“Sound chasing” propels audio technology in the hope of reaching sonic nirvana - “high fidelity,” sound in its purest form, (or a phrase associated with a sad boy John Cusack.) Thomas Edison’s diamond discs were one of the first recording mechanisms to proclaim sound perfection in the early 20th century. Of course, these discs have been replaced, and the cycle of replacement and advancement continues, each promising greater fidelity - a level neither Cusack nor technology ever seems to summit. Lisa Bonet singing “Baby I Love Your Way” however, is a piece of perfection in the Y2K classic.

The same cycle occurred when inventor Edwin Armstrong introduced FM radio in the ‘30s, offering enhanced sound quality through frequency modulation, over the static and noise pollution bearing of AM (amplitude modulation) radio. In awe, the public collectively proclaimed this is high fidelity, this must be the sound. Now, that peak has shifted again, with the rise of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). Following Norway which ended national FM broadcasting in 2017, Switzerland recently announced it will unplug all FM broadcasting by 2024.

This pivot has been years in the making, Switzerland began to prepare the legal frameworks, including financial assistance to radio broadcasters after Norway led the way killing FM in 2017. Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) has a long European history of R&D dating back to the ‘80s when research was first demonstrated in Geneva, Switzerland. Now over two decades later, Switzerland is committing to the switch. OFCOM, UK’s Office of Communications has weighed in and lists several reasons for Switzerland’s legislation, citing audio quality, listenership data, and cost as the main drivers for the nation-wide pivot.

But “radio” as we know it isn’t dead. Digital Audio Broadcasting still acts and looks like a radio - a boxy shape with speakers and buttons, turning signal into sound through transmitters and receptors. Analog systems like AM and FM function similarly but their sounds are processed with electrical signals whereas digital sounds are processed into numerical patterns, digits using the same technology as the internet. So we’re not yet at the point of a smart robotic radio that algorithmically curates your ear’s desire. (Reference)

The decision has been met in Norway with controversy, arguing that the impact on drivers will be immediate - If the car doesn’t have DAB+ compatibility, unless you want to journey in silence, you would need to acquire a digital adapter. These adapters aren’t priced like cheap usbs or aux cords either. Most are above the $100 mark and of course the “better” the adapter, the higher the price.

This pushback leads to the ultimate question of agency. What does it mean when a government declares a switch-off? We currently experience options in how we listen, flipping between AM / FM. Although one surpasses the other in sound quality, they're not mutually exclusive- listener’s choice. But the act of shutting down an entire system removes choice from the equation. What trends will arise socio-economically / culturally in terms of access and listenership?

The New York Times article written in 2017 “Norway Becomes First Country to Start Switching Off FM Radio” contextualizes DAB geopolitically—discussing scope, feasibility, and context. We rush to generalize that FM is on it’s way out, the same we’ve been saying for paper, but history has proven that the relationship between analog to digital isn’t a simple switch on or off matter, the way it’s being treated in places like Switzerland and Norway with nation-wide shut downs. We still dwell between analog + digital in many areas of life - we’ve been long mourning the death of print while still holding our newspapers. We still have both right now—analog and digital, it’s not a simple matter turning off or on, shutting down and starting up. Until analog runs out-dies or is perhaps replaced by DAB, we’ll continue to chase the highest fidelity of sound.