An AM radio station in Montreal recently decided to do something radical, shocking, innovative and--given the current shaky climate in the biz--ultimately surprising:
Play music.
In a "Back To The Future" programming move, CJAD 800, the station that trumpets itself as Montreal's News Talk Leader has added not one, but two oldies shows to its all-words-all-the-time lineup.
A strange move in a world of FM-Stereo, 4,000 channels of Satellite Radio and the ubiquitous iPod?
Yes, if you're trying to sell "music."
No, if you're trying to sell "memories" (and commercials), as I suspect CJAD is.
My kids won't understand this, but people of my g-g-g-generation grew up listening to our tunes this way (a spirit time-capsuled so well by the band Everclear on their song "AM Radio," which you can watch here or simply read the lyrics). I don't even think most under 20s even know AM radio EXISTS, never mind that once upon a time, it actually played those things called records.
So despite the fact that the music sounded comparatively muddied and distant on my car's eight speakers and sub-woofer, who cares? Tuning into CJAD's experiment this past weekend was a nostalgiac, sentimental experience, complete with upbeat yammering deejays (Al Gravelle and Jake Lawrence), contests and call-ins. The only thing missing were the chipper, near-amateurish local ads and jingles from that era, which I'm sure the station can dig up and drop in from time-to-time.
If I had a dollar for every article or blog post about how "The Music Industry Is Dead," I'd be able to hire Seth Godin and Mark Cuban to write Pow! for me.
We all know it's dead.
But music isn't. It's alive and, well...it's just being repackaged.
Repackaged as a loss-leader for concert tickets or band merchandise.
Repackaged as soundtracks for films, TV shows or (shudder!) TV commercials.
Repackaged as novelty items like singing toothbrushes or sonic greeting cards.
Repackaged as a way to get you to drink more expensive coffee.
And, now that it's back on AM radio, repackaged as a time machine.
A warm, fuzzy one. Well worth the trip.