The radio industry was not always a mass music playing medium. In fact, no one really knew which direction it would go in the early 1900's. If it wasn't for the corporations and industries who oversaw and monopolized radio, it would not have been nearly as successful nor as dependent on music as it is today.
Industries and corporations always have a strong hand in developing new media. Television and film afterwards, saw this too when corporations would put advertisements through commercials or in the actual content of the show/film. But why does this happen? Well, advertising from these businesses causes a good deal of revenue to come to the heads of the new media. Placing advertisements in and around the show can get these programs and studios more money. In effect, this money can make new and better shows that draw more people in. The more people watch, the more chances a corporation has of a viewer buying their product.
In radio, this was not delved into until AT&T came up with commercial broadcasting in 1922. They charged the providers with a fee over how much airtime they had. Soon, everyone wanted in on this new way to advertise and commercials were developed very quickly. By 1927, radio had the shape that it does today. With content heavy on music supported by businesses' money and advertisements, these privately owned channels would soon follow to television where this trend would grow even more.
David Sarnoff was the first to propose that a radio could be a home utility which a family could gather around and listen to music or stories. The mesh of his prophetic vision of the medium and the businesses that would come later, made radio the dominant form of media from the '20's to the '50s. But without the institutions involved, radio would not have been successful in Sarnoff's format for quite some time if ever. Soon companies like GE, and RCA would share the patent of radio with AT&T and thus, radio would have the means to explore new genres of music and breed subcultures as well.
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