Your Final Day

Watching the demise of major media outlets in Boston has been pretty shocking.  First, there has been the long-running fear-mongering about the restructuring and potential closure of the Boston Globe.  Then, this week, was the news about WBCN being replaced by sports talk.  Sadly, BCN had been dying a slow death – its music has been dead since the late ‘90’s and nothing could make up for the ratings loss when Howard Stern’s show ended in 2006.  It’s just further proof of the absolute failure of most media companies to adapt to modern technologies and continue to dig their own graves, unfortunately at the expense of key pieces of community fabric.

BCN’s influence stemmed from the freedom of its DJ’s to play records of their choosing, which allowed the station to break a number of bands.  I remember in the early ‘90’s, when I was coming of age, that if a new band was played on BCN, there was a sense of importance given to the band.  As Infinty Broadcasting, BCN’s NYC-based parent, became larger, the playlist became more homogenized, until Infinity itself was acquired by CBS.  I have long been of the opinion that the 1996 Telecommunications Act served as the death knell for media (particularly the radio and music industries), since it facilitated the conglomeration of record companies and radio stations into the hands of a few massive entities.  Rock radio has been in steep decline since this point, clinging to stale grunge and classic rock, with little respect for up-and-coming artists and mostly being fed by a centrally mandated playlist.  Yes, my opinion on the matter of rock radio is overly biased, given my preferences for extreme metal, but even as the “softer” edges of the genres have become more popular and as adult rock stations have become “harder”- if playing Nickelabck can be considered “hard – there has been no recognition for anything heavier than Tool.  So, what were listeners to do?  Radio stations and the record companies that pay them to play their artists, have forced the hands of listeners, encouraging music pirating and moves to streaming internet radio and reliance on iPods.  The lesson of BCN should resonate within the industry (but won’t) – a station that once held sway was hampered by the overly controlling machinations of a conglomerate that refused to allow the station to adapt, allowing it to continually lose market share until it lost viability altogether.