Mark Ramsey Media LLC - sync radio and digital media

One of my top five radio stations — maybe it’s in the top three — is shakuhachi.com. I listen to it many hours a month, and when I am not it is often because I am listening to CDs I bought through the station, of artists I was exposed to by the station. Shakuhachi is a genre of Medieval Japanese flute music. It is a minority taste. But having been exposed to it now, I know I will be listening to it for the rest of my life. As far as I am concerned, the freedom to find stations like shakuhachi.com is very important to me. If broadcast or satellite radio can’t offer that same freedom, it’s a problem.

“In fact what they want is their choice – and the shortest possible path to it.”
Correct.
For radio, their choice is a tightly targeted station with what they want. Which you (should) get with more choice of radio. The two are not mutually exclusive.
It’s a fact that jazz isn’t available on the radio dial in most major US markets. I would argue that a tightly-targeted jazz station (on HD, internet, or something else) will gain an audience – and, in many cases, sell the technology too.
Indeed, I don’t even need to argue that: additional choice single-handedly sold DAB Digital Radio in the UK. But the US radio market has a dismal record in deliberately ignoring any innovation in any other global market, sadly. I wonder how we can change that?

Ah James. I think your point is wrong. You are certainly misinterpreting my fundamental thesis.
Tightly targeted is what few want. INDIVIDUALLY targeted is what most want. And if you can’t please one person all the time, then the next best thing is to please most people most of the time, and that’s what radio is designed to do.
Between what MOST like and what ONE likes is the argument for niches. And it’s a mighty weak one, since its trumped by both extremes.
Narrow niches are simple. Humans are complex. And so are their tastes. People don’t want slivers, they want combinations of slivers. I know this from years of research and experience.
Your point about Jazz is not without empirical proof – and it doesn’t necessarily favor your argument. In fact, many jazz fans would rather self-program their music than get someone else’s “feed”. The choice of ONE, not the choice of many.
As for the UK argument, these situations are not comparable for reasons I won’t go into here. I’m blogged out.

A similar line of reasoning I’ve often used concerns “variety.” As I tell my staff: Just about everyone claims they want more variety from their radio station. In fact, they want more variety of songs THEY LIKE.” There’s a huge distinction between the two. And THAT is the challenge we face. It IS hard … harder than ever, in fact. Because technology has made it easier than ever for our listeners to create “individually targeted” content. We can’t compete directly with that.
What we CAN do is refocus on what you refer to as “the next best thing” … pleasing most people most of the time.