Radio - Page 2

Clear Channel Coming To The Very Halting Realization That It Pretty Much Screwed Up Radio

noah | April 17, 2009 5:24 pm
noah | April 17, 2009 5:24 pm

seacrestoutClear Channel has announced that it is going to try and “improve program quality” at all the radio stations that it owns in the country through–gasp–allowing station managers to program their charges in a way that’s relevant to their local audience. Yes, “hyperlocalization”–a buzzword that, since it’s being employed by a bunch of Internet startups these days, must be worth something, right?–is the new name of the game at the radio behemoth. Sort of! More »


Jamey Johnson Finds Out That Country Radio Doesn’t Take Chances

Dan Gibson | March 6, 2009 12:30 pm
Dan Gibson | March 6, 2009 12:30 pm

For a rough-looking guy with a giant beard, Jamey Johnson has done relatively well in mainstream country music, with award nominations and a top ten hit, “In Color.” However, “In Color” was a touching track about a veteran showing old pictures to his grandson, the sort of thing that tends to do well at country radio. What about when Johnson’s label floats a track that contains lyrics about smoking pot in a church parking lot?

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If You’re Going To Play In Alabama, Watch Your Damn Language

Dan Gibson | March 4, 2009 3:00 am
Dan Gibson | March 4, 2009 3:00 am

The Birmingham Weekly reports that local classic… More »



Lil Wayne Just Wants To Rock–But Will Rock Radio Let Him?

Al Shipley | January 26, 2009 11:00 am
Al Shipley | January 26, 2009 11:00 am

The gap between hip-hop and rock, whether musical or cultural, is often greatly exaggerated. There are simply too many people who enjoy large amounts of both genres, too many musicians from either discipline who have crossed that gradually disappearing line. But every time a rapper tries to rock or a rocker tries to rap, we go through the same familiar motions. The artist invariably behaves as if his actions are as bold and groundbreaking as the first time Aerosmith stood onstage alongside Run-DMC; sometimes, fans and critics agree, but more often, the reaction is of the “omg lol wtf” variety, with enough feigned outrage and distaste to make one think none of these people had ever seen peanut butter in their chocolate before. “Why do rappers like Coldplay so much?” may very well be the inane watercooler observation of the 21st century.

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The Indie 103.1 Shutdown: Was It Eaten By The People Meter?

noah | January 15, 2009 5:45 am
noah | January 15, 2009 5:45 am

More on the shutter of Los Angeles freeishform radio station Indie 103.1, which had its format go online-only earlier today: The semi-bewildering goodbye notice running on the terrestrial station, which bemoans their having to “play the corporate radio game,” is apparently at least somewhat rooted in the radio-ratings company Arbitron replacing the old “diary system” of recording listeners’ radio habits with devices known as Portable People Meters (PPMs), which track said habits electronically. These devices have caught some heat for underrepresenting minorities and younger listeners; the sample size in the Los Angeles area was about 2,750 people around the time of launch. It may not surprise you to learn that the switch proved to be disastrous for the station’s numbers (“LITERALLY a 0.0,” according to owenmeany), and a former specialty-show DJ wrote about it on the Los Angeles Times‘ music blog:

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Well, This Sorta Sucks: R.I.P., Indie 103.1

noah | January 15, 2009 1:15 am
noah | January 15, 2009 1:15 am

Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles—which, you may… More »



Dan Gibson | November 25, 2008 4:45 am
Dan Gibson | November 25, 2008 4:45 am

While the news hasn’t been great for Sirius XM… More »


noah | November 20, 2008 3:15 am
noah | November 20, 2008 3:15 am

Yesterday, Al wondered why Guns N’ Roses’ record… More »


The Great Christmas Radio Wars Of 2008 Are Totally On, Grinches

noah | November 6, 2008 1:00 am
noah | November 6, 2008 1:00 am

Those of you who are keeping track of regular radio stations flipping to all-holiday formats before the traditional “day after Thanksgiving” start date, take note: two Boston stations have gone all-Christmas as of today, and I’m sure there are other stations around the country that have followed suit as well. (If you know of any in your neck of the woods, feel free to take to our comments section!) Meanwhile, the New York oldies station WCBS started sprinkling a few holiday surprises into its playlists all the way back in October, when it was trying to boost its listeners’ spirits with a Santa Song Of The Day. The lite-FM powerhouse WLTW decided that imitation was the best Christmas gift it could give to WCBS, so it too started playing its own Santa Songs, and that resulted in WCBS throwing a big fat lump of litigation down the waiting-room staple’s chimney:

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Phoenix Gets One Radio Station That May Be Worth Listening To

Dan Gibson | November 4, 2008 9:30 am
Dan Gibson | November 4, 2008 9:30 am

Phoenix has had a dance music station broadcasting over the desert air for the last six years, one of the few American radio outlets that provided Taylor Dayne with a slightly fatter royalty check each quarter. In news that was surely a real bummer to the glowstick crowd around these parts, Energy dimmed on Halloween, and Monday brought The Beat, which has a playlist devoted to classic hip-hop. Although I’m not giving up my satellite radio subscription quite yet, it was pretty great to hear these three tracks played consecutively yesterday:

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