Saturday, March 6, 2010

In-Store Radio is really a wrong term.

Basically, this idea of in-store radio is being used by establishments in the Philippines. If you hear something in malls, restaurants, bookstores and other places that sounded like an FM radio; you'll hear in their promo saying that it's the establishment's radio. This is a wrong term. Check WIKIPEDIA's "Elevator music" (muzak, piped music, or lift music in the Commonwealth) refers to the gentle instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators. The term is also frequently applied as a generic (and often derogatory) term for any form of easy listening, smooth jazz, or middle of the road music, or to the type of recordings once commonly heard on "beautiful music" radio stations.

Having the "elevator music" in mind, if you include some promos and commercials on its program; are we suppose to call it a radio? NO NO NO NO....

The process of dissemination of messages in a particular place is now called NARROWCASTING. Check its meaning in Wikipedia. Now what do we call a device that narrowcasting uses? And that should be the term used by establishments that are claiming they have a radio station. A radio station has an antenna or transmitter to broadcast. A radio station is the sender of such information to its listeners whereas a radio set is the receiver of it.