The day the music died, again

Washington, D.C., is losing its last rock station, with longtime FM stalwart WTGB switching its format to pop.

I can still remember when rock ‘n’ roll WAS pop; that is, when it was THE style of popular music. Now I guess it’s just another embattled format like classical. Young people used to listen to rock music; now, it’s pretty much only people who used to be young. WTGB is switching formats because it wants to attract a younger audience!

I know about what is happening in the music industry and in radio, with the internet and iPods changing everything. What is significant is that music is no longer a mass market anymore. There is no one style of popular music anymore. Instead of everyone listening to the same music on the radio, everyone is plugged into his iPod, listening to music that fits his own idiosyncratic taste. People are listening to their own private music, but the public square is silent. This is bad, in that music used to help form community and culture; but it’s good in that it marks the demise of the mass, commercialized pop culture.

I guess I’ll just drive my Chevy to the levee. . .But once G.M. goes under, we won’t have Chevrolets either! And the levees haven’t been rebuilt since Katrina!