In what way has deregulation changed the radio and recording industry?

Deregulation began in the 1980s to reduce government regulation of business. It limited the number of radio stations a single company could hold, up to eight stations in a large market. This began the merger of companies. The marketplace concept took the place of the Fairness Doctrine and trusteeship concept. This allowed people to determine the success of business. Listeners did not have to listen to a station they did not like, so eventually that stations would lose advertising and profit. To maximize profits, chains began to use playlists and disc jockeys. Voice tracking became popular to hire few announcers to create personalities for stations. A significant merger was the merger of Clear Channel and AMFM which created an 838 station group

Deregulation has seen both successful and a controversy for the radio industry. With the new freedom of speech on air, it creates a larger field the hosts can work with. They can address subjects that normally the government would think are inappropriate for public air but the listeners want to hear. Companies instead played edited songs, but the meaning of the song does not change. Its also had its controversies because the obscenities are fair ground for people to file lawsuits.