It’s about making everyone else hear your request and the message you attach to it. In an age that values insta-fame and ‘being relevant’, the prospect of having a megaphone remains appealing to many
by Sabrina Maddeaux, The National Post November 4, 2019
It’s 2019. The days of relying on a radio DJ to spin your favourite tunes are long gone. There are now myriad options to listen to music on our own terms: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, SoundCloud, Tidal, YouTube. Whether through streaming or inexpensive digital downloads, consumers have never been more empowered than ever to control their playlists.
And yet. Turn on just about any radio station, and you’ll still hear scores of callers dialling in to request songs. At first this seems nonsensical. Why pick up the phone, wait on hold on to talk to a live human, then wait for your song of choice to (maybe) play when you can simply click a button to achieve the same result?
I’ll admit to considering this entire enterprise a potentially vast radio station call-in conspiracy. Were these paid callers? Friends of the DJs? Automated bots with freakishly realistic voices designed to make stations seem “engaging?” In reality, it’s none of the above. As it turns out, there are sound psychological and cultural reasons to explain why the age-old radio request still lives on.
The radio request’s biggest allure has always been about more than hearing a specific song. It’s about making everyone else hear your request and the message you attach to it. In an age that values insta-fame and “being relevant” more than ever, the prospect of having a megaphone — however brief, through whatever platform — remains appealing to many.
A study by marketing communications firm Wunderman Thompson New York (JWT) found fame and fortune are replacing faith and family as the core of the American Dream. A radio request allows attention-seekers to broadcast a message to others (whether through actual speech or song choice) without the hassle of accumulating followers, finding the perfect filter or tracking likes.
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