FCC releases Low Power FM MX list for western United States
The Federal Communications Commission has released a compendium of 79 Mutually Exclusive (MX) application groups for Low Power FM radio stations for states on the western side of the country. There are 248 applications all told. The FCC will now apply its points system for deciding which applicants among these clusters will actually get an […]
Podcasts: a Kick in the Pants of the Public Radio Establishment
Last week the New York Times published a feature article on Ira Glass and This American Life. Ostensibly it covers the show’s departure from distributor Public Radio International to join the more independent-minded Public Radio Exchange. However, the piece also follows Glass’s multi-tasking forays into other endeavors, like leading an off-Broadway dance show. Relevant to […]
Revisiting the birth of Scrobbling
I had fun over the Fourth of July rummaging around the Internet Wayback and looking at old images of audioscrobber.net, Richard Jones’ early version of Scrobbling as he was joining forces with Last.fm. Here is screenshot circa November 2004. Jones was a third year student at the University of Southampton at the time he cooked this […]
LPFM News: North Columbus Community Radio Application Dismissed after its “President” Denies Involvement with Group
On Monday, the application for a new LPFM license for North Columbus Community Radio in Columbus, Ohio was dismissed by the FCC. Several Informal Objections and Petitions to Deny (by REC Networks, Prometheus Radio Project, Common Frequency, and Percy Squire) were submitted in reference to this application. The application was dismissed by the request of […]
America F*ck Yeah is Spotify California’s top 4th of July song
Spotify’s data gathering subsidiary The Echo Nest has surveyed Spotify users state-by-state for their favorite fourth of July songs—or as Echo puts it: tunes that “are played proportionally more on the Fourth of July than during the rest of the year.” Here are some state’s Independence Day faves. For California, it’s ‘America F*ck Yeah’ from the […]
Google buys Songza for Play Music and YouTube
Google has acquired Songza, the curate-according-to-your mood song search and jukebox service. “We aren’t planning any immediate changes to Songza, so it will continue to work like usual for existing users,” Google’s press release says, but “over the coming months, we’ll explore ways to bring what you love about Songza to Google Play Music.” And: “We’ll […]
8tracks blossoms with user forums
The tech investment world is discovering 8tracks.com (we’ve known about it here for quite a while). Forbes has a huge story about the music playlist application titled “What if You Became a Big Company, But No One Noticed?” (translation: “no one” equals “people with money”). The piece cites a Comscore survey identifying 8tracks as the […]
College Radio Watch: WRAS Alumni Present Alternate Proposal as GPB Deal is Set to Begin this Sunday
As the impending programming changes at Georgia State University’s student-run radio station WRAS are set to take place this Sunday, supporters are continuing their efforts to convince administrators to halt the deal with Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB). As we’ve been reporting, Georgia State penned a deal with GPB allowing the public radio group to use […]
Lebanon 1982: the year that Casey Kasem got real
Late as usual, I thought I’d still write up my own recollection of the legendary radio hit-meister Casey Kasem. Paul Riismandel has a great reminiscence of him posted last week. As for me, I always experienced Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown as a dreary auto-pilot affair, served up with a canned voice and a canned smile. Then, […]
LPFM Watch: Awaiting Word on Public Notice for Competing LPFM Groups in the West
Earlier this week, REC Networks reported that the FCC will soon release a Public Notice regarding LPFM applicants in the western United States. This notice will apply to those applicants who are still in competition with others for the same frequency in mutually exclusive (MX) groups. According to REC Networks, …the upcoming Public Notice… will […]