Issues in Radio Music Broadcasting in the Sri Lankan Cultural Environment

Abstract

The interference of mass media plays a key role in changing people's listening behavior and thinking patterns in numerous ways. Due to technological factors, a majority of Sri Lankans are exposed to “light songs” which are music tracks to last only for three to five minutes. From earlier to present times, almost all recording and reproducing technologies in the island have been used basically for this purpose. Various types of government and private FM channels, TV channels, and social media propagate these forms of songs in the contemporary music scene for different purposes. Because of the commercial benefits and good demand for songs, mobile network companies also promote artists to record songs according to the contemporary taste of the younger generation. This study discusses how Sri Lankan music was stuck to a monocentric stream of light songs due to the fact that the listeners in Sri Lanka are constantly being exposed to “light songs” through radio broadcasting and radio politics.