CENTRE STAGE: Is radio still as influential?

As one of the traditional formats, radio, just like television and print, still has its place in the modern media scene. Even with its broad reach, its place especially in the entertainment industry is being questioned and doubted on whether it is still relevant or impactful. But the biggest debate today is whether it is still as influential when it comes to breaking new songs, artistes or even setting an agenda.

While a number of people still depend on radio to discover new songs, others are dependent on social media and DJ mixes to know which song is hot an trendy.

Radio is still the biggest medium in Kenya and many parts of the world but even casual observation will prove that social media has become the platform through which many fans discover new music.

By the time Maina Kageni is raving about Darassa’s Muziki, many have already heard the song and moved on.

When it comes to music, for the longest time, nobody would dare ignore radio if they wanted to hit. No artiste can ignore it but it is not the first place they stop.

But according to Bahati, radio still ranks top to him.

“Radio can reach more people, majorly the common mwananchi because half of them do not own television sets. Radio is the biggest media, you cannot be a national star without passing through radio because there are people in Kakamega and Busia who have never seen a television,” says the star.

Bahati, who began his career in late 2012 when there were already countless FM stations says top on his go-to medium for publicising his songs is radio, followed by television then social media.

“There’s so much variety right now, it’s not like back in the day when radio would be switched off which meant the audience would “switch off” too. There are people who have a routine, like they will listen to Maina Kageni in the morning, then Willy Tuva in the afternoon and at night tune into Radio Maisha,” he tells Buzz.

Bahati feels that audiences listen to songs on radio first, then go to search for them on YouTube since not many people nowadays have time to sit in front of the television the whole day.

But one of Africa’s biggest names in music, Diamond, tends to differ.

In a recent interview on East Africa TV with host Salama Jabir, Diamond Platnumz said that he never thinks about radio or television when promoting his songs.

“When I want to release my songs I never think about radio or television, ever. My first thought is how will people access my songs? There are so many digital platforms,” he said while adding that gone are the days when radio people would try to put down powerful artistes.

Diamond is not alone, for the longest, the gatekeepers at radio station dictated to the world the music they would listen to and which star was going to be big, when and for how long.

“It’s not the first place I will go to but it still has a big influence,” says rapper Nyashinski. “Not everybody has access to internet but many have radios. Back then the major stations we had to promote our songs were of course KBC, Nation FM, Capital and Kiss.”

“Of course it’s not the same,” says singer Rufftone when asked if radio is still highly influential.

The pioneer musician who began his musical career in 1999 says radio was influential back then.

When he decided to promote his hit song Mungu Baba four years ago, he first took it to television, but the presenters down played it (he won’t mention names) until social media took notice.

By the time he was going on radio to further push it, his fans had already caught it on social media where it was taking a life of its own.

Perhaps, Rufftone ponders, radio presenters nowadays do not know the power that they have. Because if they did social media wouldn’t be the place songs hit first. “A song like Willy Paul and Alaine’s I DO would not have been a hit on social media before radio discovered it,” he says.

Back in the day, names like  Jeff Mwangemi, John Karani,  Munene Nyaga, Eve D’Souza, Teddy Muthusi, Edward Kwach, Muthoni Bwika, Jimmy Gathu, Fareed Khimani were the biggest names on radio and the stars would even do tours in Kenya and abroad but the people who took after them do not fare well today.

According to GeoPoll, a mobile survey platform, Radio Citizen is the leading station in ratings, gaining the most ratings between 6-8am. Radio Maisha follows closely in second place and peaks between 8-10am.

This was a survey the platform conducted at a national level in the fourth quarter of 2016. Others in the top ten are Radio Jambo which came third followed by Milele, Classic, Kiss, Ramogi, Radio Taifa, Inooro and Kass in tenth place. The largest share, 35.8 per cent, was allocated to “Others” who are more than 100.

According to research company Consumer Insight, radio presenter Jalang’o (11%) is the most popular radio host in Kenya. Maina Kageni is the second even though he is popular among the morning radio shows listened to in matatus. He ties with Kiss 100’s Shaffie Weru at 10 per cent. Radio host and veteran musician Gidi Gidi garnered eight percent while Mwalimu King’ang’i and Ghost Mulei each had seven per cent. Alex Mwakideo and Kalekye Mumo scored six per cent, Mbusi, four per cent and Mwala and Larry Asego at three per cent.

Former radio bigwigs; Khimani and Kwach agree that radio is not the same any more. “When we were on radio let’s be honest with each other, we were gods, we were kings, we were trained properly… I listened to a fifteen and a half minute radio link the other day, about nothing, just talking nonsense for fifteen minutes. That’s ridiculous…” said Fareed.

His guest Kwach agreed that indeed “Radio has evolved but not necessarily for the better…”

According to GeoPol, as at Q4 2016, 80% of the population aged 15 years reported to have listened to radio at least once within 30 days, compared to 67% of this demographic that had watched TV at least once in the same period. Looks like radio is still alive and kicking.

@jmmosongo