Radio Killed the Spotify Star

Radio Killed the Spotify Star: The unlikely resurgence of radio in an age of algorithms 

Words by Fin Logie

For a while now, radio has seemed to be a dying artform - something only ever heard as the unwanted soundtrack to your trip to the barbers, or as generic background music for your shopping experience at the Spar. Certainly, it’s a far cry from the likes of the must-listen Sunday night Top 40 countdown of my childhood, and an even farther cry from the old days of Peel sessions on Radio 1. At first this gradual fading away made sense to me - why, in an age of infinite access to new music, would a listener choose to be subjected to the whims of some disc jockey in a studio someplace, probably confined to a preapproved playlist handed down by label bosses. The unshackled musical offerings of Spotify, Youtube, and Apple Music have surely resigned this world to the dustbin of history. But with the advent of the internet (and the plethora of streaming services that trickled in with it) came something exciting: the prospect of a democratised, grassroots reinvention of the airwaves. 

The internet has become a platform for communities to organise their own live broadcasts: similar to the old days of pirate radio stations, only this time it’s completely above-board and doesn’t require messing around with any huge radio masts. All over the world, musos are banding together to form their own network of stations, offering what feels like an infinite range of diverse and often underrepresented music. 

Ada Fuge helps to run Subcity Radio, one station which has been bringing together the student community in Glasgow since the mid-90s. Her passion for her station, and for the medium as a whole, is infectious: “listening to the radio show of a local member of your community feels very similar to having a chat with a friend - it’s so much healthier for your brain to process than a hyper-optimised playlist.” To Ada, like many others involved in the community radio movement, the stress is on the irreplaceable human element that radio offers, rather than seeking to replicate the mindless ease of Spotify. “You're not going to like all their selections, and that's a good thing.” As the saying goes, there’s no accounting for taste - the interconnected network of radio DJs on each station are naturally going to represent a variety of musical persuasions, offering a genre-expanding, balanced musical diet ready for your aural consumption. 

More than just being a free source of endlessly eclectic music, internet radio stations have become incentives for in-person social mixing among communities, organising events to bring people together through music in real settings of clubs, bars, and cafes. I recently took part in an event hosted by Subcity at the Alchemy Experiment, a cafe-cum-artspace on Glasgow’s Byres Road. The vibe in the space was relaxed and welcoming, a big group of would-be strangers brought together in celebration of great music and the joys of discovery. I felt a palpable open-mindedness among the crowd; a willingness to sit back and listen to a curated and personal selection from each of the DJs. Not once did I get told what song to play or which hot new artist to push - I was simply left to spin what I felt, entrusted to share songs I felt a genuine passion for.

For Ada, this curatorial freedom is the essence of what makes community radio such a vital tool for music discovery: “nonprofit status and low profile, as well as presenter independence and editorial freedom, means that a local community station is practically immune to bribery. It also has no motivation to foster that same weird sense of addiction as a for-profit streaming service; listeners can come and go as they please when you don't need to constantly pump your numbers to appease investors.” 

While streaming services are guilty of these profit-driven motives, it should also be stressed that radio itself doesn’t always equate to this free approach championed by the likes of Subcity: “payola scandals have existed for as long as radio itself has.” The difference, argues Ada, is that streaming services are scarily efficient at this sinister targeted marketing: “no hyman can optimise and refine their dishonesty at anywhere near the same rate and precision as a computer.” 

Fighting against the dominant system of these online streaming services really can feel like an uphill battle. I, for one, recently made the decision to quit Spotify, due to its continual price-hikes and the insidious rapid decline in its treatment of independent artists. Yet I am still inundated with Spotify content on a daily basis- not just by way of social media ads, but by content shared to me by friends like links to playlists and songs. Without even noticing it, we have all become active participants in the marketing strategy. “The agenda is not just to get sponsored music into your ears- it is also to convince you that the service itself is irreplaceable, that no other music discovery method could ever compare, and that it is vital you keep paying your monthly subscription.” In Ada’s view, “this is only helped by strategically fomo-inducing rituals like sharing your Spotify Wrapped, or checking what's new on your Discover Weekly.” It’s undoubtedly hard to make a break from this and swim against the current, but Ada and the team at Subcity are working hard to make community radio an oasis for those who wish to be a part of a radically different, independently minded approach to listening. 

And the best part is that Subcity is just one of the multitude of flourishing internet radio stations across Scotland and the world over. There’s also Radio Buena Vida, a little station broadcasting out of the window booth of their own cafe in the Southside of Glasgow, and Clyde Built Radio, a small internet radio station based out of a shipping container in the Barras in Glasgow’s East End, while over in the east, EH-FM operates a thriving programme out of Summerhall in Edinburgh. Further afield, NTS Radio based down in London offers an expansive (at times overwhelmingly so) mix of programmes, many of them broadcast remotely from different corners of the world, and has developed a cult following among musos across the world. The momentum definitely seems to be with these groups pioneering this new way of doing things. 

Curiously, this year Spotify has introduced an AI DJ feature to its service - as part of your £12 monthly subscription, you now have the option of a robot talking you through song changes, giving introductions and addressing you directly in an uncanny valley, affected voice. That’s right, you can now have the illusion of actual human curation in your algorithmic mix. In my view, nothing beats the real deal, and with so many stations to choose from, free-of-charge online, the offerings of thoughtfully curated mixes are so abundant it’s a wonder why anyone would opt for the robot. With people like Ada at the helm of these stations, curating inclusive community events and providing a continual stream of fresh mixes, there’s no doubt in my mind that the future looks bright for community radio in Scotland.