Reports say Gen Z isn't discovering new artists. But college radio stations are overflowing with new DJs. As young listeners reject algorithms for analog—the industry should pay attention.
Wonderful post, Emily. I did college radio for a total of 12 years at 4 different stations back in the day. I have been on the alumni board of my undergrad station (WPRB in Princeton NJ) since I graduated. We have meetings with student management a few times a year. I am amazed at how much interest there still is in college radio with all the digital alternatives available. They even survived COVID despite the fact that the university closed the building where the studio is.
In the music business classes I teach at NYU, I occasionally ask students if they listen to radio; usually the number of students raising their hands is zero. But it's not really the right question: college radio has a certain vibe that is almost independent of music genres. It's like being a vinyl fan; it's a different way of consuming music.
IMHO the industry hasn't given college radio enough credit for its importance to building audiences for new artists and styles. For example, the usual industry story about punk/new wave/alt/indie in the 1980s is about MTV and the fact that UK artists like Elvis Costello had videos that MTV could play but American stars did not (at first), so MTV put those videos on heavy rotation and ergo was responsible for breaking those artists into a market stuffed with corporate rockers and disco/R&B stars. I say that college radio was responsible for this (too).
That's the music that college radio was playing then (almost to the exclusion of everything else). Those are the artists who played gigs at the network of clubs (like King Tut's City Gardens in Trenton), which the local college radio stations would promote, have the artists on the air to chat, and so on. We'd also do promotions with the local indie record stores around that music. Some of the major labels had college radio reps back then; I don't know but I doubt they do now. And it's likely that college radio is not as homogenized musically as it was in the 1980s. But there's still an audience and a market there. So thanks again for pointing that out.
"But it's not really the right question: college radio has a certain vibe that is almost independent of music genres. It's like being a vinyl fan; it's a different way of consuming music." Exactly this! It's not really about the radio, just like how so many vinyl purchasers don't even have a turntable. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
Love this piece Emily — seeing those last four bullets at the end of the piece coming from the younger generation that’s investing in themselves while studying at these institutions is incredibly hopeful
These students really amazed me with their self-awareness and genuine care for artists and culture! Those last four bullets are something we should all be striving for.
Every time I am interviewed, people ask me what is happening in college radio. The "kids these days don't know old tech" is such the wrong interpretation: it's about incentives. The biggest challenge college students face is time and value pressures -- volunteering on college radio is the first thing to go when they have to make college pay off as costs rise. But if their cultural worlds and communities are facing atrophy, they will create new incentives.... great piece that digs into the essentials of this moment in music and community!
Very pleased with the research. Long-time podcaster here (just celebrated a big online anniversary). Algorithms can guide and even help turn over more dominoes to find who is connected in genre or association with each other in discovering new music. But it is all up to the DJ to curate it right. Take the AI cues but don't boilerplate. And, ensure there is a community around the station, large or small. You'd want fans to say to an artist "I heard you on the radio".
As a former college radio and NPR overnight DJ this makes me so happy. I loved not only being on air, but discovering and sharing so much new music within air wave reach of the stations I worked at. At one point I seriously considered trying to make a career out of it, before I realized commercial radio is a totally different game. Here's to all the college radio stations still making it happen.
This is one of the most hopeful pieces about music culture I've read in years — and the reporting is what makes it land. The MIDiA data gets all the alarming headlines, but you went and talked to the people actually living inside the counter-story, and what they told you is remarkable. Aidan Greenwell's line — "you can't scroll on reels and run a radio station at the same time" — is worth the whole piece on its own.
What strikes me most is that what these Gen Z DJs are reaching for isn't nostalgia for a format. It's hunger for intentionality. They want to be present with music rather than passively receiving it. They want to understand why a record matters, not just whether it's trending. And they are clearly intelligent and open-minded enough to know that terrestrial radio — with its stranglehold on hit lists, its rigid genre silos, and its endless recycling of the same worn-out warhorses — was never going to give them what they were actually looking for. College radio can. It always could.
That same impulse drives people to dig into music history — because context doesn't diminish a song, it deepens it. Understanding where something came from makes you hear it differently, sometimes for the first time even if you've known it for years.
I produce American Song, a podcast tracing the arc of American music from its roots forward — one era, one genre, one artist at a time. The audience you're describing here is exactly who I make it for. This piece is going to stay with me.
I just now got off the air after doing my 3 hour afternoon show. I've been a DJ at KGLT the Montana State University community station. Been. doing a show there for 45 years. I did 12 years on commercial radio in the Bay Area before that.
Our little station is a powerhouse in SW Montana. We've never had a shortage of djs. There are people who grew up listening to the station, who are now on the air. Its an all music, free form format. There are probably 75 djs, some of us split a show. That means 75 very different points of view.
I have no doubt the station will carry on long past my tenure there. The best part is we have strong community support. It's part of the fabric of our town. And now that we are streaming, we have listeners all over the world.
Funny thing is, there are plenty of students who have no idea there is a station on campus, and some who don't even know what broadcast radio is. Our twice yearly record fair has done a lot to make people aware of the station and get music into the hands of fans young and old. And this is a town with two popular record shops.
Love this piece! In the 90's, I loved CMJ - getting my hands on those new music cd's was so exciting. That's how I discovered a lot of new music. I miss that.
This gives me hope that maybe, maybe?...the kids are all right.
I almost wanted to title the whole piece "the kids are all right" !!
Love this piece, especially the photo of the CBN studio. Still overstuffed with music, like when I worked there in the 70s.
Wonderful post, Emily. I did college radio for a total of 12 years at 4 different stations back in the day. I have been on the alumni board of my undergrad station (WPRB in Princeton NJ) since I graduated. We have meetings with student management a few times a year. I am amazed at how much interest there still is in college radio with all the digital alternatives available. They even survived COVID despite the fact that the university closed the building where the studio is.
In the music business classes I teach at NYU, I occasionally ask students if they listen to radio; usually the number of students raising their hands is zero. But it's not really the right question: college radio has a certain vibe that is almost independent of music genres. It's like being a vinyl fan; it's a different way of consuming music.
IMHO the industry hasn't given college radio enough credit for its importance to building audiences for new artists and styles. For example, the usual industry story about punk/new wave/alt/indie in the 1980s is about MTV and the fact that UK artists like Elvis Costello had videos that MTV could play but American stars did not (at first), so MTV put those videos on heavy rotation and ergo was responsible for breaking those artists into a market stuffed with corporate rockers and disco/R&B stars. I say that college radio was responsible for this (too).
That's the music that college radio was playing then (almost to the exclusion of everything else). Those are the artists who played gigs at the network of clubs (like King Tut's City Gardens in Trenton), which the local college radio stations would promote, have the artists on the air to chat, and so on. We'd also do promotions with the local indie record stores around that music. Some of the major labels had college radio reps back then; I don't know but I doubt they do now. And it's likely that college radio is not as homogenized musically as it was in the 1980s. But there's still an audience and a market there. So thanks again for pointing that out.
"But it's not really the right question: college radio has a certain vibe that is almost independent of music genres. It's like being a vinyl fan; it's a different way of consuming music." Exactly this! It's not really about the radio, just like how so many vinyl purchasers don't even have a turntable. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
Love this piece Emily — seeing those last four bullets at the end of the piece coming from the younger generation that’s investing in themselves while studying at these institutions is incredibly hopeful
These students really amazed me with their self-awareness and genuine care for artists and culture! Those last four bullets are something we should all be striving for.
That’s really exciting to hear collge/university radio has a life. I’m trying to get something set up in my local college.
Great article! The algorithm fatigue is a very real thing. Glad to see this coming back around
College radio is one slice but it seems like internet radio as a whole is going to see some growth. Long live nts and lower grand radio
Every time I am interviewed, people ask me what is happening in college radio. The "kids these days don't know old tech" is such the wrong interpretation: it's about incentives. The biggest challenge college students face is time and value pressures -- volunteering on college radio is the first thing to go when they have to make college pay off as costs rise. But if their cultural worlds and communities are facing atrophy, they will create new incentives.... great piece that digs into the essentials of this moment in music and community!
Very pleased with the research. Long-time podcaster here (just celebrated a big online anniversary). Algorithms can guide and even help turn over more dominoes to find who is connected in genre or association with each other in discovering new music. But it is all up to the DJ to curate it right. Take the AI cues but don't boilerplate. And, ensure there is a community around the station, large or small. You'd want fans to say to an artist "I heard you on the radio".
As a former college radio and NPR overnight DJ this makes me so happy. I loved not only being on air, but discovering and sharing so much new music within air wave reach of the stations I worked at. At one point I seriously considered trying to make a career out of it, before I realized commercial radio is a totally different game. Here's to all the college radio stations still making it happen.
I'll always believe in the power of college radio!! Glad to see it still shifting the culture!!
Hi Emily,
This is one of the most hopeful pieces about music culture I've read in years — and the reporting is what makes it land. The MIDiA data gets all the alarming headlines, but you went and talked to the people actually living inside the counter-story, and what they told you is remarkable. Aidan Greenwell's line — "you can't scroll on reels and run a radio station at the same time" — is worth the whole piece on its own.
What strikes me most is that what these Gen Z DJs are reaching for isn't nostalgia for a format. It's hunger for intentionality. They want to be present with music rather than passively receiving it. They want to understand why a record matters, not just whether it's trending. And they are clearly intelligent and open-minded enough to know that terrestrial radio — with its stranglehold on hit lists, its rigid genre silos, and its endless recycling of the same worn-out warhorses — was never going to give them what they were actually looking for. College radio can. It always could.
That same impulse drives people to dig into music history — because context doesn't diminish a song, it deepens it. Understanding where something came from makes you hear it differently, sometimes for the first time even if you've known it for years.
I produce American Song, a podcast tracing the arc of American music from its roots forward — one era, one genre, one artist at a time. The audience you're describing here is exactly who I make it for. This piece is going to stay with me.
Cheers!
Joe
Thank you for the considerate response! I agree the intentionality is particularly exciting to see
I just now got off the air after doing my 3 hour afternoon show. I've been a DJ at KGLT the Montana State University community station. Been. doing a show there for 45 years. I did 12 years on commercial radio in the Bay Area before that.
Our little station is a powerhouse in SW Montana. We've never had a shortage of djs. There are people who grew up listening to the station, who are now on the air. Its an all music, free form format. There are probably 75 djs, some of us split a show. That means 75 very different points of view.
I have no doubt the station will carry on long past my tenure there. The best part is we have strong community support. It's part of the fabric of our town. And now that we are streaming, we have listeners all over the world.
Funny thing is, there are plenty of students who have no idea there is a station on campus, and some who don't even know what broadcast radio is. Our twice yearly record fair has done a lot to make people aware of the station and get music into the hands of fans young and old. And this is a town with two popular record shops.
I'm going to share this piece with our GM and MD.
Love this piece! In the 90's, I loved CMJ - getting my hands on those new music cd's was so exciting. That's how I discovered a lot of new music. I miss that.
great piece Emily! Definitely gives hope!
Fantastic! Thanks Emily for putting out this hopeful story! :)