Step 1. For a pure cleanse, delete 107.9 from your preset stations and vow never to listen to it again. The same rule applies to similar radio stations that are determined to play the same songs over and over and over … and over again.

Step 2. Turn to alternative radio stations that are specific to your interests such as pandora.com, spotify.com, last.fm, aolmusic.com– check out their New Music page (which has music you can download for free)- or my new favorite, reverbnation.com. Yes these are online, but I can guarantee, they won’t make you cringe.

Slight tangent on reverbnation.com; feel free to proceed to Step 3 if you’re not interested. Reverbnation.com is a terrific door for undiscovered bands to post music and share their talent. By listening to this site, not only will you develop your music playlist and be the coolest kid around, you will also be supporting bands that still have jam sessions in garages. No, we are not being paid by reverbnation.com to say this.

Step 3. If online radio doesn’t inspire you, and you’re friends are still suffocating with “Top 40” syndrome, listen intently to television shows, commercials, and Youtube videos (if you watch vlogs and/or subscribe to Youtube channels). These are great outlets for finding music that isn’t overplayed.

For example, remember all those car commercials that you tapped your foot to? Just do a quick Google search typing in the commercial name and simply inserting the date and the words “commercial song” after it to find what you’re looking for. For television shows you can just Google the shows name and episode title followed by the word “soundtrack” to find a list of the music played on the show. Genius, I know.

P.S. Google didn’t pay us, either.

Step 4. Go to ITunes, Amazon, or whatever legal outlet you use to download music from and purchase the songs you’d like to listen to. Congratulations, you are now on you’re way to curing yourself from the “Top 40” plague.

WARNING THERE ARE SIDE EFFECTS: You won’t know any of the words to songs at school dances, but you can safely assume they are singing about sex, drugs, or alcohol (rest assured they will still be edited for explicit language, but innuendos and subtle inappropriate references will not be removed). Just dance to the beat and you should be fine. Results may not be evident if you continue to listen to “Top 40” stations.

I hope this provided some solutions to a problem you, or a loved one, may be suffering from. Thank you for reading.