I haven't regularly listened to radio since, I dunno, 1995 -- that was the last year I remembered hearing anything remotely compelling on the radio. After that point, I increasingly just listened to music on my own, followed my own interests and preferences, bought a lot of CDs. Of course, even that trailed off from about 2005 onward. That, in itself, is kind of curious for me -- I have so many CDs, but as I found fewer and fewer current bands compelling, my music purchases declined, and I just relied on my existing archive of music, stocking up my iTunes to the critical mass of music I needed, which was about 7000 songs. I have the good fortune to work at a job where I can "plug-and-play" and listen to music while I work. But while I listen to music, I don't listen to music radio. There just wasn't anything out there that was interesting enough for me, and the lack of control of the format was perhaps less appealing, after years of iPod and iTunes.
Now I read this article about Q101 being turned from an "alternative" station to news, and I'm very surprised. Q101 was a kind of musical institution in Chicago; it may not have played music that I considered alternative, but you could at least count on it to play rock music -- now it's news? I wonder where all of those orphaned listeners will go for music? Again, it's sort of a weird thing for me, because I haven't regularly listened to radio for over 16 years, but I'm still sad for the demise of a major local player like Q101. And since I'm admittedly no longer a radio listener, I don't even know where those people will go. It's just curious to think about it that way, how alien such an omnipresent medium has become to me (and, likely, so many others).
