new thread
If I had Donald Trumps money I would propose to purchase at least
five radio stations in five major markets such as:
New York City metropolitan area
San Francisco
Minneapolis-Saint Paul
Boston
Seattle
since Clearchannel seems to have a monopoly and doesn't concern
themselves with music fans then I would go to congress and get
some major support from various organizations to pass a law
requiring Clearchannel to sell off at least one station that they
currently own in the major markets just for starters.
I would explain before congress that my proposal is to purchase at
least five radio stations in five large metropolitan areas and it
would have a strong listener base for support so rather than ignore
listeners they would play a key role in what got played and what
didn't.
once I got a bill passed and was able to purchase the five radio
stations I would start hiring procedures for a staff
the stations would focus on playing all sorts of Rock styles, but
would not be limited to: Alt-Rock, Metal, Punk, Grunge, Goth,
Industrial,Blues-Rock,Garage Rock, but other Rock related styles
too. the stations would not be formulaic. in other words,
something that might not fall into those categories above could
still get played, however
any sort of Rap or hip hop music would NOT be played on any of my
stations. any songs with overtly misogynistic lyrics would NOT be
played.
the stations agenda would be to give Disc Jockey's the freedom to
select new tracks from different artists which fall under this
criteria and the focus would be to promote new artists or recording
acts not well known in the U.S. rather than to promote well known
established acts that are usually OVERplayed.
my stations would not suffer from the "Stairway to Heaven"
syndrome so there would be no Nirvana, Green
Day,RHCP`s,Offspring,Weezer,or Pearl jam played Ad nauseam.
these artist's could still get played pending on new releases, but
tracks that are 15-20 years old would not get played except during
the 'classic cafeteria' lunch hour show which would allow listeners
to call up or email requests. the listeners could also request
tracks that are currently new tracks that are being played on the
station on this show.
In general, all tracks would have a six month limit on
airplay with the first two months usually giving the track heavy
rotation depending on listener feedback.
if one song was voted in by listeners to get airplay on one D.J's
show listeners could request the song during another Dj's show and
the DJ would have to oblige them even if they personally did not
like the song.
the station manager would be over all D.J's and be responsible for
making sure that listeners were not neglected.
I would request all applicants for Disc Jockeys to propose how they
would promote unknown or new artists on their own show and provide a
sample of different artists with their resume.
any applicants who suggested a "classic cuts/oldies" playlist would
have their applications rejected and I would send them an email
suggesting that they go apply at a oldies/classic rock station since
the purpose of the station would be to promote newer and lesser
known artists.
also, bands would be invited to perform live on the station on a
regular basis with a minimum of one band performing live per day
with the option of doing a *unplugged* performance or both.
there would be at least one "King Biscuit Flower Hour" type
program every Friday night and it would be repeated on Saturday
night.
part of the requirement for D.J's would be to select at least 5 new
tracks minimum on their show every day and listeners could call
in and vote on whether the song stays or sucks.
majority rule would determine if the song stayed or not.
applicants for Disc Jockey's would be selected based on knowledge
of various musical styles and any previous radio experience would be
strongly considered for the hiring process.
Clearchannel stations and other stations would either have to focus
on their listeners or go out of business because we would have
strong listener support!
Jerry
Jerry, I too hate commercial broadcast radio for all the reasons you pointed out.
A good alternative to the programmed radio doldrums is Infernal Rock Radio (dot) com.
One of our own is DJ Beasty heard Wednesday's at 3pm eastern.
Bruce
Thanks Bruce beat me to it :-)
As much as I deeply appreciate the sentiment, I must tell you that as soeone who has taken courses telecommunications that it would be a very hard sell. Money talks, and not only because of the fact they pay off Congress, but it costs ALOT of money to maintain at least one radio station.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but to even start up a station you would have to take a loan upwards of 100,000 - 200,000 dollars. There are ALOT of protocols and standards which are government business. You must purchase a frequency range not in use by other companies or the government.
That being said, There are alot of rules pertaining to what the disc jockey can play and how long he must wait to play a particular song. Unfortunately they're called "commercial" stations since they appease to the majority of people who, no offense, have poor taste in music. You could always try to go the route of stations like XM Radio, Liquid Metal Station, etc., etc but still pay mind to the cost of royalties, maintenance, salaries, and don't even get me started if someone blurts out a cuss word. The FCC will, pardon my french, be up your ass. Think of it this way: You follow all the guidelines, and the FCC will be happy, piss them off, and you'll be in a world of crap.
I can tell you one thing for sure, the music and radio industries are tough to abide by, especially if you don't know what you're doing. As someone who wants to get his own band going, it's a path very few succeed.
Long story,short. You would bring back the localized, independent nature of radio of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I applaud this measure.
Alternative rock stations do exist, but they tend to be non-commercial or college stations. Some are small commercial stations in towns with a substantial hippie population. Staff and policies come and go, and the ability of the music departments to pick good stuff to play varies widely as people come and go.
Some low powered unlicensed (pirate) stations also appear in major metro areas and they can run without FCC challenge for many months and sometimes for years. One such station is a mile from our house.
In the 1970s I was a jock on WPGU in Champaign Urbana and my husband constructed WZRD in Chicago, two such stations, which are by the way still on the air. The aim of both of these stations was "to not sound like WLS", the 50KW rock station in the area. Like back then, many such stations are on the air. Tune around, and you will hear them!
Bill
P.S. Stairway to Heaven is groovy.
...or tune into internet radio. Some bloke called Beasty does a good show on www.infernalrockradio.com Plus it's free.