Group #1 Blog Post 2

Jess Beard - 190587910

M. McLuhan. (2013). Radio: The Tribal Drum. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. 

McLuhan argues that the radio is the extension of the central nervous system and is the only media matched by human speech (McLuhan, 2013). Radio became a medium that embellished existing societal functions and continued cultural importance. The same can be said about streaming services. They became a medium that embellished existing social functions and continued cultural importance by extending the previous conditions and acceptances of radio. This is not to say radio has been replaced by streaming services but rather were designed to be better equipped to modern society. This can be noticed with the accessible, free, fast-paced, versatile and personalized nature of streaming services. And in respect to McLuhan’s arguments concerning the tribal drum, streaming services or in his case radio, are very intimate. 

Radio is taken more seriously as it affects people more intimately and offers an unspoken connection between the audience and the speaker. Radio as a medium provides a more immediate and intimate aspect which McLuhan refers to as a private experience. McLuhan uses this insight to communicate the importance of representation for public and political figures as mediums can be responsible for their success and failure. With this, we can look at streaming services being home to both music and podcasts. This is an extension or remediation of radio as broadcast programs and music were both available. As streaming services extend the radio's honest and direct nature, audiences look at podcasts or oral content as personal and intimate discussions that have a higher chance of being accurate or truthful than lets say content on the television. In terms of music, the extension of radio found on streaming services is the same “cloak of invisibility” that allows artists, musicians, podcasters and even companies advertising to appear in homes. 

Lastly, McLuhan can help foster this idea of remediation of radio as streaming services act as a branch to better regulate content. Using the example of the famous 1938 Orson Welles broadcast, War of the Worlds. As the broadcast exemplified the possibilities to use and abuse radio communication, McLuhan states that the radio pushed its relation to human extension. Streaming services can be looked at as a remediation and or subcategory to better regulate radio. With radio being primarily for two-way communication and live news coverage, streaming services embody the more artistic elements, reimagining radio without the title of all-inclusive content. 

With McLuhan we concluded that,

The content surrounding  streaming services is nothing new (radio),

The content surrounding radio is nothing new (human voice),

The creation of streaming services was influenced by the radio...

As well, the concepts of the extensions of man, can recognize the qualities, content, conventions and audience behaviours within streaming services and the necessity for this remediation, as radio is a valued form of communication that will continue to find ways to exist within the means of modern culture.