The allure of a well curated radio show retains power to promote new music
- Damien Joyce
- Apr 7
- 4 min read
Damien Joyce, the presenter of the Human Recommendation show on Galway's FLIRT FM, makes an impassioned and overwhelming case for independent radio and its ability to uncover new music
In these modern times of continued disruption from the internet and streaming services, I still believe that when radio shows are done well, they can connect with people, especially when folks are listening on headphones. There are radio stations with worldwide audiences that are thriving by being independent, listener supported entities. U.S stations such as KEXP, NPR, WFMU come to mind. Radio can provide real human company to people traveling on long journeys or their daily commute. Many commercial radio stations have lost that human sense of curation and rely on a “flat” play listing model.
There is a vibrant wave of emerging Irish artists from a bunch of genres and different pockets of the country, that just don’t get surfaced by algorithms. In a recent interview with the Sunday Observer, streaming service Deezer CEO, Alexis Lanternier, highlighted the challenge facing young bands and listeners. “We now have almost a million songs a week coming, it used to be 150,000 three years ago. It’s harder given the higher competition there is, inherently, in the market.”
Music is something I have always been passionate about. I’ve been blogging inconsistently over the last 10 years on a whole range of music related subjects over on my blog pages at Medium.com especially around music discovery as I still prefer self-directed or human curated music discovery. Something I always wanted to do was to try my hand at hosting a radio show - in the past I never had the time or conviction to go do it. It was only after watching my daughter’s experience at my local college community radio FLIRT FM 101.3 and how much she enjoys hosting a Doctor Who podcast (called The Tardis Tapes, and it’s very good) that I finally decided to give it a go.
I decided in my own small way to push back against lazy A.I generated play-listing and some terrible recommendations which provided the inspiration for my show called The Human Recommendation which airs on a biweekly schedule, every second Monday at 8pm GMT.
FLIRT FM is one of only three full time student radio stations in Ireland, along with Limerick’s Wired FM and UCC98.3 in Cork City. The broadcast range is roughly 15 miles in every direction attracting listeners from the University campus and out to the city’s suburbs. Radio shows including The Human Recommendation also stream on the web at broadcast time.
Current station manager Paula Healy has been with FLIRT off and on since 1998. Paula believes that the station exists not only to provide a service to listeners, but also to deliver training for students. The station hosts third-level, TY, Tús and CE placements each year and partners with Foróige, Shining Light, Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, the University of Galway’s Office of the Vice President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, MAs and BA in Journalism, BA in Global Media and Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge amongst others to regularly create programming.
Similar to the U.S college radio station model, the station leans on enthusiastic volunteers, and it’s currently home to up to around 150 folks. (Incidentally, if you want to learn more about college radio in the U.S. you should follow Jennifer Waits, who is carrying out stellar work archiving and documenting stations).
You can listen back to my most recent show here on Mixcloud. This show featured indie music from far flung places such as Chicago, Sudbury and Toronto, closer to home places such as Cork, Donegal, Dublin, and back to Denver, Vancouver, Montreal and Melbourne!
In a side project, I also started a Human Recommendation podcast where I interview musicians, sound artists, record label owners and others in the music industry. It is also available to listen to via Mixcloud and I found that to be so much most fun so far, while at the same time before each it is equally an exciting and nerve-wracking experience speaking to new people you have only heard on records you like.
I have been talking to great D.I.Y bands and just learning their stories. These folks are playing their hearts out and trying to build communities around their music including acts such as A Place for Owls, The Dead Bolts, Fin Del Mundo, Las Nubes, Casper Skulls, Runway Lights, The Hausplants, Kat Five, Blonde, Fauxcils. A small note of encouragement can make such a difference. One piece of feedback I received that made me smile, is when they said, “It sounds like a real radio show!” - I think that could be my new promotional tag line for the show.
If you have listened to the show or interviews and have discovered a band you liked, reach out and say hello over on socials. The show is here on Instagram, or you can find me on X/ Bluesky at @damienjoyce. Despite the oversaturation of music out there, it’s still very enjoyable discovering music that was waiting to be surfaced and sometimes it is from somewhere that even sounds like a real radio show!
Remember, help reject algorithmic curation and celebrate music from terrific bands that deserve your attention. You can tune into FLIRT FM 11:00-04:00 Monday-Friday, 13:00-22:00 Saturdays, and the web stream is available 24/7.
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