Radio Survivor

With Music Banned from Somali Radio, What will DJs Play?

There are growing concerns about the control that militant groups are wielding over citizens and media outlets after music was banned from Somali radio on Tuesday and school bells were outlawed from a Somali town on Thursday.

Today’s New York Times reports that, “Insurgent groups in Somalia have increasingly alienated the population by imposing a harsh interpretation of Islam, stoning people to death and amputating the hands and feet of thieves. They have also issued strict edicts controlling the more mundane aspects of daily life, banning things like bras and soccer games in their territory.”

According to another story in the New York Times, music is one of the most recent areas of focus:

“At least 14 radio stations here in the capital [of Mogadishu] stopped broadcasting music on Tuesday, heeding an ultimatum by an Islamist insurgent group to stop playing songs or face ’serious consequences.’”

In some cases stations have replaced musical interludes with the sounds of animals, bullets, sirens, and nature in order to comply with the ban. The article explains that militant Islamist groups believe that music is “un-Islamic.” Reports have suggested that station owners and DJs complied with the ban out of fear for their lives and safety.

In addition to the ban on music, Islamists have taken control of some radio stations in Somalia and have outlawed programs (such as BBC and Voice of America) from foreign countries. Yet, there are some stations fighting back against the ban. The article points out that,

“At least two radio stations did not heed the ban. The government-owned Radio Mogadishu and another station, Radio Bar-Kulan, which is mostly produced in Kenya, continued playing music.”

It’s frightening to see radio stations changing their programming due to threats and is a strong reminder about the consequences of war on freedom of the press. Radio can be used as such a powerful force to inform and empower citizenry, particularly during times of war. The work by Interactive Radio for Justice in Central Africa has demonstrated how vital free airwaves and community radio are, making this news about the situation in Somalia even more troubling. According to a Voice of America article today,

“The National Union of Somali Journalists says Somalia’s once-thriving independent media will cease to exist, if the current crackdown on media organizations continues unchecked.”

The bans on both music and bell-ringing also point out debates about the definition of music. Stations have gotten around the music ban by playing the sounds of roosters and engines, yet there are people who find both sounds to be musical. A few years ago I attended the Experience Music Project’s annual Pop Conference in Seattle and one of the most fascinating panel discussions that I saw was focused entirely on the relationship between music and war and how music can be used to both escape from the horrific sounds of violence and can also be used as a recruitment tool for soldiers.

Somalia is said to be a musical culture, so this ban is going to have a huge impact on its citizens who will no doubt find ways to rebel and play music undetected.

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.
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My friend and award winning documentary film maker Alan Snitow wrote to me a couple of weeks ago with a good question. How come you rarely hear anyone at National Public Radio call it “National Public Radio” anymore, just “NPR”?

I went over to NPR’s web site to refresh my memory on this. By golly, I wrote back to Alan, it’s true. The only place you see the full name is up top where the meta title is.

<title>NPR : National Public Radio : News &amp;
Analysis, World, US, Music &amp; Arts : NPR</title>

Everywhere else it’s just the acronym.

So what’s with that? Alan wrote to NPR a couple of days ago. Was this inspired by Kentucky Fried Chicken going to “KFC”?

To which an NPR spokesdroid offered this reply.

“Thank you for your question about NPR’s branding efforts.

Over the past few years, we’ve been gradually transitioning from identifying ourselves by our full name, “National Public Radio,” to referring to ourselves as simply “NPR.” We’ve found that most listeners – and other news outlets – refer to us as “NPR,” and the acronym is now well known. That trend took place with other media outlets years ago, for example today people refer to the BBC rather than the British Broadcasting Company, or to CNN rather than the Cable News Network. (more…)

I am totally addicted to listening to BBC World Have Your Say. To a degree this is a guilty pleasure, since some of the episodes definitely ask reality show questions. Right now I’m auditing a discussion titled “Should Fat People Pay More?” when they buy airline tickets and other items—with a weight sensitivity activist saying no and a hard nosed New York kind of guy saying yes.

But what I totally love about the show is that it really is the English speaking world having its say. The debate between the New Yorker and the weight activist is over. And WHYS Ros Atkins is announcing who is on the lines. “I can see Barbara’s phone from South Africa, Cathy in Sweden, and also John in the [United] States,” Atkins says. Plus e-mails are coming in from Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere. Most are in favor of the extra charges, as is Cathy.

“Discrimination usually applies in cases where the person has no control . . . ” she says, “therefore gender, ethnicity, your age, for example. In my opinion obesity is for the most part a choice.” Next comes an economist who says higher prices for unhealthy foods might encourage people to lose weight. After he’s finished Ros puts on Barbara from Johannesburg, but surprises her with a question about whether a “fat tax” would get people to slim down.

Barbara stumbles. She wants to talk about people in airplanes feeling “squashed” by bigger folks. “But Barbara, you’re describing what other people think. I want to know what you think . . . ” Ros insists, and the global conversation goes on.

Do me a favor

Not all the shows ask Oprah style questions. “Should Google pull out of China?” “Would you adopt a child from Haiti?” or “Have the French done Muslim women a favour?” by proposing a ban on Islamic face veils? Is the Burka a symbol of oppression and empowerment? (more…)

A British audience research firm says that one out of every three adults in the United Kingdom “now claims to have listened to the radio via the internet.”

“Claims”? Reading UK audience research takes a little getting used to. There’s a skepticism for the subject cohort that you don’t find in the United States. In any event, here’s the main finding of the Rajar research service:

“One third (33.9%) of the UK’s adult population (15+) or 17.4 million people claim to have ever listened to the radio via the internet, compared with 16.9 million people in May ‘09. This includes 16.2 million listening live and 13.9 million listening at a later time using Listen Again services.”

Listen Again = BBC Radio 4 online, we presume. In addition, over 8 million adults “have heard of WiFi radio” (a dedicated Internet radio device) “but just under a million adults claim to own one.”

“Personalised Online Radio” listening is up too (Pandora; Last.fm). From 3.9 million to 4.5 million since May 2009, Rajar says. And there’s research on podcasts:

“8.1 million people have downloaded a podcast (up from 7.8 million in May ’09), while 4.4 million say they listen to podcasts at least once a week (up from 4.2 million in May ‘09). However, only 24% find time to listen to all the podcasts they download.”

Apparently Rajar takes this last assertion at face value, rather than suggesting that the survey group merely claimed it. RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research Limited and was set up in 1992 to do audience tracking for the BCC and commercial stations.

KOME Sticker

Recently I was tracking some college radio news when I ran across Greg Blouch’s website, “Radio Sticker of the Day.” Immediately I was taken back to my junior high school years when radio station stickers were a hot commodity. My classmate Ricky Kanazawa would spend most of our English class time focused on a stack of bright yellow and black KOME stickers and an exacto knife, carving up new, inspired, psychedelic creations. I’m not sure if Greg has tapped into this aspect of sticker art; but his website is a testament to the most visible radio station branding that there is.

KISR Sticker Courtesty Greg Blouch

I dropped Greg a note to find out what fuels his obsession for radio station stickers and learn more about his website, “Radio Sticker of the Day.”

It turns out that his fascination with stickers began in the 1980s, around the same time that my friends and I were plastering KOME, KSJO, and KMEL stickers (with a picture of a camel on them) all over our notebooks, windows, and Pee-Chee folders.

Over the years he’s accumulated around 12,000 stickers and largely credits the Internet for making it easier for him to contact stations. His site only features pictures of stickers that are in his collection. I love that attention to detail! On to the interview:

WYSO Sticker Courtesy Greg Blouch

Jennifer Waits: How did you get started collecting radio stickers and what was your first sticker?

Greg Blouch: When I was 13 years old our family moved from Middleport, New York (in the western part of the state near Niagara Falls/Buffalo) to Celina, Ohio.  I was homesick and wanted to get my hands on something that reminded me of New York.

My favorite radio station had been 107.7 WUWU which was an offbeat, almost freeform, rock station heavy on the new wave music of the time (this was around 1982/1983.)  I wrote to the station and asked for a sticker which I promptly wasted by slapping it on a book cover for school.

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