Artificial Intelligence Shift Puts 50 DJs Out Of A Job At iHeart Radio
Unlike disruptions of the past that no one (especially the people most likely to be affected) saw coming, anyone who reads the news knows that artificial intelligence is affecting them now and will be even more so in the future. That become all too apparent for 57 humans who are now out on the streets thanks to a shift to AI by broadcast giant iHeart Radio.
The company canned 57 employees last week (mostly on-air talent) in a move that company describes as “dislocation” due to a major restructure that “takes advantage of the significant investments [we have] made in technology and Artificial Intelligence,” according to a press release by iHeart.
You can see a list of the jocks who were let go here, but it’s not a pretty sight. We’re talking decades of experience and audience familiarity that’s now replaced by AI.
iHeart is actually going through some complex restructuring right now, but the latest DJ cull is a perfect example of what’s wrong with radio today. Long gone are the days of DJ who you tuned in to because you trusted their taste in music, which meant that you might hear something new and exciting.
Long gone are the days when a jock or program director could take a chance on a record because he or she actually loved it, which might lead to it breaking out nationally.
Long gone are the days when radio was local and served its community and local music scene.
Today it’s just homogenized with the same music and the same syndicated shows no matter where you go around the country. Plus, those ugly 7 minutes commercial blocks make listening to anything but Public Radio a challenge at best and a distraction at least.
I believe the revolution is coming though. If Congress ever passes the law that requires stations to pay artist’s royalties on airplay like the rest of the world does (except for China, North Korea and Iran, dubious company to keep), we may see the the station group hold on radio recede as they spin off the least profitable stations, giving them a chance to be local again.
That may not bring radio back to its golden days, and might not even buck the trend towards artificial intelligence in the business, but it may give the medium back some of its soul that it’s so badly missing.
