The news, the traffic, the sports and talk shows – the typical things associated with listening to the radio on your way to and from work. Now, more than ever, that’s all radio is. The biggest listeners are Boomers and older.

Meanwhile Spotify Free has taken over the planet. Users listen to whatever music they desire, whenever they desire. Across the largest cities in the United States, Spotify is in the Top 10 for weekly listeners.

Gone are the days when you sat by the radio, ready to hear a favorite hit record, hoping the DJ didn’t talk over the end of it.

Like YouTube, Spotify it has come under intense pressure to shut down its free service, claiming it’s having a significant impact on artists and labels.

But Spotify Free is ultimately just radio, right? Yes and no.

It’s radio through another medium. Radio that’s tailored to your musical taste. Radio where you can build your own playlist or choose a preloaded one for your current mood or activity. You can listen to music at work, with a playlist tailored for minimum distraction. You can dial in a power mix to keep you energized through spin class.

So perhaps this isn’t radio at all. Maybe it would be more appropriate to refer to Spotify as a jukebox.

Having access to Spotify Free doesn’t necessarily mean that users won’t also sign up for paid services. Spotify Free can open your ears to music that you might not normally listen to, or even be aware of. Because it’s free, you might be more willing to check out unfamiliar sounds and new artists. Kind of like tapas allow one to taste new things.

Advertisers on Spotify Free are aiming at the millennial crowd because they’re not capturing their attention on traditional radio. Spotify Free holds a pretty powerful sway on this front. Especially to those 34 and under, which makes up 69% of Spotify Free users. Other stats: ages 35-54 accounts for 26% and the over 55’s just 5%.

Spotify Free offers a unique opportunity for both users and advertisers. Advertisers know who they are tailoring their ads to, and users can customize their playlists to cater to whatever they want to experience at any given moment.

This is basically the radio of your dreams. It’s here now. And it’s free.

Does this mean that the concept of radio is over? Is Spotify even radio? Or is it a personal jukebox?

As long as we’re able to use this amazing service to listen to the music we like, whenever we like…what’s the problem?