who is gonna stop me

[snapper]

I'd like some answers. I know nothing about how the record company -radio station relationship works.

First of all- who pays who, and how, as far as what is going to be played on my local rock radio station.The record company,the radio station, the dj, me. These radio stations have so much influence as far as what is going to be bought in the cd store this week.

Everyone who listens to radio will agree that most of it is complete crap. Who's pushing the brainwash button. It seems to me there are a lot of things that these people just wont talk about or wont be honest about. I'ts all driven by somebodys money.

So Im listening to the radio and there is a lot of nothing(static) between stations. I am admittably ignorant about this but why cant I erect a tower and play whatever the hell I want( if I could afford to). Is the fcc pilferred by all these dollars or am I really ignorant. Does the fcc charge gigantic fees for liscenses to do this for a good reason. Am I right that huge corporate conglomerates control many many stations. Thats a lot of influence over feeble minds like mine.

 

[Vurt]

Well, I don't agree at all that most people who listen to the radio think that its crap. If that were the case, then they wouldn't listen to it and radio would have to change. The local classic rock station around here plays the same music EVERY SINGLE DAY and has for like 15 years. They're VERY successful. Their songlist is influenced not so much by money, but listener statistics. Every single year they conduct a survey of some kind that involves playing several short takes of many different songs - both popular and unknown. The listener responds by deciding which ones he/she finds most appealing, and it's always the Pink Floyd or Steve Miller or whatever, because it's familiar to them. It's not the stations fault - they're in it for ratings and money - it's the lazy people, and they brainwash themselves.

The average person doesn’t care that much about music. This is the person who responds to your question of “who/what do you listen to” by saying “anything”. They don’t purchase a lot of music, and nothing that isn’t a no-brainer for them. There’s nothing wrong with this – I’m the same way about movies. I like to sit back and be mindlessly entertained for 2 hours. Period. I don’t give a rats ass who directed it or anything.

Unfortunately for those of us who care a great deal about music, this apathetic group is the majority, and so we get bombarded with enough repetition to sometimes make us think – even for just one foul moment – that we actually hate Led Zeppelin. Every once in a while I’ll write a letter to that local station I mentioned and suggest that they open things up a little, but they don’t, and they won’t.

Anyway, I don’t know much about the FCC but I’m sure that licensing fees aren’t cheap, and plus you then have to deal with those Quakers. I remember hearing a few months ago that they were thinking of offering some lower frequency segments to the public because of their growing concern over pirate radio stations, but haven’t heard anything since.

Support your local public stations and encourage them to carry things like World Cafe and have their own music shows where local bands could showcase their work. Encourage the people in your city/town to boycott a station until they stop spoon-feeding you. Most people will jump at the chance to stand up against an establishment, even if they don’t know why. Fuck radio altogether. Buy an ice cream truck, load it with great equipment, and take your work to the streets. Yeah, I like that one.

-Adam