ABSTRACT
After drawing a brief historical map of the evolving contours of radio that are associated with digitalization in contemporary China, this chapter closely examines the new radio practices and social forms emerging out of the development of digital telecommunication and the wide private ownership of laptops and smart mobile devices. In particular, it focuses on the growing domain of commercial digital radio, which exists outside the mainstream state-owned radio system and in which a number of leading companies have achieved success in the Chinese audio market. While identifying the business models that the leading companies adopt in the commercialization of listening, this chapter also scrutinizes the variety of content offered on commercial digital radio, explores how and why individuals listen to it on mobile devices, and outlines who these listeners are. The chapter highlights the strength of those social changes that have been decisive in shaping the production of commercial digital radio, and discusses the rise of individual listening in this medium in relation to the widespread sense of uncertainty and insecurity.
