Dream with me for a moment.

The year is 2028. And radio DJs aren't just on the radio anymore. And ideally, your DJs aren't just on the radio anymore.

Truth be told though, DJs don't even exist anymore in 2028. There are no discs to jockey. Shockingly, they don't even know what music will be played on their shows at all. More on that in a moment.

No, to call them "DJs" is no longer accurate. They are Personalities.

They don't just live on an FM signal. They live inside Spotify, Apple Music and other pure-plays. And it's not terrestrial-radio content that has been shoved into the pure-play environment.

No, it's something different.

When your Personality creates a break, before they upload it to the streaming service, they tag it based on a few different metrics, the main one being emotion. In the audio file meta-data, they can apply tags that say, 'Uplifting' or 'Energizing' or 'Sad' or 'Peaceful' depending on the content. If an artist is mentioned or interviewed, they apply that tag. If it's localized content, they can apply that tag, too. Time-sensitive content? Start and End dates are applied. If it's one part of a multi-break story, that sequence is tagged. The point is that almost all of these tags are based on how a listener would search for your content, with a few internal nuts-and-bolts sort of tags.

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Don't know about you, but I've been inspired by the recent CCM "Perspectives" here on All Access. Mike Couchman challenged us to change our radio game by killing all the radio clichés and then Amanda Hildabrand sent us running for the proverbial programming ...

They love you because your music is familiar. Not because they actually like you. That's part of what I took away from an article I read recently about how familiarity can equal success. It's why Taco Bell is the favorite Mexican food chain in America. People choose ...

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" It's a question first asked by Dr. Seuss, I think? (That's what page 1 of my Google search told me. I didn't click past page 1). It's relevant to what you do on the radio. Set your humility aside for a moment. You must ...

Heraclitus said, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." The same is true of audio. Everything about sound is dynamic. You never hear the same song twice. Differences in source media, speakers, and ...

Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign was about a lot of things. Political strategist James Carville knew that if they were to win they needed to focus on one central theme; thus, coining the phrase "It's the economy, stupid." Your radio station is about a lot ...

Broadcasters are a funny bunch. They love the idea of open breaks, free to create original content and tell stories that showcase character and personality. But they are often biased against features that happen at the same time each day. When you break down the ...

If you look at a McDonald's menu from the 1950s, it's quite different from today. I remember the huge golden arches alongside the road, and their menus from the early 70s , 80s and beyond. When you pull up to a McDonald's drive-thru today, the 2018 version of the ...