In an era where you can listen to your favorite Spotify playlists while on your morning commute, I feel like radio has largely been pushed aside as a thing of the past, kinda like GameStop or Video Rental Stores. This can be seen in a study done by Edison Research, which shows that, in terms of music listening habits from our generation, over 60% of it is spent listening to music on streaming platforms, with only 16% being spent listening to the radio. And, honestly, I kinda get why. For example, most radio stations in Puerto Rico mainly play the same stuff they’re known for; SALSOUL plays salsa, HOT-102 plays Billboard chart-topping pop hits, and, weirdly enough, La-X is the most diverse, covering everything from Eladio Carrion to “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish. In between their scheduled programming, all of them have radio banter that could only be properly enjoyed by people over 40.
This leaves a very large gap in radio listening; from my experience, most people that listen to the radio are older, while younger people tend to listen to music from their preferred streaming platform. Because, what’s the point of listening to the same pop hits followed by an overly enthusiastic 40 to 50-year-old man chit-chatting about random topics, when you can listen to your favorite songs and more through Spotify or Apple Music and call it a day?
Could we change this in any way? I definitely think so! And I feel like a lot of it has to do with involving younger people in the world of radio, and what better way than by bringing radio to our campus? Here’s where college radio, where students can become DJs at their university’s station and play the music they love to the world, would come into the picture. The big problem is that the only major “college” radio station here is a station called Radio Universidad. This station, however, has a system that’s almost completely antithetical to what a college radio should be; and in this article, I’ll try my best to make an argument for why this is and how we could work to get ourselves more involved in the world of radio!
So how do these radio stations work? Well, the first and most important part of a college radio is that the students are the ones who run the show, and often are also given total control when curating the music that is played, leading to a more diverse selection of music than the average professional FM radio station. Students also get the ability to host their own shows in specific time blocks where they can choose to either focus on a specific genre or play whatever their heart desires. In other words, college radio is where the esoteric sh*t is!
Because of how freeform they are, you can hear anything from pop and R&B to obscure proto-punk from the 60s and even traditional Lebanese music on these stations; and there’s something about that range of music that fills me with so much whimsy. In these stations, students also get a platform to be able to discuss topics that pertain to them and their campus, like sports, on-campus events, and organizations. Insanely cool music curation aside, the main point behind college radio is to give students an opportunity to learn about and get involved in the world of radio production — and what a cool way to do it!
The history of these stations can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century, but the time when I feel like college radio had the most cultural influence and impact was during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, where they served as a hub for local bands to flourish and turn into the worldwide sensations that they are now! If it wasn’t for these local stations, there’s a high likelihood that indie darlings such as R.E.M, The Cure, U2, and the Pixies wouldn’t have the iconic sounds that they are known for now. Like, even the term “College Rock” was coined to describe the importance of these stations to the formation of indie and alternative music and subcultures at that time.
My eyes were opened to the vast world of university radio stations thanks to a site called Radio Garden (Not sponsored!), where you can listen to a wide variety of radio stations from across the world, and in this case, a ton of college radio stations from the U.S.! There was something oddly cozy about them, as if you were chilling in a dorm with a few 20-somethings who are playing you their favorite songs that they burned onto a ton of unlabeled CDs, all the while you’re trying your best to finish a five-page essay. If it wasn’t for these stations, I probably wouldn’t have fallen in love with so many cool artists, from The Microphones to Pavement to Sleater-Kinney! Stations such as KXSU in Seattle and KPSU in Portland are among my favorites for the wide variety of artists that they play. Like, I’ve heard Lana del Rey and obscure blues recordings from the 70s on these stations, sometimes during the same programming block. Major shoutout to WSOU in South Orange, NJ, for specializing in heavy rock and metal too!
This got me thinking about our university’s station, Radio Universidad. I vividly remember being a freshman and feeling so excited over the possibility of being able to be a DJ and host my own radio show there; then,feeling a major sense of disappointment when I found out that it wasn’t possible to do that. This is in major part due to the fact that, unlike most other college radio stations in the U.S, Radio Universidad isn’t managed by the students, instead having closed-off programming blocks. This makes Radio Universidad feel more like a radio station made by the BBC than anything close to a true college radio experience. And, not to be petty, but this makes me kind of upset!
Since its inception, the entire ethos of college radio is to amplify the voice of the students. Anyone with a bundle of music that they wanna show to the world can and should be able to become a DJ at their local college station: it’s lo-fi, rough around the edges, and a very fun way to discover new music and potentially build a future career in radio. Think about how mind-bending it would be to hear Beach House, Misfits, System of a Down, salsa, and some obscure 80s punk rock band from Bayamón on the same station. I feel like, in its current state, Radio Universidad loses a lot of that charm, given that students tend to work more behind the scenes in the operational setting rather than being the ones who run the show. It makes Radio Universidad not feel representative of our campus. Instead, it feels like another radio station that just so happens to be located inside of our campus — one you quickly browse through before falling back on your Spotify/Apple Music playlist of choice. Sure, its selection is pretty varied despite these setbacks, but I kinda end up looking at Radio Universidad like a disappointed parent because of this.
Music curation aside, I feel like giving students an accessible platform to discuss issues that pertain to them would help out our university so much. Plus, it’d give so many students and marginalized communities the platform they need to properly express themselves. I also think about all of the on-campus activities that could gain new life if this system were implemented. Instead of having to rely on flyers posted around campus or forwarding an event announcement to your philosophy class’s WhatsApp chat, having the opportunity to promote your event and talk about it to a wide audience of students would spread the word to so many more people.
Finally, a college radio station owned by the students would give such a huge platform for local bands and artists that want to perform their music and gain new fans, which is so slay to think about in terms of our burgeoning indie scene. Like previously discussed, college radio had a huge influence on the formation of modern alternative music, so who’s to say that the next biggest indie rock sensation could come out of Río Piedras?
So, grievances aside, what can we do about this? Well, I believe that one of the best ways to push Radio Universidad to being closer to the proper college radio experience is by opening up more opportunities for the students to be able to host their own shows and have their own voice. The previously mentioned KPSU has a really cool system where students can become DJs at the station for free, while adults outside of the campus and faculty could too after paying a 75 or 50$ fee, respectively. They also have training sessions for students throughout various semesters, which also allows them to get a feel for how the whole radio production process works. I feel like this would open up so many opportunities for students and faculty to explore the world of radio in an accessible way, either as a fun hobby or to further their career in the field! Another alternative is to maintain a similar variety-format in place, but give time blocks to students that are taking courses in radio production to, in a way, compromise between our current closed-off system and the hands-on college radio experience. Either way, it’d satisfy the itch of so many people who wanna play their favorite songs on the radio!