Is Radio Returning To Its Old Relevancy?

When I was growing up in the early 2000s, the radio was the most common source of new music. I remember rushing home to listen to Neyo’s “So Sick” and The Pussycat Doll’s “Stickwitu” on my prized parent-bought SanDisk Sansa m240. I was blown away by how, on the device, I could access the local New York radio stations. There was no mass use of YouTube back then, and I didn’t own their CDs yet, so this was the best way I could hear their music in high quality. Each listen meant something, and I was grateful for the radio.

That all changed a few more years into the dot com boom.

Radio took a massive hit when the internet came. While radio companies warded off most existential threats in the early aughts, they were ill-prepared for the revolutionary effect music streaming services would have on their influence and cultural relevance. Suddenly, they became second fiddle to the immediacy and user-friendliness of sites like Spotify and YouTube.

While artists were losing money due to the marginal pay on these platforms, streaming services met the faster demand of music listeners. During this significant transitional period for the music industry, radio suffered. By 2020, according to Edison Research’s…