Amazon's new radio app could a nice twist on a historic industry
Thursday Theses: How "lateral thinking with withered technology" works in reimagining music streaming
What Amazon's new radio app means
Lateral thinking with withered technology
It's been some time now since Amazon announced their "Amp" app.
While I don't think the name is necessarily good, the concept is gold.
Terrestrial radio still holds great power, as it still reaches most people and decides what the music industry focuses on.
While listenership to terrestrial radio is declining, Pew Research says 83% of people in 2020 still listen to the radio.
What's that mean?
Well, it certainly guarantees that this has lasting impacting on the norms and tastes of music listeners.
Radio is not good at identifying and delivering fresh sounds well, for this reason.
This is why we get shows like Songland or American Song Contest that seem to suggest fresh and original music, but are really all about identifying musical acts that walk the tightrope of taste.
The TV dimension of music is a different rabbit hole, but I will stand strong here for the greatness of niche music.
It is the niche that informs the cultural mainstay, after all.
A great musical example of this is Olivia Rodrigo forerunning a revival of pop punk.
Radio has been shifting for years now, as streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have gained their foothold in the music market.
I find myself writing about country music a surprising amount, even though it is tied with big band/classic pop as my favorite genre of music.
Country is the biggest radio broadcast genre.
But diehard fans certainly know the history of the genre for being a tug-of-war between traditionalists seeking the soul of country music and the industry trying to veer it off course towards another destination like the Nashville Sound or bro country.
Music streaming changes all this.
I can listen to as many songs featuring lap steels or autoharps as I want.
'Cuz that's where it's at, baby.
All that being said though, even with streaming giving us the music we want, is it giving us the personalities we want and the communities we want?
We have music podcasts for some of that.
But not music stations.
With Amp, Amazon is hoping to take advantage of both of these things. The app will allow users to create custom stations based on their musical interests, and it will also feature a number of personalities who will host shows and talk about music.
Not only does this help to give niches a time to shine, it could also be a great opportunity for smaller, independent artists to get some much-needed exposure.
Here we discover the potential for internet radio.
Pandora seems like ancient history.
And Spotify listeners may be inclined often to just kick back to a playlist, potentially mirroring a hands-off approach.
So what will you get when you defer to other folks for musical selection but you also have the option to engage with them about the music?
Basically, this is Clubhouse for music.
Amp is a wonderful example of "lateral thinking with withered technology."
The idea of "Lateral thinking with withered technology" comes from Gunpei Yokoi, video game designer and employee of Nintendo. Yokoi came up with the concept while working on the Game & Watch line of handheld games.
Essentially, you take the outmoded concept, and you recontextualize it to solve a new problem.
This is at the heart of what we might call "throwback innovation."
Innovation doesn't always have to come in the form of brand-new, cutting-edge technology. Sometimes, it can be as simple as finding a new use for something that's already been around for awhile. And that's what Amazon is hoping to do with Amp.
There are market battles to be won, however.
Spotify has Spotify Greenroom, which focuses on connecting the artists to their audience.
Another reason Amazon's new radio app is important is because it could help revive the ailing traditional radio industry. As mentioned earlier, terrestrial radio has been in decline for years, as more and more people have switched to streaming services and other digital audio options. But with Amazon entering the fray, that could begin to change as perhaps this new age of music will begin to flow back into the tradition technology.
Amp has the potential to attract a new generation of listeners who may have been turned off by traditional radio. And it's able to deliver, as folks will be playing licensed music legally.
Amp could also help to elevate new personalities and voices in the world of radio. With more and more people finding their people in musical communities, there's a growing demand for new voices and perspectives. Amp provides a platform for these up-and-coming broadcasters to reach a wider audience.
I have a theory about terrestrial radio, too, saving itself in the streaming world. That revolves around going back to radio's roots and focusing on live, in-studio music from the region in which the station is planted in order to create a focus on community.
But perhaps that theory and business discussion needs to wait for another day.
I've sounded a bit like a cheerleader for the project, and maybe that's just what I have been.
Regardless, Amp stands a good chance of being something fairly original and establishing something new in the creator space.
It also poses us an opportunity to take a look at how we too might take "withered technology" and work at crafting the next big idea.