone else has curated that list - from a wealth of music that - while it might technically be available to me - I wouldn’t have thought of. I hear songs that I didn’t know I needed to hear. (6/12)
Radio brings me to new music - whether newly released or just new to me - and broadens my musical horizons. Most of my favorite artists, whether I started loving them in 1975 or 2020, I learned about through radio. (7/12)
Without radio, I wouldn’t have found @lowcutconnie a few years ago or @andrewbird a few years before that. I love hearing a new song a few times on the radio, because it prevents me from deciding I don’t like it on first listen and moving on. (8/12)
Radio is also a communal experience in a way that listening to a streaming service is not. When I was alone in NY, getting ready for work with @xpnmorningshow made me feel less alone. I had the on-air folks, as well as other listeners, hearing the music with me. (9/12)
If I was dancing in my chair while putting on my makeup, because a song was an absolute bop, I knew that out there in radioland, there were other people dancing. I felt like part of a community, alone in my room. (10/12)
And radio, particularly public radio, does develop community. You can see (virtually) other listeners commenting on social media and (physically) attending shows. You feel like you know that person with the t-shirt from the festival. (11/12)
People who participated in the #XPN2020 countdown saw that in action, and how! Radio is still important; it has value beyond what streaming services offer. So, if you love an independent radio station, let them know by supporting their work! (fine)
