Wave Farm Residency Now Accepting Applications
Sound artists with an interest in broadcasting and transmission arts have an opportunity to apply for a residency at the Wave Farm Study Center at community radio WGXC in New York’s Upper Hudson Valley. It’s really the only full-time radio station in the US (if not the world) that specifically focuses on creative and artistic […]
Opportunities Abound for Podcasting in 2015
With interest in podcasting at an unprecedented high, the medium needs to hang onto that momentum in 2015. That means new listeners attracted by Serial–or attracted by all the hype–need to find other shows to tide them over until season two comes out, and they need to be able to find and listen to those […]
Did Stan Freberg Invent the Comedy Podcast?
While on vacation this past weekend, I spotted a 1966 Stan Freberg comedy LP in a used bookstore. The album, Freberg Underground Show #1, audaciously announces on its cover that it is “Introducing a ZOWIE! new medium: Pay Radio!” Modeled after Freberg’s radio shows, the album replicates the same format, but was free from network […]
They Might Be Giants Launches Dial-a-Song Radio Network
They Might be Giants just brought back its Dial-a-Song series (which debuted in the 1980s) in which the band is releasing a new song every week for a year. As part of the promotion, it will be debuting each week’s song over a Monday night podcast (“The Gist”) on Slate as well as sharing the […]
Do we need another Blue Book for radio?
I am reading Victor Pickard’s terrific book America’s Battle for Media Democracy and wondering to myself: do we need another “Blue Book” for radio? What was the Blue Book (you may be asking)? It was a publication released by the Federal Communications Commission in 1946 titled “Public Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees.” As Pickard summarizes […]
A Night Vale Holiday Recap
I’ve been absent in light of schoolwork, and it’s felt good catching up on WTNV. That vaguely promised book has been officially announced, so that’s pretty exciting. I’d gotten pretty behind (by my standards, anyway), so I’m going to be glossing over The List, Monolith, and Antiques. Perhaps the most endearing thing for me about […]
10 Fascinating Things Spotted at College Radio Stations in 2014
I was lucky to be able to visit quite a few college radio stations in 2014 and have shared some of those field trips on Radio Survivor and Spinning Indie. Next week I’ll write up a comprehensive “2014 year in review” post about the state of college radio, but as I reflect back on the […]
Top 100 composer lists: and the point is . . . ?
Classical public radio station WQXR in New York City has released its annual New Year’s top 100 composition list—the results of a listener poll of favorite pieces. The results bear an uncanny resemblance to, well, last year’s WQXR top 100 list. Here are the top dozen of this year and 2013: 2013 2014 1 Beethoven Symphony […]
2014 – A Pivotal Year for LPFM
As we reflect back on 2014, it was an exceptional year for low power FM (LPFM) radio in the United States. Beginning on January 15, 2014, the FCC began granting construction permits to some of the 2,799 groups who submitted applications in the late 2013 filing window and by the end of January, 2014, more […]
Retro Radio Farm and an Archive of Radio History
Happy New Year! For your holiday weekend enjoyment I thought I’d share a couple of fun radio-related sites I’ve been made aware of. First, is the Retro Radio Farm, sent to me by Jenny. As described by MessyNessy Chic, it’s an Etsy store run by “a music box wizard of sorts, specialising in bringing some […]