When a game system is a radio, too

I can talk about the primacy of the radio listening experience for the millions of folks who tune us in every day as much as I want, but just because radio is the “big dog” doesn’t mean there aren’t tons of “little dogs” nipping at our heels.

Case and point: What do you get when you cross a game system with a radio – specifically, a Wii with a Finetune Wii player?

Voila! Customized radio!

No radio, no local stations, and no computer required!

This is one of the trends that is emboldening the music industry to hike radio rights fees: They can smell a future where radio’s leverage and reach and importance are diminished – a future where lots of media experiences look and act like radio, and the music biz wants of piece of all of it.

Just as a computer will be in everything, so could a radio.

Even if it doesn’t look or act like the radio you know now.

And even if your stations aren’t the ones listeners tune in.