Radio Survivor

If it’s possible to have a crush on a radio station, then I have a crush on WFMU. The eclectic, freeform non-commercial New Jersey community radio station was an innovator in online streaming, offering on-demand show archives years before the word podcast was ever coined. In 2007 the station initiated the Free Music Archive as a curated library of audio and music available for free download and use.

On Thursday WFMU announced that the FMA has received a major grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Jason Sigal, managing director of the Free Music Archive, says

We’ve come a long way since our beta-launch last April, but we have even bigger goals for this project. I’m honored that the MacArthur Foundation shares in our vision. This is good news for everyone who likes free music, especially for artists with music to share, curators in need of an online platform, and producers in search of quality audio for their creative projects.

What’s most unique and interesting about the FMA is that it’s not a music-sharing site, nor is it an open archive like Archive.org. The curated aspect of it is important, with the artists and musicians featured being asked to contribute by an array of curators, such as radio stations WFMU and KEXP, record labels ESP-Disk and other cultural institutions. The idea isn’t to create a comprehensive archive so much as an archive of interesting and compelling music that is not just free to download, but also pre-cleared for reuse, typically under a Creative Commons license.

Back in July 2008 when the FMA was just getting off the ground I interviewed WFMU station manager Ken Freedman about the project and its goals. You can listen to the interview at the mediageek radioshow website.

The new issue of Rolling Stone now on newsstands features “40 Reasons To Be Excited About Music.” Though I might argue with a lot of the reasons (Black Eyed Peas are reason #1?!), I’m pretty convinced by #40: “Because You Really Like Music.” One of the factoids backing up that claim is the breakdown of how surveyed readers say they listen to music.

Out of eight formats FM radio comes in at a very respectable third place, with 59% of readers saying they listen to it for music. That comes behind 87% of readers who listen to CDs and 72% who listen to legal downloads (readers could choose all the formats they listen to). Satellite radio comes much further down the list at #7 behind cable TV, vinyl records and illegal downloads, surpassing only online subscription services. There aren’t a lot of details given, so I don’t know if Pandora or last.fm are considered online subscription services or if they’re lumped in with “legal downloads.” Also missing from the list is online radio; maybe that’s part of “legal downloads,” too?

Admittedly, at this point in history Rolling Stone doesn’t have a reputation for being at the cutting edge of music or technology. But with a circulation of 1.4 million the magazine isn’t fringe either. A 20-something Pitchfork reading indie rocker might think of a Rolling Stone reader as an aging boomer willing to pay $200 a seat for Eagles tickets, but the mag’s actual demographics show a reader’s median age to be 31, with 63% having at least some college education. So we can’t assume that the average RS reader is necessarily behind the times, as is also evidenced by the fact that 72% of readers listen to legal downloads.

All this goes to show that radio hasn’t yet been abandoned by rock music fans, like the Rolling Stone readership. Then again, 59% does not indicate a medium at its peak. I haven’t been able to track down any similar stats from an earlier year, if in fact RS has conducted such a survey before. But I reckon the percentage of radio listeners ten years ago would have been much closer to CD listeners.

What this tells me is that music radio still has a chance to hang on to listeners, and maybe even grow a bit. But I think it’s clear that the direction of commercial (and, unfortunately, some noncommercial) radio towards tighter playlists, national programming and strict, homogenized formats will not do anything to aid this cause. I’d love to see a breakdown of what kind of radio the Rolling Stone readers listen to, but alas I don’t think they asked that question.

View out of Grooves Records in San Francisco

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of music that can be held in one’s hands. The third annual Record Store Day on Saturday (if you missed it, take a look at our Radio Guide for the event) celebrated both physical record stores and the non-digital releases sold within their walls.

As I visited two of my favorite San Francisco record stores, Aquarius and Grooves, I was elated to see people combing through bins of records and CDs and talking about music with each other.

I also spotted a case full of cassettes at Aquarius and boxes housing 8-track tapes at Grooves, illustrating that there is still a market for formats that many assume to be non-existent.

Cassettes for Sale at Aquarius Records

The success of this year’s Record Store Day speaks to the desire held by many to hang on to the physical aspects of music amid the pressures to “go digital.”

College radio is a logical home for some of these tensions, as some stations are getting rid of vinyl (and even CDs), using automation software, and are allowing DJs to use iPods during their radio shows.

8-Track Tapes for Sale at Grooves in San Francisco

These debates about the role of physical music in radio are at the core of an article that I wrote this week for PopMatters called “Technology and the Soul of College Radio.”

In the piece I talk about both the history of innovation in college radio (ever the trendsetter) and how the dark side of tech may be seeping in to its programming, threatening to homogenize the airsound and take away some of the energy and whimsy that I think should typify college radio.

The response to my article has been fascinating, with some people telling me that they are afraid to voice their opinions against digital music and with others sharing how their college radio stations have already gone to the dark side of commercial-esque Selector-scheduled programming. And I didn’t even get into the arguments related to fidelity, which is a big concern for many in the anti-digital music camp. What do you think? Does physical music make for better-sounding radio?

Record Store Day 2009 at Aquarius Records in San Francisco

The 3rd annual Record Store Day is taking place tomorrow (Saturday, April 17, 2010) in independent record stores all over the world. In honor of the event, stores will be hosting live performances, meet and greets with artists, and will be selling and giving away exclusive releases on both CD and vinyl.

It’s a wonderful celebration of record stores and of physical music in a day and age when both are being threatened by online alternatives.

Since radio and record stores are part of the same mission to expose new music to the masses, here’s a short guide to some of the radio stations planning special programming or events for Record Store Day 2010:

WRXP (New York City):

WRXP DJ Rich Russo has put together a limited edition LP full of performances by local bands (including Dramarama) recorded on his show or at live events. It’s only available on Record Store Day and is limited to 500 copies. Proceeds will go directly to indie record stores.

Additionally, Rich and fellow WRXP DJ Brian Phillips will be traveling to a number of the participating record stores to host live performances by some of the bands featured on the LP. WRXP DJ Paul Cavalconte (of the Sunday morning Vinyl Experience show) will also be on hand at Passout Records in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. Paul geared up for Record Store Day by playing some of the exclusive releases (he pulled some strings) on his show last Sunday. He’ll play more Record Store Day material on this Sunday’s show.

NME Radio (UK):

NME Radio aired a special focused on Record Store Day earlier this week.

The Current (Minneapolis, MN):

Minneapolis public radio station The Current is running a contest, airing Record Store Day-themed shows this Saturday, and posted a listing of events happening at record stores in Minneapolis on their website.

East Village Radio (New York City):

Online-only community radio station East Village Radio (EVR) is helping to promote Record Store Day in the New York City-area (and London!) and has a nice run-down of events listed on their website. Record store Fat Beats (which also hosts a show on EVR) will be featuring in-store performances all day.

WXRT (Chicago):

Today WXRT DJ Terri Hemmert shared some thoughts about the importance of record stores and how a record store employee in Chicago actually helped get the first Elvis Costello record played on WXRT back in 1977. The WXRT website also has a nice post from Terri about Record Store Day 2010.

WGN (Chicago):

WGN aired a lengthy interview with Steve Kay of Evanston, Illinois record store Vintage Vinyl (featured in High Fidelity). In their discussion they talk about the resurgence of vinyl and Record Store Day in which he says it “introduces people to the world of records.” In the interview he reveals that Vintage Vinyl will be the only store in the world selling a limited edition Smashing Pumpkins single (only 250 copies available) on red vinyl starting at 11am.

KUVO and Radio 1190 (Denver and Boulder, Colorado):

DJs from public radio jazz station KUVO and college radio station Radio 1190 will be spinning music at Record Store Day events in Denver, Colorado at Twist and Shout Records.

If there’s something going on at your local radio station for Record Store Day, let me know in the comments.

Often music is thrust upon us in public places, from elevators, to telephone hold music, to restaurants. Sometimes it’s amazing and notable, but when it’s bad, it can be torturous.

I can never just ignore these background sounds that are meant to calm elevator passengers, amp up teen mall shoppers, or increase worker productivity. Memories of the light rock station that blared in my childhood dentist’s office and the loud Muzak that tormented me when I was a college student at my temp job stick with me decades after the initial sounds were heard.

Airplane music could easily suffer this same fate, but with the emergence of Virgin America as the hip airline for the “creative class,” more adventurous sound curation has come to the forefront.

I always scan the playlists of airplane radio stations when I fly, but was never truly excited about the music choices until I flew on Virgin America. They have a pretty sophisticated in-flight entertainment system called RED, which allows passengers to listen to both MP3s (they have a library of more than 3,500 choices across every genre imaginable) and radio (as well as watch TV, view movies, play games, order food, chat with passengers, etc.).

They offer 20 different “radio” stations, each providing about 2 hours of music across a more diverse range of genres than I’ve ever seen in the air. Most notable to me is their underground station (“Deep”), which plays music that you might expect to hear on an adventurous college radio show. Some of the artists on this station this month include Robert Rich & Ian Boddy, Zeitkratzer, Daedelus, and Dot Tape Dot.

Virgin's In-Flight Entertainment System - RED

They also have multiple stations focused on Asian pop (“J-Pop” and “M-Pop”), a reggae channel (“Rebel,” which they added based on listener response), and a more standard indie/alternative channel (“Edge”). Some of the artists on “Edge” this month include Chromeo, MGMT, Arctic Monkeys, Yo La Tengo and MC5.

One of their most popular stations, “Sounds of San Francisco,” offers up a range of artists local to the Burlingame-based airline, including hard rock from Metallica, folk beauty by Jolie Holland, poppy punk from Scissors for Lefty and driving gal rock from Von Iva. (more…)

As some of you probably already know, more than a thousand bands from around the world have recently been gathering in Austin, TX for South by Southwest (SXSW), a collection of interactive, film, and music festivals. If you find yourself in the area or are simply interested in learning more about the musical offerings provided at SXSW, I strongly suggest looking at the event’s “2010 Showcasing Bands by Day/Venue” page. I viewed some of the choices and was blown away by the sheer amount of bands that I didn’t recognize, which is a relatively rare occurrence and says quite a bit. However, there still were a decent amount of bands playing that I am somewhat familiar with, including a decent representation of a genre called “nerdcore” which was pleasantly surprising, and I will be listing a few of them below.

Wednesday (3/17)

Metal/ Hard Rock: Motorhead (Austin Music Hall, UK), The Dillinger Escape Plan (Emo’s Main Room, Morris Plains, NJ), and Goons of Doom (Emo’s Main Room, Sydney, NSW).

Electronic/Pop: Moneypenny (Dirty Dog Bar, Chicago, IL), You Say Party! We Say Die! (Elysium, BC), and She Wants Revenge (Emo’s Main Room, San Fernando Valley, CA).

Rock: The Morning Benders (Emo’s Jr, Berkeley, CA)

Nerdcore: YTcracker (Karma Lounge, Colorado Springs, CO), K. Flay (Karma Lounge, Los Angeles, CA), and MC Frontalot (Karma Lounge, Brooklyn, NY)

Hip Hop/Rap: Paul Wall & Chamillionaire (La Zona Rosa, Houston, TX) (more…)

The sad news that seminal musician and producer Alex Chilton died started spilling out over the Internet on St. Patrick’s Day evening, just as SXSW was getting started in Austin. Chilton’s band Big Star was scheduled to play at the festival on Saturday, at a much-anticipated show (which will now be a tribute/memorial show featuring members of both Big Star as well as other musicians).

Famous for not only Big Star, but also for his teen band The Box Tops, Alex Chilton caught the attention of several generations of music fans who discovered him not only through his own music, but also via odes to him penned by others (cue the Replacements’ song “Alex Chilton” here) and through covers of his songs.

As I read through comments from fans after his death, I noticed that someone mentioned first encountering his music through the 4AD project This Mortal Coil. In the amazing This Mortal Coil 1983-1991 box set , ethereal supergroup This Mortal Coil covered various artists, including Rain Parade, Talking Heads, Tim Buckley, The Apartments, and Big Star. Additionally, a CD was included of the same songs by their original artists, so suddenly goth-loving folks in their 20s got introduced to the genius of Big Star’s tracks “Holocaust” and “Kangaroo.”

Today as I drove around the city, I scanned my radio dial, hoping to catch some Alex Chilton tunes to help make me feel better about this huge loss. Thanks to a DJ at KUSF, I heard a couple of tunes, but I’m craving more. Here’s a quick look at some radio shows that have been paying tribute to Alex Chilton already as well as those with specials coming up in the next few days. If you know of other radio memorials, please post them in the comments section:

Thursday, March 18th:

ErrorFM (online) had a tribute this morning

WDCB’s DJ Lynne devoted her show to Alex Chilton tonight and Revisionist is also doing a tribute at 10pm (Eastern)

The Voice of Energy radio show (online) tribute from 8-10pm (Pacific)

Friday, March 19th:

963 Classic Rock Las Vegas doing a tribute

Saturday, March 20th:

KFJC show “No Way Out” hosted by Zero Gravity from 9pm to Midnight (Pacific Time)

CJTR Community Radio, Al from “Mouth Radio” from Noon to 1pm

Sunday, March 21st:

WRXP “Vinyl Experience Show” from 9-10am (Eastern Tim)

Paul Cavalconte will be playing music from The Box Tops, Big Star and the Replacements…all on vinyl.

No Set Date:

Ah, Mr. Chilton Station on Pandora

SXSW 2010

Well, the geeks are getting ready to flee Austin to make way for all of the radio folks streaming in for the music portion of this massive festival of technology, music and film that is South by Southwest (SXSW).

As in years past, radio stations have both a visible and audible presence; hosting shows, doing live broadcasts, and sending contingents of DJs to check out up-and-coming bands and blog about the proceedings.

If, like me, you are fixated on radio, here’s a guide to some of the terrestrial radio stations who will be on the scene this year. Times are all CST. (If you know of more, please let us know in the comments section.)

Wednesday, March 17th:

KEXP broadcasts live (and hosts bands) from the Gibson Studios:

11:30am – Fanfarlo
1:30pm – The Middle East
3:30pm – Best Coast
5:30pm – The Crayon Fields
7:30pm – Title Tracks (more…)

Paul and Matthew each wrote a piece (click here and here) on songs about radio. Here are a few more suggestions:

1) Alkaline Trio “Radio“: Not really a song about radio, but it does discuss “radio” as an object in an interesting break-up song.

2) American Hi-Fi “Hi-Fi Killer”

I gotta disappear

Don’t wanna hear that sound on the radio

Yeah, we could all hum along

‘Cause it’s the same old song

(more…)

While digital HD Radio in the US generated some light interest during January’s Consumer Electronics Show, the BBC was sharpening its hatchet in anticipation of taking a few whacks at its digital radio service. The UK has had the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) service since the mid-1990s, predating HD radio in the US by a good half-decade. Unlike HD Radio, which broadcasts alongside analog signals, DAB uses a different set of spectrum dedicated exclusively to digital radio.

Although arguably superior to HD Radio’s IBOC system, both due to greater available bandwidth and not causing interference to analog stations, DAB isn’t necessarily doing any better in its home countries. As UK radio blogger Grant Goddard reports, many European countries are scaling back or ending their investment in rolling out DAB.

At the beginning of March the BBC confirmed rumored plans to shut down two of its DAB stations, the Asian Network, which serves South Asian communities, and 6 Music, which is a popular modern rock station. The 6 Music shutdown, in particular, has generated a significant outcry from listeners, with nearly 8,000 complaints filed with the BBC as of last Friday.

The 6 Music closure appears to hit a nerve because it was the BBC’s attempt at creating a cutting edge rock music station featuring more variety and up-and-coming bands than other BBC or commercial stations. Music celebrity hosts like Jarvis Cocker, Bruce Dickinson and Bob Dylan have had their own shows. When it debuted in 2002 it was the first new national service from the BBC since 1970. 6 Music was also intended to be a showcase for the new DAB service, supposedly taking advantage of the service’s enhanced digital fidelity.
(more…)