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# Part II – Music Festivals Thrive On Diversity. Why Can’t Radio? An Interview With Radio Paradise’s Bill Goldsmith.
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/part-ii-music/
- Published: 2007-08-03T08:11:54.000Z
- Updated: 2007-08-03T08:11:54.000Z
- Description: Part II – Yesterday we asked why commercial radio doesn’t follow the lead of today’s top music festivals and program a more eclectic mix. One of the few broadcasters who. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2007/08/part-ii-music.html]
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: Radio & Satellite, Streaming, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 11:06

**Part II –** Yesterday [we asked](http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/08/music-festivals.html?ref=hypebot.com) why commercial radio doesn’t follow the lead of today’s top music festivals

[![Radioparadise](https://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/images/2007/08/03/radioparadise.jpg "Radioparadise")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/03/radioparadise.jpg&ref=hypebot.com)

and program a more eclectic mix. One of the few broadcasters who intelligently programs across the musical spectrum is Radio Paradise’s Bill Goldsmith. Here’s a recent set of tunes on RP:

- Elbow – My Very Best
- Eddie From Ohio – Number Six Driver
- Cheikh Lo Lo – Guiss Guiss
- Van Morrison – Precious time

We asked Bill for his comments on the current homogenized state of radio:

> "In the world of broadcast radio – even in the non-commercial realm – there’s a tremendous pressure for quick success and short-term profit. That naturally leads broadcasters to favor packaged solutions or easy-to-emulate formulas, such as a short list of the least offensive

[![Bill_goldsmith](https://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/images/2007/08/03/bill_goldsmith.jpg "Bill_goldsmith")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/03/bill%5Fgoldsmith.jpg&ref=hypebot.com)

soft-rock hits, or non-stop NPR news and commentary. A formula like what we use at Radio Paradise (playing an interesting cross-section of many different music genres, carefully blended so that it flows gracefully) doesn’t lend itself to easy packaging and implementation."

> "As for Internet stations, the easy route there is to throw up dozens, or hundreds, of channels devoted to a particular narrow genre of music. There’s not a whole lot of time, effort, and creativity required to put a "pre-1980 classic rock" or "ambient electronica"…*(continued)*

> "…channel together. The real problem — for programmers,  
> anyway — with a truly diverse format is that to do it well requires a  
> LOT of time, effort, and creativity. Here at Radio Paradise, between us  
> my wife and I devote at least 50 or 60 hours a week to  
> programming-related duties on our single channel. A company that is  
> trying to program 25, 50, or 100 channels just can’t afford to put that  
> much time into each one."   
>  
> "Satellite radio has the resources and the opportunity to produce very  
> high-quality programming, but too often they also fall prey to one or  
> both of the pitfalls I described. Many satellite channels are very  
> narrowly programmed, or are attempting to duplicate a formula that’s  
> been successful elsewhere. For whatever reason, there’s not a single  
> channel on either satellite service that attempts to do the kind of  
> radio that I find most interesting: a truly diverse, skillfully  
> programmed, mix of many different eras, genres, and styles."