MP3 Killed the Radio Star

Does anyone listen to the radio anymore? I remember calling in to my favorite station to request my favorite song, praying I'd get through. Jamming to JoJo's Top 5 at 9 and Backstreet Boys had gotten the number 1 slot. Being one of the first million to listen to the world premier of a song. Getting impatient with commercials and pressing all the buttons on the car stereo until something better came on.

And now? We live in an iWorld. Shoot me! I own a Zune, which I find to be a little less mainstream and Jobsian, but I too, have contributed to the death of radio. We no longer listen to mindless DJ chatter on our rides to work, we're zoning out to what iTunes tells us is the latest and greatest! We aren't active in our search for new music, we download what we're "suggested" to and just roll with it until a new suggestion pops up. Am I really the only one who enjoyed trolling the radio dial listening to the cacophony of talk, music, and what some claimed to be music, continually building on my musical tastes? And who remembers the sound of static and stations crossing over into each other?! Ah, memories.

Sometimes I go to the cursed Wikipedia search box and type in things like "German pop music" or "French rock music" just to get names of artists and bands I've never had a chance to even hear of in my life. And granted, 90% of the time I've got no clue as to what they're singing about, but I can at least sit back and appreciate the musicianship of the song. I love Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas, and Zac Brown Band as much as the next drone, but I want to maintain my freedom of choice!

Hey Zune owners, did you know there's a radio function on there? And it's absolute crap! You can get maybe five stations in your area, total. Why would anyone want to listen to the radio when you've got a traffic report, Amber alert, contest winner-free music library at your finger tips. I'd like to complain about this feature that they didn't consider putting much usefulness into, but what would be the point? Why buy an MP3 player for public music, right?

So what's the recommendations for today? "Not Afraid" by Eminem, "OMG" by Usher and will.i.am, "Nothin on You" by B.o.B and Bruno Mars. I'm thinking of downloading a test of the emergency broadcast system, just for nostalgia's sake.