Will GM’s CarPlay move affect radio?

It may not seem to be related to radio, but a recent announcement by General Motors that all future automobiles sold by the company — beginning with any redesigned vehicles as soon as 2028 — will not include CarPlay or Android Auto interfaces does not bode well for radio itself. Nor General Motors, for that matter.

The plan, says GM CEO Marry Barra, is to use an in-house system that is more unified, less “clunky.” What she didn’t say is that it will rely on subscriptions for all the various apps, and will also allow data mining that can be sold through Google, as the system’s backbone will be provided by Google AI.

The problem, however, is that radio is not a subscription, at least yet. There are many, including InsideMusicMedia.Com’s Jerry Del Colliano, who say that while GM is currently planning to retain AM and FM radio in its cars, at least for now — Tesla for one has announced some new models without FM, and it removed AM long ago — “the broader context of GM’s infotainment strategy heavily favors streaming, (making) radio a declining afterthought rather than a core feature.”

“Radio loses if GM succeeds,” he says, “because they can then charge consumers to access radio by a monthly subscription, giving it all the problems of today’s satellite radio.”

Will GM succeed? That’s debatable. Social media is full of posts criticizing the move, with consumers vowing to to switch brands. I am one of them. The Wagoner Family has been almost exclusively GM s dating back to 1926, with very few exceptions. I personally will never buy a car without CarPlay, no matter how good the native system.

I am not alone – a 2023 GM Authority poll cited by Del Colliano called the lack of CarPlay or Android Auto a “dealbreaker” among 88% of surveyed buyers. I could see the move destroying the company. I hope the Board of Directors takes note.

Stating that, will it hurt traditional radio? In many ways that is up to the radio industry itself. I still believe that compelling content drives listening; as long as stations continue to serve listeners — and many still do in spite of the industry’s challenges — buyers will demand the availability of AM and FM in the dashboard; those companies that refuse to offer it will be the ones that suffer.

Reader’s React

I still need a better name for our email discussions. Anyway, you sent a lot more messages in response to what I consider some fun topics. The first one from Doug Ford of San Dimas actually brings up a new topic – customized songs.

“I enjoyed your article in the SGV Tribune today about songs being edited, he writes. “It got me thinking about another form of editing songs in the late ’70s/early ‘80s:  local radio stations specifically mentioned in a song. 

“The one I remember best was ‘Fire’ by the Pointer Sisters. In the middle of one verse ‘K-Earth 101’ was added to the original version of the song. Was that a common occurrence around the country? I can’t imagine it was just an LA radio market thing.”

“Fire” may be the one most people remember most, as it was probably the most prominent. “I’m driving in your car, you turn on the radio (to K-Earth 101).” There was a version for KHJ locally as well, and stations across the country did indeed add these. Once word of the edits got out, it spread like, um, fire. I have heard of versions where they removed “the radio” and inserted the station calls directly in place.

But it wasn’t the first time, nor the last. Another local custom version was “New York’s a Lonely Town” by the Tradewinds, in which you could hear “From Central Park to Pasadena’s such a long way (and there’s no KRLA). I feel so out of it walkin’ down Broadway (I sure miss KRLA)” if you heard the song on 1110 AM. KRLA (now KWVE) was and still is licensed to Pasadena.

Any others that you remember? Let’s remember together.

Ron Lesovsky of Huntington Beach spoke of music when he wrote, “I got a kick out of your mention of Wallach’s Music City. In the early 60’s I was a teenager in LA working in a movie theatre. After getting off work we would often visit Music City at Sunset & Vine.  They were open late and had listening booths where we could listen to records we couldn’t afford to buy.”

I am not a big fan of comparing what different generations did, but in this case us older folks had it so much better than today. Unfortunately I was a bit young for Wallach’s, which was legendary for hearing new records in private booths, but I did get to go to Licorice Pizza and (where? at) The Warehouse, where you could look through stacks and stacks of the newest music and hear the latest albums and singles over the store PA systems. Music was truly a social and cultural event!

And two more on “AM versions” of songs; the first from Brian Robin of Laguna Woods, who writes, “Reading your latest column about AM stations editing songs immediately brought to mind one of my favorite songs: ELO’s outstanding instrumental ‘Fire On High.’ One day, I summoned the song on YouTube for my son to hear … It began with this weird, eerie intro, some of which sounded like a record being played backward (which I’m sure was the idea). 

“I was gobsmacked, because I had never heard this before on a song I had heard dozens of times. Then, it kicked into the familiar opening. I’m sure editing that eeriness/weirdness was a no-brainer for programmers who figured people would be shaking their dials, wondering what the bejesus they were listening to.”

Brian also has an answer to the “which version do you like best” question, but I’ll save it for next week!

And finally, to wrap it up for the week, “I always liked the longer versions played on FM,” writes George Alfano. “It seemed like you were getting cheated by AM. When I was in college in the 1970s, I thought WABC was for 12-year-old girls.

“In an interview, the keyboard player for the Doors, Ray Manzarek, said when he heard the short version of ‘Light My Fire,’ they wanted to strangle the person who did it.  Somebody told him that it would get people interested in the Doors, He accepted that rationalization.”