Radio Archives and the Art of Persuasion

Abstract

This chapter builds on sonic repatriation studies to explore the act of regulating the dissemination of songs through radio playlists in Lima, Peru. Using as a case study the broadcasting policies designed by a powerful media corporation, the article shows how marketing specialists have produced a range of class-oriented radio stations seeking to persuade Lima’s audiences to comply with the corporation’s hegemonic discourse, as it becomes manifest through the aesthetic composition of their stations’ playlists. The type of programming used by this corporation functions as a social technology that allows Peru’s influential criollo groups to reinforce the hierarchical organization of the society by promoting race-specific aesthetic concepts in media consumption.