Since the invention of the radio, we have clearly seen how it has been one of the most important and powerful communication tools that have ever existed. We have also seen how people have truly relied on it for updates in what was going on in, and around the world throughout and over time. However, as this thing we love to call time has passed and technology has boomed, radio doesn't have the same meaning or effect it once had on people. At one point in time, radio was the only medium people had, whereas today television and internet have taken over to the point that turning on the radio is a last resort out of desparity. Although the idea of radio coming to an end constantly goes in one ear and out the other, people like myself rarely stop to think what the end of radio really means. Because of the vast variety of competition radio faces such as; ipods, mp3s, and podcasts, radio analyst Michael Harrison believes that radio itself has less than 5 years left in it before the internet ultimately takes over, and revolutionizes the medium that has always been there through the good and the bad when we needed it. I chose this article because it never really crossed my mind that we could truly live in a world without radio, and it was quite an eye opener that this analyst believes that radio won't even exist in 5 years. It also makes me wonder what will replace radio and what the future holds for all of us. One real world example of this that I also found very interesting was the idea that as time goes by and new updated versions and inventions come out, people tend to get curious and greedy and forget about the gadgets they once had to have or loved so much in excitement for the new ones due to the fact being simply that things go out of style and the famous saying of "the grass is always greener on the other side. Although the internet imay be taking over the world, I find it really hard to believe that radio could really burn to ashes so soon and so quick. According to our
Media Programming book, "Radio was slow to warm to the online world, and stations and listeners were constantly frustrated by the technological problems that made it difficult for the stations to deliver high quality content." (343). I don't really see radio going anywhere especially in the next 5 years, due to the fact that I still haven't warmed up to online radio and don't plan to in the near future. Because of this article, I will continue to tune-in anytime I can just so that I can say I wasn't an accomplice in the death of the trusty and once loved radio.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/140094-the-uncertain-future-of-radio
Warner Brothers music group has finally announced that it will no longer be offering licenses of its music to services that offer free streaming, in hopes of people realizing that free streaming services aren't realistic, and work against the industry. Because of this, Warner will now begin to pay more attention to having people pay subscription services on their licenses. While this would be considered great news all around in a utopia that we will never have, Forrester analyst Mark Mulligan stated that "The majority of consumers simply have no appetite for paying for digital music, and that free and subsidized services are quite simply part of the future." With that being said, this article is important because it shows just how far people will go in resorting to stealing just so they get what they want, when they want it. Sadly, greed takes a large toll on people's lives, always has and most likely always will. Nowadays, it's all about convenience and free stuff. Each of these things rely and balance each other out. Convenience makes the world go round, and free stuff makes people feel extremely happy. Because of this, when people are charged by a service that makes you pay, they begin to lose interest and quickly proceed to begin the process of rebrowsing all over again until they they come across a service that allows them to download and listen for free, making them happy once again. Ever since file sharing and free downloads became big in the beginning of the 2000's, it has been almost impossible in working backwards and getting people to pay again. Although the industy and artists have already lost so much revenue from the past 10 years of illegal downloading, they still have managed to be successful at selling CDs and getting their songs out there. While this may not be as much as they had hoped for, technology is constantly blossoming and no matter what, people will find ways to get what they want, when they want it, and for a very small to nothing price. Everyone has been taught that stealing is immorally wrong, but when it comes to getting caught, its a risk their willing to take (in the case) not pay for at all. In Media Programming, it states that one ray of hope for the music industry is getting existing customers to "use social networking to promote content to potential buyers, which helps encourage more paid downloading" (335). Social networking is a hot commodity and remains huge today. Could it possibly be the answer paid downloading has been searching for? http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/02/warner-bros-to-axe-licenses-for-free-streaming-services.ars 
