According To New Study, Traditional Radio Gaining Popularity

While the stock market and music sales continue to decline, radio listening is reportedly on the rise. According to a new study, 54% of people between the ages of 14 and 24 are listening to the radio more frequently than they did last year, while only 35% have found their listening habits decrease. The upturn comes following a decade that had seen the continuous decline of the average teenager's radio listening habits. There's no clear explanation why there's suddenly a radio resurgence, but the study does raise some questions about the MP3 player's dominance and the threat of satellite radio. Plus, "Radio stations may be doing a better job at connecting with those people," said Larry Johnson, the study's author. "The music may also simply be more interesting. There tends to be a cycle." The study also defies common logic. One would think with the economy stumbling and gas prices as high as they are, people would be spending less time in their car and thus listening to less radio. Add to the equation that the demographic to the study is 14-to-24 year olds — a cross section of people with easy access and understanding of song streams and downloads — the results of the online study become even more inexplicable. The study comes on the heels of the radio premiere of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" — perhaps the most buzzed-about radio premiere in a decade.

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Song Stories

“Satisfied”

Tom Waits | 2011

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.

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