The era you are in right now is one where basically anything can be streamed. Your music, favourite shows, and now even sporting events can be streamed on platforms like Prime or Netflix. In the last couple of years the way people have been able to get their media or music has changed drastically. 

Looking at the music side of things, I for one love Spotify. You can listen to music whenever and wherever you want. Spotify curates daily playlist mixes for you with the things you listen to and even adds in some new music that is similar to your current taste. Most recently Spotify has added a DJ feature and I want to talk about it.

Being a radio student, I get to hear and talk a lot about how radio is a “dying” industry. And I do understand where people get this from when they say this. I’m guilty of it too, almost every time I get in my car on the way to school, I don’t turn on my favourite radio channel, I connect my phone to an aux cord or bluetooth and stream my playlists off Spotify. And while the convenience of listening to all my favourite songs back to back without having to flip through stations if one comes on that I can’t stand, this is just another part of my day where I’m losing human connection. 

The DJ feature on Spotify took me by quite the unpleasant surprise. It’s literally an AI voice being a DJ. The voice comes on and transitions through songs and genres and I think its just kinda creepy. In a way I’m glad I came across this feature because it was a reality check for me to get off the Spotify and back on to the radio. 

I have vivid memories of my mom or dad driving me to elementary school and laughing along with the radio hosts, always tuning in to hearing what they had to say that day or even just calling to be lucky caller 25 to win whatever they were giving away that day. 

I guess it’s when I got my license and started to drive my own car that things changed. There’s nothing quite like starting your morning off with a laugh and human connection is so important – maybe even more than you realize. Now that I’m in school and constantly surrounded by the radio or just talk of the radio, I’ve been actively trying to cut down on the streaming and listening to people. 

What team are you on? Team streaming? Or radio?