We used to depend on the radio.\u00c2\u00a0 We were addicted to our transistors, then our FM radios and then…MTV.<\/p>\n
I just heard "Cool Places" on Sirius.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, you remember that one.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you believe they actually PLAYED Jane Wiedlin and Sparks on MTV?\u00c2\u00a0 Remember when we were all addicted to MTV, when it was a train-wreck we couldn’t help but watch?\u00c2\u00a0 Boy are those days done.<\/p>\n
You can’t blame MTV.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re in the TELEVISION business.\u00c2\u00a0 I.e. the ratings business.\u00c2\u00a0 Wherein unless you stay tuned in for half an hour, refraining from flipping, it’s like you never tuned in at all.\u00c2\u00a0 Music wasn’t built for television, but radio.\u00c2\u00a0 With its inefficient Arbitron system.<\/p>\n
We all now know that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 killed radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Put a stake right through its heart.\u00c2\u00a0 We ended up with consolidation and ever more limited playlists.\u00c2\u00a0 Terrestrial radio is THROUGH!<\/p>\n
But who knew that the record labels\/RIAA would go on to kill not only file-trading, but Internet radio.\u00c2\u00a0 So concerned about getting paid, the record labels killed exposure.\u00c2\u00a0 And aren’t they happy now, in a world where you can’t REACH enough people to get a diamond disc.<\/p>\n
After "Cool Places" I heard "Blue Monday".<\/p>\n
Why do I know "Blue Monday"?\u00c2\u00a0 KROQ!<\/p>\n
The KROQ broadcasting today is a pale imitation of what it used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 It used to be a clubhouse, the coolest place on earth, somewhere everybody hung out, not only newbies but those who were refugees from AOR.\u00c2\u00a0 KROQ would play the most left field shit.\u00c2\u00a0 You got the idea renegades were running the station.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas today it’s now evidence of a lowest common denominator mentality, where a corporation and its employees have contempt for the listener.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean really, do you think the deejays want to hang with the fourteen year olds who listen to this station?\u00c2\u00a0 With its noisy alternative rock so out of whack with what the public wants that station after station playing this music has gone under\/changed format in the past few years?<\/p>\n
Indie 103 is better.\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, I heard FREE on Jonesy’s Jukebox today.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s why the guy’s successful.\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t worry about appearing cool, he just wants to play GOOD MUSIC!\u00c2\u00a0 He’s a rocker of yore, less cynical than those who never picked up an axe.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, could it be a case of post rehab "when you’ve got nothing you’ve got nothing to lose"?<\/p>\n
But Indie 103 can’t reach critical mass.\u00c2\u00a0 Not because of its signal, but because radio is passe.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, iPods are what are cool.\u00c2\u00a0 Getting an iPod hookup in your car is COOLER and more NECESSARY than getting a satellite radio tuner.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s how bad radio’s cred is.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas radio used to be the ultimate filter, the place you went to get TURNED ON TO THINGS!<\/p>\n
How in the hell are you going to get turned on to something today?\u00c2\u00a0 Something as left field and exquisite as "Blue Monday"?<\/p>\n
And don’t forget in the eighties, KROQ played hip-hop too.<\/p>\n
It was akin to a Top Forty station of yore.\u00c2\u00a0 It was less about FORMAT, and more about what resonated, what was cool.<\/p>\n
And like I said, radio is SO uncool today that CBS wants to sell stations.<\/p>\n
It’s just like half a century ago.\u00c2\u00a0 With record labels refusing to have their records spun on the original radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Not seeing exposure is EVERYTHING!\u00c2\u00a0 Wanting to get paid in the new era, the record labels are putting themselves out of business.<\/p>\n
At some point in the future there will be a cool place to go to get turned on to new music.\u00c2\u00a0 That will be the FUNCTION of the place.\u00c2\u00a0 Music will be first, not atmosphere or advertising.<\/p>\n
That’s what this playlist mania is today.\u00c2\u00a0 But people don’t want to comb endless lists.\u00c2\u00a0 They want to be spoonfed.\u00c2\u00a0 AND, they want some place EVERYBODY ELSE IS!\u00c2\u00a0 We gravitate as a culture to norms.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe not exclusively, but we want to feel a pulse.\u00c2\u00a0 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the record companies have conspired to eviscerate the norms.\u00c2\u00a0 Replacing broad-based outlets with such narrowly focused researched niches parading as broad-based that NO ONE IS INTERESTED!\u00c2\u00a0 Except for the lowest common denominator.<\/p>\n
I say the labels should lower rates to Internet radio TODAY!\u00c2\u00a0 In the hope that some stations will evolve.\u00c2\u00a0 What’s the cardinal rule?\u00c2\u00a0 Less of something is better than all of nothing?<\/p>\n
There is an exposure crisis.\u00c2\u00a0 And those who own the wares are doing nothing to address it, they’re just making war on their fans.<\/p>\n
Terrestrial radio is never coming back.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s burnt, gone forever.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe a whole new generation could become enamored of it, but that would take DECADES!\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, advertising is SUCH a turn-off today, people want what they desire ALL THE TIME!<\/p>\n
Satellite’s a good waystation.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, the record labels are constantly trying to put the big hurt on that outlet.<\/p>\n
But Net radio…\u00c2\u00a0 That’s easier.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody’s got an Internet connection.\u00c2\u00a0 Can’t Mitch Bainwol get his troops together to jump-start Net radio, to get SOMETHING STARTED SO PEOPLE CAN BE EXPOSED TO GREAT MUSIC?<\/p>\n
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We used to depend on the radio.\u00c2\u00a0 We were addicted to our transistors, then our FM radios and then…MTV. I just heard "Cool Places" on Sirius.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, you remember that one.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you believe they actually PLAYED Jane Wiedlin and Sparks on MTV?\u00c2\u00a0 Remember when we were all addicted to MTV, when it was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s96vPs-exposure","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}