Radio and race: brief memoirs of an interminable voyage

“Those [the ‘60s] were the halcyon days of radio - when radio was the most powerful tool of entertainment in the world, something which reinforced the strength of music and went on and on until the end of the ‘60s,” Randall Abrahams said recently.

As the controversial race debate raged on in the US, different radio stations played different kinds of music selected along racial lines (from rock ‘n roll to Jerry Wexler's R&B).

“That definitely gave different experiences to both blacks and whites,” Abrahams pointed out.

Despite living in a segregated nation at that time and experiencing the waves of racism struggles led by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Abrahams insisted that there was cohesion in terms of radio in the US.

Then radio formatting was born in the end of the ‘60s and early ‘70s, according to Abrahams' presentation.

Record companies start marketing their music

Record companies took advantage of radio formats to start marketing music, from rock radio in the 70s to the decline of R&B and the rise of disco, pop and hip-hop and the birth of urban contemporary music (black music), and the cross-over in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“Disco was the most powerful rhythm forced to be played by both black and white radio stations,” he said.

“In SA, meanwhile, radio was not formatted as they played all sorts of music hits, with Radio Springbok being the most powerful station because there were not many stations in the country,” he added.

Abrahams said there are certain things that are at the epicentre of formats as certain songs are quite specific to formats, and are able to cross over while others are just difficult to figure out.

He nevertheless acknowledged that the introduction of MTV in the 90s had a positive influence on radio.

Digital will allow more options

“Some DJs play cross-overs but resort to playing ideal songs immediately after to showcase the station's identity,” said Abrahams.

When radio format was introduced in Britain it did not do well, contrary to SA, which has a lot of niches market radios, he said, adding that radio format is vital for music marketing purposes.

Digital radio will allow for more options, Abrahams predicts, warning broadcasters not to continue taking their audiences for granted because people's mindsets are changing with time.

“Everyone might not have an iPod, but they understand the playlist very well.”

He said the challenge for radio in the future is to keep people listening to radio and that goal can be reached only by delivering creative content.

“People want to hear new things, but a whole lot of different things, and radio is the only place where they can get that,” Abrahams reckons.

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