That sounds plausible / familiar in a way, but not all the way. When I listen to FM radio (only when I’m driving), the rock stations here play lots of the exact same stuff they played back in c. 1985 - 1989 when I listened to rock radio every day for hours. Then they extend the repertoire by playing for instance the latest single by Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, or bands that were huge in the '80s. But they also play completely new rock music, by literally adding new bands and extending the genre some.
In our family car, during long trips we take turns — kids and parents — being “deejay”: each gets to choose a song — any song — and play it for all to hear (via YouTube on a phone, Bluetoothed through the car speakers).
It’s great! We all get to hear things we like, while potentially expanding the tastes of the other folks.
(Sorry for the hijack, but it does relate to teaching kids-these-days about guitar-based rock, old and new).
For trips we have a shared playlist we set to shuffle. That and YA audiobooks.
Nice! Same effect.
Today I learned something. The local radio station (WDHA) that covers North Jersey has always played a blend of old and new rock. More older songs than new songs but definitely a blend that made it different than Classic Rock stations. The older songs tend to be more 90s than 60s. I learned there is an official radio classification for that. It’s called “Mainstream Rock.” There is also a format called “Active Rock” which tends to be harder than mainstream rock.
So “oldies for the post-Boomers”
People’s tastes changed almost overnight to streaming, the radio business became generally unprofitable, which led to mass consolidation and national programming. There’s noticably more ads on radio today which reinforces the situation.
I’ve also read that radio audiences drastically shifted to female adults as well which accounts for many of the programming changes.
In Chicago there are at 3 stations that play Christmas music for 3 months. It’s not a healthy business.
My wife’s car is too old to have any kind of streaming capability. So while she’s driving, she listens to the radio.
Boomers are all in their 60s and older, which is the least desirable audience for mass media. As for radio stations, the big chains all do their own research to try and find the next big thing. There are fad in radio just like in fashion.
As I said further up the page. The reasons for this, whether they are true or not, are:
Boomers already have everything they want, so they rarely purchase anything new.
Boomers, when they do make a purchase, always buy the same brands they have always bought.
Boomers are skeptical of advertising.
Radio stations whose audience is 50+ don’t get any agency business and depend on “local direct” advertising, which has dried-up thanks to Walmart et cetera. More than 20 years ago, I came off the air and tried my hand at radio sales, at a 60s-based Oldies station that had great ratings. It was a tough sell even then.
Yeah, kids are being exposed to classic rock on TikTok and TV/movies, not the radio.
Classic rock is killing modern rock. People would far rather pay their money to see a Saxon tribute act where they know two songs, than go a see a band with original new rock music but standing four feet in front of them, We go to a rock pub where we’re upstairs watching a great band with great music, in a half filled room, and downstairs is packed listening to the fifth Fleetwood mac song of the evening.
There’s a movement in the UK of some success, called NWOCR, New Wave Of Classic Rock, but it’s mostly limited to the UK, and normal radio stations won’t pick up on it. Welsh Gene on Scotland Rocks radio has a few shows which can be listened to not live
But such bands we’ve listened to in the last few years are:
(Bigger bands)
Those Damn Crows
Massive Wagons
Eclipse
H.E.A.T
Kris Barras Band (saw him Saturday night, think new album currently #7 in Uk album chart)
Scarlet Rebels
The Dust Coda
Empyre
South of Salem
Smaller, but ones I love
Baleful Creed
Ashen Reach
Devilfire
She Burns Red
Wicked Smile
Trucker Diablo
Collateral
Sam Millar
Sons of Liberty
Statement DK
Bigfoot
4th Labyrinth
Piston
Massive
The Hot One Two
Even the large bands here hit a barrier in the UK, of medium sized venues, which they’ll fill, but same venue will be packed next weekend with a couple of old rock cover bands and people not interested with anything new. Still, that’s not for me, and I’m listening to more new rock than ever.
I just left Montreal and during the ten years we lived there I was fortunate enough to see a lot of older bands playing in various sized venues - I actually did see Saxon and UFO playing in a small venue in Montreal, where I could literally lean on the stage. I also saw Saxon and Judas Priest about six months later in an area in Ottawa, and I had a floor ticket (and shook hands with Saxon’s bass player during the Priest set; he was just relaxing and having a beer and watching the show).
I’m also fortunate enough that these bands aren’t charging a fortune; I suspect that what I’ve paid for the floor probably wouldn’t get me in the door for a lot of more popular acts.
I’ve discovered a ton of these on Youtube - 1000Mods, from Greece; Truckfighters, from Sweden; King Buffalo, All Them Witches, and Valley of the Sun, all from the US. So far I’ve only seen 1000Mods live, in a basement venue of a bar in downtown Montreal and that was an absolute blast.
You seem to have to make do with whatever local you have to you (even in the UK there are bands which each play West Midlands, East Midlands, Sheffield, Glasgow and don’t really go to each others areas), or commit to visiting a UK or European rock festival (we love Winterstorm in Troon, Scotland). Some of the larger acts have toured the EU, but not likely to hit the US unless on the back of a medium size US bands tour.
It’s still quite striking though that unsuccessful bands in the US, like Alter Bridge, sell out stadiums in UK and EU. We’ve been looking out for a US tour of small venues to perhaps catch them, but they don’t seem to think it’s worth it much over there.
She should upgrade to the new tech. You can get add on 8Track players for cars.
