Radios influence can be found in almost every corner of new media.Radio in the Digital Age assesses a medium that has not only survived the challenges of a new technological age but indeed has extended its reach. This is not a book about digital radio, but rather about the medium of radio in its many analogue and digital forms in an age characterised by digital technologies. The context of the digital age reveals new insights about the nature of radio.

In this important addition to the world of radio scholarship, Dubber provides a theoretical framework for understanding the medium - allowing for complexity and contradiction, while avoiding essentialism and technological determinism. Introducing radio as a series of practices and phenomena that can be understood through a range of discursive categories, this book explores the relationships between radio, music, politics, storytelling and society in a new and thoughtful way.

This book will make essential reading for students of media, communication, broadcasting and the digital industries. It offers a timely and comprehensive introduction for anyone who wishes to understand the role of radio in todays media landscape.

Andrew Dubber is Professor of Music Industry Innovation at Birmingham City University.

Acknowledgements vi

Abbreviations viii

1 What is Radio? 1

2 Radio in the Digital Landscape 25

3 Radio and Everyday Life 47

4 The Sound of Music 74

5 Stories in the Air 101

6 Radio and Technology 125

7 Radio in Society 150

8 Dont Touch That Dial (What Dial?) 175

References 183

Index 192