Now, more than ever, you need reassurance. You need to know that things are going to be OK. The world is full of fear and anxiety right now, for several reasons. Will I be infected with COVID-19? How will my family function? Will my Grade 12 child be able to finish school this year? Will I have an income?
A playlist on your phone can’t sooth your fears when a deadly virus threatens your survival.
People need support. Emotional support, financial support, and psychological support. They need to know that there is a place to turn to.
An internet stream never found experts to give advice and share information with its local community.
Nearly every single music concert in this country between now and the end of July has been cancelled. Clubs are closed. Corporates are not having swanky functions and needing entertainment.
A satellite radio station never set up a virtual concert for artists unable to perform during a lockdown.
The kids are not cleaning up after themselves and you are housekeeper, parent, partner, employee, psychologist, and friend. You need a distraction. You need to have some fun.
You wouldn’t call a music streaming service to play a game, request a song or enter a competition.
What did the President say last night? Who can help me make sense of the rule of lockdown? How can I not kill my children or my partner? How should I spend the little money that I have?
A stream can’t give you news insight, solve your relationship problems or help you handle your money.
It is scary to think about the valuable time our children are missing in the classroom. It feels like they are on an endless holiday and not learning anything while surfing social media.
Social media platforms never created lessons for your children stuck at home. It never made you feel like you are part of an extended family. In fact, it does the opposite.
Loneliness during lockdown is a real thing. You miss your friends, your children, your grandchildren. You miss your tribe.
Radio is there. It’s in your home with you. It’s your tribe singing along to the same tune and laughing along to the same jokes. The miracle of radio is not that we offer content and music like our competitors do, but that we do everything else they can’t. Radio is that friend in the dark, a companion during lockdown and that playground of the mind.
Close your eyes and see what you can hear.
Think Radio. And turn up the volume when you watch the video.
Adapted from Mark Ramsey.
Zane Derbyshire is currently the head of all things content at East Coast Radio. He loves working with creative teams, and is very results driven. Passionate about developing people in the media and content space in South Africa.
