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Imagine walking into a record store and being able to listen to anything instantly. As many times as you want. All the new releases. But you’ll have to pretend that a handful of records haven’t been unloaded from the truck yet… The Beatles, Radiohead, Tool. Otherwise, it’s a free for all. Let’s say that a local record store held a happy hour where this was possible… would you go?

In our office, we have such a happy hour every hour. The Sonos digital music system coupled with the Rhapsody service is the best example of what has been romantically called “the celestial jukebox”. It receives daily use from the music fans in our various rooms and the monthly fee of around $10 is a blip in the scheme of things. And it’s all legal. The RIAA, in theory, will not be barging in with machine guns anytime soon… but as Mario Puzo said, a lawyer with a briefcase can do much more damage.

But given literal on-demand access to more than 4 million songs, it’s quite amazing that you literally stare down that search box without a clue of what to listen to next. It’s one thing to stare at a finite collection of recorded music and know what’s next… or to be in front of a literal jukebox and know what you want to spend your tokens on.

There are virtual radio stations built into Rhapsody, but often times the playlists loop if you listen long enough. And like satellite radio, there can be a lonely sense that no one else is listening. The community which comes with listening to traditional radio or on an MP3 blog isn’t there.

But in reality, do you want some ultra-annoying DJ being all DJ-like? Probably not… but sometimes it would be good to go back to the days of legendary radio personalties, such as John Peel, Vin Scelsa, Scott Muni… people whose taste you trusted and ability to turn you on the latest and greatest and who had actual rapport with the artists themselves. More than just a talking puppet like Casey Kasem, but someone who would show up to the broadcasting booth even if the checks stopped coming.

In the cold world of digital, can we find that again?

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