First posted on Mark Is Cranky:

Pop singer Esthero thinks we need a musical revolution. There's nothing subtle about her stance either:

I'm so sick and tired of the shit on the ratio and MTV, they only play the same thing no matter where I go I see Ashanti in the video I want something more

That sassy opening to the title track of We R In Need of a Musical Revolution puts a funny twist on this point: mainstream radio is wallowing in stagnation. There's a lot of great music out there not being heard and something has to be done about it.

A musical revolution? It just might be here.

I've had this CD kicking around the 'active' pile for quite some time. Earlier this week, while giving it an Nth listen at work, I happened upon the latest issue of Wired magazine. Being a sorta neo-Luddite, I'd given up on Wired some time during its first year. The content was OK, but the hyperactive layout (things like orange text over a silver background) was enough to make your eyeballs spin counterclockwise. What caught my eye this time around was the front cover teaser: "The End of Radio (as we know it)".

Since radio has been dead to me for a number of years, I figured that this stuff was worth a look.

First up was an article on Howard Stern and satellite radio (written by Ana Marie Cox aka Wonkette...I held my nose and read on.) I've heard more than a few claims that this technology will never take off because people don't want to pay for it. We'll see. Cable television can be considered a counterexample. All I know is that I truly miss the days of free-form radio where the DJ is allowed to play whatever comes to mind. Can Howard Stern drag enough listeners over to Sirius to push it over the top? Could be. Heck, I'm kinda psyched that you can get a Tivoli/Sirius tabletop radio. Cool stuff.

Next article: 'new indie' radio station. Did you know that Steve Jones (guitar, Sex Pistols) is working for the man, the system, radio great satans: Clear Channel? That'd right. He hosts "Jonesy's Jukebox" on Los Angeles station Indie 103. This is the real deal in a true early-days-of-FM kinda way. Jones can and does play whatever he wants. That Clear Channel supports this little bit of revolution is maybe more than a little bit creepy. Their idea is to get their fingers into the coming pie of digital radio. The Luddite in me is a bit skeptical. I mean, sure, high definition radio is a decent concept but let's be realistic about this: people seem to be more than happy with crappy old mp3's. Will HD radio increase listenership significantly? Not without new content.