Everything old is new again. It may be a cliché but the main reason these sayings hang around is there is a lot of truth to them. As we mature, the memories we make somehow get entwined with the songs on the radio; it only makes sense that we want to hold on to both.
In 1997, Dave Harris conceived a radio show that would highlight that music of his youth – the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Ever since, it's continued to evolve, grow, and survive in an industry that can be very difficult to maneuver in. On Saturday nights (from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern) you can tune into Retro Rewind, whether it be in the traditional way or through their website.
Earlier this week, we conversed by phone about the good ol' days and the exciting new future of radio, music, and the effect the Internet and social media has had on both, as well as Harris's songwriting partnership with Scott Grimes (American Dad/ER).
You launched Retro Rewind in '97. How has it grown or changed since then?
You know, that should be an easy question to answer but it's really evolved. I would say with the advent of technology, and the web really, it's kind of forced us to change a little bit. Obviously we still have our radio version of the show, but I think the Internet has some untapped possibilities right now.
There are a few shows that are just streaming or just doing the Internet and I think for a lot of stations or companies they are program suppliers, in layman's terms. I don't think anyone has really tapped into the Internet. Now we have iPhones and Blackberrys and a lot of shows and programming haven't tapped into that part. So, we decided to kind of evolve into that area. I think it's really starting to take off now.
In radio you're looking for an AQH, which is an average quarter hour and also time spent listening. So there are two things that you look for and we're getting a lot of that with the show on the web.
I know you've been running old shows, and then you zap it out on your Facebook and Twitter. So you have those opportunities you don't have with regular radio, that "well, we're just going to do this right now," for that captive audience.
That's right. We do try to have appointment listening, set a date with the listener to let them know about a certain something they might like. That's how it is, a lot of people are at home, or even at work in the office, and they're able to go back and listen to some of those older shows.
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