FM Radio: The Rise and Fall of the Radio DJ?

Odds are if you have ever had a favorite radio show on a favorite FM radio station, it’s only a memory from days gone by. The age of the FM radio DJ has been a large part of our culture in the past, but is has slowly been coming to an end. Djs were a very important part of the 60s and pirate radio as well as, continuing to do so throughout the 70s and 80s. Now with the availability of internet radios and national radio stations having a digital setlist, DJ’s no longer have the sway over the radio stations that they work at or the ability to play what they like when they like.

The FM DJ came to be a major influence on Britain's culture after the second World War. Some could say that the music of the early 1960s reflected peace, love, and happiness. However, with the start of the Vietnam War, the music began to reflect a more rebellious and turbulent nation. The revolution of this music introduced widely different sounds that the young people of the time were incredibly intrigued by. Artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who were all over the top of the charts in America ("Billboard Charts Archive: 1960s. ). The BBC, however, would not play more than 45 minutes a day of the type of music that the youth wanted to hear because of the limitations on needle time -- the amount of air time for playing records -- which was the result of an arrangement that the BBC had with the Musicians' Union (“Pirate Radio”). Another strong factor would be that the decidedly traditional managers of the BBC looked at the new music with disdain and were thoroughly unimpressed. Enter Pirate Radio.

Pirate Radio is defined by the Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World:

Media, Industry and Society as: “A synony...

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