Mike McVay recently dropped a pretty blunt take: radio, for the most part, is no longer the discovery vehicle it once was. He says programmers should be spending their time watching streaming platforms, TikTok, and YouTube instead.
I respect Mike a lot, but I think this is where I get off the bus.
I spent most of my career in Adult Album Alternative, a format that lives and dies on finding songs that actually connect with people. So when I hear big consultants like Mike McVay and Fred Jacobs saying radio’s discovery days are basically over, I have to push back.
Look at what’s happening right now. Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might” is dominating both Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay charts. It’s the kind of song that feels like it has real staying power — not the three-month disposable pop we’ve gotten used to. Songs like Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” are also still sitting near the top of the Hot 100 weeks after their runs began.
There’s a weird split happening in the industry right now. On one side, you’ve got people like Mike McVay and Fred Jacobs basically saying radio should stop trying to be a discovery medium. On the other side, you’ve got Sean Ross arguing that pop is actually suffering because there isn’t enough fresh music breaking through on radio.
The truth feels somewhere in the middle. New music discovery isn’t dead — it’s just more selective now. When something does break through and actually connects, it tends to stick around longer than it used to.
The bottom line is this: Radio doesn’t have to be the main discovery point anymore — that part’s true. But to completely give it up? That’s a dangerous mistake.
We’re already seeing songs prove that when the right track comes along, people still want to connect with it for more than just a few weeks. Radio can still play a major role in helping those songs break through and stick.
Giving up on discovery doesn’t make us smarter. It just makes us smaller. And in a world where streaming already knows what you want before you do, radio’s ability to surprise you might be the one thing left worth protecting.
The danger comes when we completely surrender that discovery role. If radio stops trying to find and break songs, we risk turning into a format that only plays music people already discovered somewhere else. And once that happens, what exactly are we offering that streaming can’t do better? Here’s my real concern.
If we fully accept the idea that radio no longer needs to be a discovery medium, we’re basically admitting defeat. We’re handing over one of the last unique things we still bring to the table.
Streaming is incredible at giving people exactly what they already know they want. But radio has always been the place where people stumble into something they didn’t know they’d love. That moment of discovery — that surprise — is still powerful.
Surrendering that role entirely feels like giving up our soul just because the numbers got harder. Adult Album Alternative taught me that when you put the right song in front of the right audience at the right time, magic can still happen.
The game has definitely changed. But completely walking away from discovery? That’s not adapting.
That’s quitting.
On The Dial covers breaking radio industry news, including layoffs, programming changes, talent moves, and broadcast trends across the United States.