Unclear Channel
There was a time when radio stations were community owned. Your local D.J. made the programming choices and most local bands got their foot in the door by getting A and B side rotation on the local radio station.
Those were the good old days. Today, in 2006, the ballgame is different.
Former President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which was basically the death blow to community radio stations. Corporate moguls, Clear Channel, started buying up mom and pop stations, upgraded the equipment and then, started dictating the play lists and the artists to be played. This left the local artist out in the cold.
In the old days, the local D.J. was the program manager. For these big corporate conglomerates, your program manager may be 300 miles away in another town. These big wigs don’t know your community and the communities listening style.
Radio was created to serve the community at large. Corporations have made much mint off of stripping communities of its sound that defined them. Can you imagine if this would have happened to the local radio scenes in Detroit, Memphis and Trenton N.J in the 60’s?
As an indie artist, there is still a way to get to your audience. Many cities still have thriving community radio scenes that play great indie music. You can find these stations on the internet by Googling “Community Radio Stations”.
Even though the corporate big wigs think that they are getting over, the community radio scene is going to come back through the Internet and alternate routes to getting heard.
THey have been getting over for a while, a long time now really but I think that if we begin to do things on our own and control the internet, we could do alot.
I hate the corporate devil that is clear channel with a passion but they have too many fingers in too many pies to really do anything about at this present time.
This is where the internet really comes into it’s own as it gives the individual a media with which to get their stuff out there and heard.
Also, the new playlist stations that are springing up (Pandora etc) are further places that are able to give bands exposure without having the playlist dictated to them.
I am so glad for the internet. I cannot stand corporate giants. In fact, I rarely even listen to the “popular” radio stations anymore. I am tired of hearing the same old song over and over, that isn’t even that good to begin with. Indie Labels are the way to go 100%. I think everyone that wants to hear quality music should turn off these “commercial” stations and listen to community stations only.
And let’s not forget MySpace, where tons of indie (and even established singers like Billy Joel) have their own pages and put up songs in the MySpace stand-alone players, often rotating them so that listeners won’t get bored.
The thing about the “good old days” of radio is that not all the “old days” were that good. Yes, DJs were often the stations’ program directors as well, but sometimes even they got greedy and fell into the infamous “pay for play” or “Payola” scandals.
What happened about the court case concerning internet radio? I remember reading that internet radio stations were in trouble, with big labels wanting money for songs played on them?
Internet radio has introduced me to tons of artists (indie and big name) that I’d never heard of before. It seems foolish for them to want to block that kind of thing.
Been there, done that. Years ago I was a D.J. at a small Ohio rock station. (No, not WKRP in Cincinnati!)I worked the overnight, and had pretty much control over what I played. I did not have to work a playlist, I only had a certain number of commercials, PSA’s, and news/weather spots I had to do during my shift. If I wanted to drop the needle down on In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida side A, and go up on the roof for a smoke, no problem. Not any more. You are so right about the way it works now. I wouldn’t go back into radio now. Besides, I got tired of the station (Cause they were beginning to lean toward the playlist type of control), so I played a song that usually gets no airplay,(You’re Breaking my Heart” by Harry Nillson – look up the lyrics if you want to know what I am talking about!) and I think the FCC is still looking for me!
It is all about the money people. I do remember back when it is was a not problem for locals to get airtime. But now it is all about commercialization. Unfortunately the listeners and the bands are the ones that suffer in this area. I more frequently here commercials more than music now. So we know where their loyalties are.
internet has really a big role in music now a days. you can get access to music with your internet. sometimes we are not thinking of turning on our radios just to wait and listen to our favorite bands or songs. i am glad that music is part of the internet.
The big compainies are still fighting the internet music revolution tooth and nail. They can’t seem to bring themselves to believe that their total control over the music market is coming to an end. They can no longer control whose recordings get heard by the masses and their may be some junk out there but the treasure that is a’waiting to be found a more than worth the journey.
It is such a revolution that has changed the whole face of music.I think there is nothing as such these big companies can do to put any kind of curb over it.Most of the people love the concept of availability of music of choice at click of the finger.No more those waitings, the masses used to be at the mercy, but with music on internet has changed every thing for good.
Generations by generations, the culture of music was redefined by big commercial music industries that put indie bands into a hard and uncontrollable situation. Thankful enough, with internet, Music can now be online. Music is all over the world from country to country. More power to all indie bands.