November 13, 2006
Why You Can't Hear Our Music On The Radio...
Posted by Larry Karnowski at November 13, 2006 10:45 AM...especially in Raleigh Durham.
Here's a great article in the local Raleigh paper (written by the terrific David Menconi) about why it's so difficult to get our music on the radio. It's a fascinating read, going in to the business logic, history, and culture behind popular radio stations. It specifically compares and contrasts Raleigh's radio scene (typical of many medium-sized cities) against that of Austin's.
Fine article...but one ting David did not seem to dwell on was just how irrelevant radio has made itself to our generation over the past fifteen years. We have turned off our radios for good, and most likely won't ever come back. I can't think of a single friend of mine who listens to music on the radio. It is all iPods, CD players, and internet stations.
The recent trend of record labels purchasing plug spots for their artists in prime time TV shows shows they realize this. But even with massive investment, the downward spiral of CD sales continues.
Radio is dead. It committed suicide years ago.
Posted by: Jim Pipkin at November 13, 2006 11:00 AMRadio may be sick but it sure isn't dead. WUNC's "Back Porch Music". WNCU's "Eight Track Flashback".
Posted by: Hal at November 13, 2006 5:09 PMOnly public radio has any decent programming here in Arizona - and even those shows are precious, few, and far between.
Commercial radio has broken up and flowed through the hogshed slats.
Posted by: Jim Pipkin at November 13, 2006 5:20 PMWell, I've got my radioShark setup to record Back Porch Music, Thistle & Shamrock, the Pinecone Radio Hour (local bluegrass show), and a few others. That gets me through the weeknights pretty well. (Oh, and I love the eTown podcast!)
At work I recommend listening to WDVX over the Internet. It's a wonderful radio station, and it's from my hometown -- Knoxville! And don't forget the great streaming Internet radio from our friends AmericanRoots.com and FolkAlley.com! (And James will kick my ass if I don't put in a plug for the great BootLiquor.com too.) ;-)
Posted by: larry at November 13, 2006 8:47 PMWhy would radio be any different from other mainstream entertainment. Look at what is on TV, multiplex movies are rarely films and check out the crap (CULTURE WARRIOR, by Bill O'Reilly) on the NYTimes bestseller list.
There is good stuff everywere (music, films, books....well, maybe not good TV shows) but you just have to dig to find it. Isn't that part of the fun, part of the attraction?
Not most radio, not here, and not for me. I'll dig on the internet, hit the local venues, walk for miles around festivals (heck, I'll even start a festival just to see what happens) but I must admit to a lack of faith in almost all radio. Only a couple of shows - two, in fact -hold any appeal for me in my area.
And on long stretches of desert highway, most of the time I'd rather roll the window down and listen to the wind.
Posted by: Jim Pipkin at November 14, 2006 7:03 AM
