Radio: Dead or Alive?

Okay people, I have a mighty big question to ask all of you.  I need you to think back to your childhood days.  When you wanted to listen to music, what was the first thing you went for?  Was it your CD player?  Tape cassette player?  Or was it the radio?  The answer to this question will be different for all of you.  Personally for me, it was all three of these things.

Okay, second question.  Today, when you want to listen to music, what is the first thing you turn to?  I won't list options here like I did for the first question, because truthfully, there are just too many ways in which we can access music in this day and age.

Many people say that the radio has died.  That it is no longer popular, nor needed today (or at least that's what I've heard).  I don't know the exact answer to this question.  All I know is that when I am driving in a car, the only thing I listen to is the radio and there are many reasons why.  I love listening to the radio because it's a source for me to hear new music that has just come out.  Also, the only radio radio stations I listen to play today's newest music and most popular music, for example the American Top 40 countdown.

So has the radio really died? I think it all depends on a person's personal preference for how and when they listen to music. 

Audience Segmentation

Have you ever noticed the difference between the commercials played on ESPN opposed to the ones played on HGTV?  I have to admit that I do watch both of these channels.  I watch ESPN's SportsCenter religiously every morning and I do watch HGTV during the holidays with my Mom.  The main  

Breaking down the audience into different groups is the best way I can define audience segmentation.  In advertising, a brand can choose where to place their ad so that it will reach their maximum target audience.  ESPN's targeted audience is for male viewers (as much as I hate to admit it to all you girl sports fans out there, it's the truth) and HGTV's targeted audience is for female viewers.  The commercials you are most likely to see on ESPN are for beer, athletic equipment, action movies, and the newest sports cars available.  Now on HGTV, the commercials are aimed towards women (aka mothers) who shop for products such as ziplock bags, Clorox products, food to cook for their families, and often times I have seen Home Depot commercials and Lowe's commercials advertising for gardening and remodeling.  

Audience segmentation has also put people with similar interests in contact with one another.  For example: blogs, forums, Facebook, and Twitter have all allowed for people with similar interests to communicate and share ideas with one another.  It has allowed for people to come together and communicate on practically any interest or topic from anywhere in the world. 

It's amazing when a song says every word you're trying to say when you can't say it yourself

My stupid mouth
Has got me in trouble
I said too much again
To a date over dinner yesterday
And I could see
She was offended
She said "well anyway..."
Just dying for a subject change

Oh, another social casualty
Score one more for me
How could I forget?
Mama said "think before speaking"
No filter in my head
Oh, what's a boy to do
I guess he better find one soon

We bit our lips
She looked out the window
Rolling tiny balls of napkin paper
I played a quick game of chess with the salt and pepper shaker
And I could see clearly, An indelible line was drawn
Between what was good, what JUST slipped out and what went wrong

Oh, the way she feels about me has changed
Thanks for playing, try again.
How could I forget?
Mama said "think before speaking"
No filter in my head
Oh, what's a boy to do
I guess he better find one

I'm never speaking up again
It only hurts me
I'd rather be a mystery
Than she desert me

Oh I'm never speaking up again
Starting now... Starting now

One more thing
Why is it my fault?
So maybe I try too hard
But it's all because of this desire
I just wanna be liked
I just wanna be funny
Looks like the jokes on me
So call me captain backfire

I'm never speaking up again
it only hurts me
I'd rather be a mystery
than she desert me

oh i'm never speaking up again
i'm never speaking up again
i'm never speaking up again
Starting now, starting now...

-John Mayer
My Stupid Mouth

The Convergence of the Newspaper

One of my all time favorite things about high school was getting up in the mornings.  You see, my mom and I had this daily routine.  We would both get up around six and begin our day.  Part of the reason we got up so early was because high school begins at a ridiculously early time.  The other reason was because we liked to get up early enough so that we could have enough time to eat breakfast together and read the newspaper together.  We would swap articles, discuss a topic being written about, or just sit there quietly reading.  I never knew how much I appreciated reading the newspaper every morning until I went away to college.  I don't have the luxury anymore of walking out my front door and bringing inside the freshly printed newspaper that was delivered to my door step.  Instead, I have to look up my local newspaper's articles online.  Without the convergence of newspapers expanding online, myself and others like me wouldn't have the opportunity to read our local newspapers at our own convenience.

Magazines

I came across and Ladies' Home Journal the other day.  Did you ever notice the type of articles a magazine like that has in it?  Talk about a wide variety of "Mom topics."  You can find anything from an article about a carrot and sweet potato recipe a woman has experimented with to how a woman can freshen up her make-up just in time for spring to arrive.  I believe the demographic for this magazine is completely aimed for mothers.  Any magazine that has an article with the title "Snow Safety: Even sledding has it's risks. Wear a helmet!" can only be something a mom would read. 

When I was flipping through some of the ads of this magazine, it continued to prove that this magazine was directed towards moms. I put the most reoccurring advertisements into three simple categories: food, medicine, and necessities.  In the food category, mom's are told what the right cereal is to buy for their kids (according to Ladies' Home Journal its Cornflakes).  In the medicine category, mom's are directed buy certain brands (LHJ's brand's include Mucinex).  In the necessities category, mom's are influenced to buy Faith Hill's new perfume.

Commercials and Advertising

When I was younger, I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons and always anticipating the newest toy commercial or candy that was coming out.  Back then, advertisers knew that my age group would be watching those cartoons on TV stations such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or even ABC.  Now a days, my age group's TV watching has become a much broader range of interest.  Nonetheless, advertisers still know how to hook us in the most unique way.

Back in those days, I remember eagerly waiting for that Street Flyers commercial to come on TV.  For those of you who don't remember what Street Flyers were, they were the sneaker that had retractable wheels in the sole of the shoe.  Today, my attention is caught by the latest iPhone commercials, particularly the "Two is better than one" commercial advertising Apple's addition to Verizon selling the phone.  Advertising doesn't always reach me through television, but in magazines too.

In today's world, you can look up basically anything you choose to on the internet.  Everyone knows that newspapers and magazines are not the main means of news today.  However, what girl doesn't like to pick up a gossip magazine every once in a while? Or what about a fashion magazine? Or even (if you're a sporty kind of girl like myself) a sports magazine?  Magazines have loads of advertising in them.  Just the other day I bought a Cosmo Magazine (which by the way...for future reference....do NOT open all of the cologne/perfume tabs at once...trust me).  With half of the pages being advertisements, no wonder the magazine is so large!  Makeup, clothes, shoes, colognes and perfumes seem to take up half of the magazine. I actually was curious as to why Cosmo would put multiple cologne advertisements into their magazine.  My roommate brought up a good point to me saying that although the magazine's main demographic is guided towards females, that doesn't necessarily mean that a male demographic isn't reading them. 

I was catching up on TV shows I missed the other day on Hulu.com.  I realized that's another way advertisers reach me.  They have about five advertisements in between the shows you watch on their website. Sometimes it can get annoying, especially if the show you're watching is really suspenseful, but it is better than watching on TV with 15 commercials opposed to five.

Advertising will always be around bugging us about the high rates you could be saving on your car insurance, showing us how easy it is to buy stock and access it, and what new sneakers will improve your athletic ability.