Stop Online Piracy Act: an online music sharing killer?
I am reading Representative Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, and it scares the heck out of me. Like the oft-criticized Protect IP Act making its way through the Senate, the House bill is ostensibly designed to stop pirate content sites by allowing the U.S. Attorney General to get a court order forcing […]
Community Radio Comes to Borneo
Jim Ellinger of Austin Airwaves wrote with exciting news about a community radio station that he’s helping to launch along with RadioActive Radio in Borneo. Apparently the first community-run radio station in Malaysia, Radio Bario launched two weeks ago over the FM airwaves in the central highlands of Borneo. Yesterday Ellinger reported that the station […]
Clear Channel: laying off deejays; still pushing for deregulation
The New York Times reports that Clear Channel is laying off radio deejays across the country, perhaps in the hundreds. These include Tony Lynn and Myles Copeland of Clear Channel Albuquerque country music station KBQI, shown in the YouTube video below. But two weeks before the story came out, the radio giant once again asked […]
Public file is still alive as FCC considers online docs
At yesterday’s open meeting the FCC released a new proposal to “modernize” public inspection files at television broadcast stations [PDF]. The biggest change proposed is to have the FCC host the files on its own website rather than have each broadcaster use its own website. As expected, the Commission also vacated a 2007 order that […]
Shocker: public radio station asks listeners about format changes before making them
I could barely believe my eyes as I opened my Radio Survivor e-mail today and saw this notice from KALW-FM in San Francisco: “KALW is considering some significant changes for 2012, and before we move forward, we want to know what you think,” the announcement explains. The station is overseen by San Francisco’s Unified School […]
College Radio Still in the Spotlight at CMJ Music Marathon: Music Directors Talk Shop
Last week I was in New York City for the CMJ Music Marathon. As always, the city was packed with bands and college radio DJs who were either in town to discover the next big thing or in town to be discovered. My focus, as it has been the past few times that I’ve attended, […]
Turntable.fm fans get Halloween avatars
I’ve been complaining for months about the need for more avatars over at Turntable.fm. At last they’ve arrived, at least for Halloween. Here’s a sampling: As you can see, we have the Bride of Frankenstein and various Hollywood axe murderers among the array. Undisplayed is Dracula and the Frankenstein beast himself. Here’s what the scene […]
FCC Issues $10,000 Forfeiture Order to Pirate Cat Radio Founder
On Friday, the FCC posted a notice that a forfeiture order (PDF) for $10,000 was issued to Pirate Cat Radio founder Daniel “Monkey Man” Roberts for “willfully and repeatedly violating section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934…by operating an unlicensed radio broadcast station” in San Francisco. The letter is a follow-up to an earlier […]
CMJ College Radio Awards Winners Announced
On Thursday, during College Day at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, the winners were announced in CMJ’s annual College Radio Awards. As is frequently the case, the awards ceremony was full of fun and frivolity. Awards recognized college radio staffers/stations as well as organizations and people working in the music industry. WKDU […]
ATC host Michelle Norris will “step away” while husband works with Obama Campaign
The This is NPR blog discloses that All Things Considered host Michelle Norris’ husband Broderick Johnson has taken a top position with the Obama Campaign. “After careful consideration, we decided that Broderick’s new role could make it difficult for me to continue hosting ATC,” Norris explains in a published memo: Given the nature of Broderick’s position with […]