Roots women rule: Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams top 2011 roots music radio lists
The latest Roots Music Report is out, with data on roots bands getting airplay over radio stations in 2011. A lot of great women artists made top billing, including Alison Krauss & Union Station, Gillian Welch, and Lucinda Williams. But before we get to the rankings, here is how RMR describes itself: We compile radio […]
Call Sign Changes in San Francisco: KKSF to KOSF, KNEW to KKSF, and KKGN to KNEW
As part of an overall re-branding and re-formatting effort across several Clear Channel-owned stations in San Francisco, call signs for KKSF, KNEW, and KKGN were changed yesterday. The station formerly known as KKSF, now branded as oldies station 103.7 FM, became KOSF. That left the KKSF call letters available for use by the former KNEW […]
Racist or empire foe (or both?); KPFA vets the Ron Paul question
Berkeley, California based listener supported station KPFA did an interesting and informative program on the candidacy of libertarian Republican Ron Paul on Tuesday. KFPA talk show host, Mitch Jeserich, hosted the discussion on his Letters and Politics show as Republicans (including Paul) compete for favor in the Iowa Caucuses. [UPDATE 10:41 PM CST: Paul comes […]
Radio Survivor’s 2011 Year in Review
Happy 2012. Over the past few weeks, Matthew, Paul and I have written up our obligatory “year-end” pieces, summarizing some of the big radio trends from 2011. I covered college radio in my article, 2011: The Year that College Radio Fought Back, Paul wrote about some of the technological changes in music in his piece, […]
2011: The Year that College Radio Fought Back
The champagne is chilling in the ‘fridge, marking the end of another year. As I look back on the events of 2011, it’s been a rough year for college radio. But, at the same time, 2011 will go down in history for its worldwide protests. Time recently named “the protestor” as its person of the […]
Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” wins #1 notch on Spotify US top 100 list
Spotify has released its top 100 lists for 2011. They include staff favorites, too. Here are the first ten user picks from the Spotify United States top 100 roster, which leads with Foster the People‘s rather disturbing (but very listenable) song, “Pumped Up Kicks.” 1. Pumped Up Kicks, Foster the People 2. Stereo Hearts – […]
12 Days of Radio Station Signage Recap – Match the Station with Its Sign
Happy Impending New Year! Now that I’ve wrapped up my 12 Days of Radio Station Signage series, here’s an opportunity for you to match each sign with its corresponding station. Some of them are obvious if you look closely at the pictures, others may be a bit more challenging. Ready, set, go! Day 1: Do […]
12 Days of Radio Station Signage: Day 12 – Don’t Go Back Here or Touch Anything
Leave it to DJs to fiddle with things that they are not supposed to. Signs at KFJC warn against adjusting turntable weights (since people always seem to mess them up) and other stations have posted notices about leaving computers and equipment alone. My favorite in this genre is this catch-all sign that commands DJs to […]
Bereft KGO talk radio fans gear up for second demo
It is once more into the breach for Former Listeners of KGO, still furious over the Cumulus owned AM station dumping a slew of popular talk show hosts on December 1. The group has announced its second demonstration in front of the station’s studios: 900 Front Street in San Francisco. The first was held two […]
12 Days of Radio Station Signage: Day 11 – When this Light is on…Shut Up!
Most radio stations have an “on-air” sign that lights up automatically when the microphone is turned on so that people wandering about the studio have a visual cue that it’s not the best time to carry on loud conversations. In addition to “on-air” lights, some stations go a step further by posting instructions reminding radio […]