"Most people didn't have the bandwidth to download whole albums. And so it brought back this cherry picking idea that the audience would focus on certain songs and possibly be the impetus behind what eventually got on AM radio: the single or whatever"

In this quote, Todd Rundgren assesses the advancement of music usage and its influence on the market's focus. He attends to a time when technological limitations changed how audiences accessed music. The "bandwidth" he discusses describes the web's capability to move data. In earlier stages of digital music sharing, web speeds were much slower, and downloading entire albums might be cumbersome and time-consuming. Consequently, individuals chose to download private songs instead of full albums.

This propensity towards selective downloading, or "cherry selecting", reinvigorated a focus on hit singles. Rundgren draws a parallel between this modern phenomenon and the historic role of songs in promoting music on AM radio. Before digital music, AM radio was a primary medium for finding brand-new songs, and radio programming typically centered around playing popular songs. The frequent concentrate on standout tracks flourished as restricted bandwidth successfully assisted listeners back to focusing on specific tunes over entire albums, matching earlier periods when singles controlled the music market.

Rundgren's insight recommends that technology accidentally shapes customer preferences and market trends. As people gravitated towards cherry-picking tunes they favored or that were most accessible, it underscored the long-lasting power of the single as a central promotional tool. The attention given to these tracks could likewise direct what eventually got traction on radio stations and other platforms.

Furthermore, Rundgren suggests a cyclical nature of music usage trends where, in spite of advancements, certain patterns persist due to practical or technological restraints. His observation sheds light on how the nature of music shipment can impact imaginative output, marketing methods, and the more comprehensive musical landscape, eventually influencing which pieces of work capture public awareness and receive extensive airplay.