You make some good points. Dig a little, deeper, and you will find that the radio stations in the US are owned by a small number of corporations. It isn’t like the good old days of the 20th century when each radio station was an independently owned entity. Each station had some say in programming. With a small number of corporations deciding what to play (i.e what we have to listen to), it is no wonder that variety is lacking in programming. The same problem exists in newspapers and TV stations.

You hit the nail on the head when you said “Modern radio lacks character.” This is a sad testimonial to our society as a whole as to what sells. Consider, as one example, “Tik Tok:” It is a song glorifying the party-to-excess lifestyle, underage drinking, disobedience to parents and authority, being self absorbed (“The party don’t start til I walk in!”), and presented in a way as if this is what brings fulfillment and contentment to life. I won’t comment about the work of some of the other “artists” in your list. Their work is full of explicit immorality that would not be appropriate to discuss in this public forum.

In your list, the only artist who is inspired by simple values, as exemplified by her work, is Taylor Swift. (Aside: Have you seen the video for “You Belong with Me?” The high school football team in the video uses the name “Knights.” The uniforms sure look like Hoban uniforms. The football game part of the video was filmed at Pope John-Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee.)

The problem goes far beyond the repetitiveness in the songs that are being played. The real problem is the repetitiveness in the message that is being played.