RADIO, The Way It Ought To Be

[Tibbs4]

Exactly. As I've often said, radio is not in the music business, or the music distribution business. We have a situation where the music business, the owners of those songs, feel they don't benefit from radio airplay. The record labels say their business model has changed, and they get paid by music users, not by music sales. So creating free radio stations that are devoted to the music and wide playlists doesn't benefit radio owners or music owners. Just a handful of listeners who mostly have the personal wealth to pay for the music directly. That's what the music industry, including the artists and songwriters, would prefer.

Well, Big A - I can't argue with that. 100 points for perfect delivery. Sadly, you just stated in 100 words what is indeed behind the curtain. (The only reason ever to format a station is to get advertising from a.) agencies if you can get em, but little guys can't get em and b.) play songs that local advertisers loved so they will listen and...

 

[Doctah]

"A recent show featured songs from William Devaughn, War, Earth Wind & Fire, Dave Brubeck, Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers, Graham Parker, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ram Jam, ZZ Top, Billy Squire, Mark Knopfler, Chris Isaak, Garland Jeffreys, Procol Harum, Rod Stewart & The Faces, The Eagles, Pat Metheny, Neil Young, George Harrison, Lovin’ Spoonful, and many more. Eclectic? Absolutely."

Um, no. A show consisting mostly of geezer rock that wouldn't appeal to anyone under 55? Yes. KCSN won't put this on HD1 because they play music from this century along with the classics.

 

[b-turner]

And those dang classical stations that go overboard that play stuff so old you gotta be 200 or more to remember hearing the stuff performed from the nose bleed section at the Bud Lite concert by the moat at the King's castle. I can hear their parents complaining about Mo's long hair and how he called himself Mo'zArt.

 

[Kemosabe]

And those dang classical stations that go overboard that play stuff so old you gotta be 200 or more to remember hearing the stuff performed from the nose bleed section at the Bud Lite concert by the moat at the King's castle. I can hear their parents complaining about Mo's long hair and how he called himself Mo'zArt.

To say nothing of the bawdy Bach jocks on those stations!

 

[Doctah]

To say nothing of the bawdy Bach jocks on those stations!

I sure wouldn't call any classical stations "eclectic"! To me that word means pushing boundaries and playing a wide variety of music. Something that KSBR show certainly doesn't do.

 

[Kemosabe]

I sure wouldn't call any classical stations "eclectic"! To me that word means pushing boundaries and playing a wide variety of music. Something that KSBR show certainly doesn't do.

We're not discussing the same things. Your interpretation of "classical" seems to be discrepant with the genre implied in b-turner's message and in my subsequent reply. For that matter, your interpretation of "eclectic" does not jibe with Webster's definition:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eclectic

While the foregoing word does not appear in my original post, it could aptly describe the playlists of classical stations such as WQXR, WFMT, et al. To wit, a classical playlist typically spans several centuries, not decades.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

We're not discussing the same things. Your interpretation of "classical" seems to be discrepant with the genre implied in b-turner's message and in my subsequent reply. For that matter, your interpretation of "eclectic" does not jibe with Webster's definition:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eclectic

While the foregoing word does not appear in my original post, it could aptly describe the playlists of classical stations such as WQXR, WFMT, et al. To wit, a classical playlist typically spans several centuries, not decades.

If I remember correctly, I think it was an old KUSC bumper that said "All music was new, once". Good music is indeed timeless, regardless of genre. If you are mixing different genres of good music, it is eclectic.

But this all misses the point. Commercial radio has never been interested in "good" music; it is interested in "profitable" music. This has been Big A's point for years. It just so happens that a small minority of the music that is pumped out is good; most isn't. That is the way it is now. In decades past, a much higher percentage of the music was good. It is not that music has degraded over time, it is the taste of the public that has degraded over time, which is why "profitable" music nowadays simply isn't very good. There is a small minority of people who are still interested in good music, and they gravitate towards the classics - classical orchestra, classic jazz, classic country, and of course, classic rock. Because they are in the minority (and generally out of demo), commercial radio is not a good vehicle to serve them and they must find their choices somewhere else.

 

[TheBigA]

But this all misses the point. Commercial radio has never been interested in "good" music; it is interested in "profitable" music. This has been Big A's point for years.

Maybe. Along the way, we play a lot of good music, or at least music that has been viewed as good. My view is that OTA radio is designed to be a "free sample." It's not intended to completely replace personal music collections. On the other hand, Pandora and Spotify are music delivery services designed to replace personal music collections. Two difference approaches.

 

[Maestro]

I sure wouldn't call any classical stations "eclectic"! To me that word means pushing boundaries and playing a wide variety of music. Something that KSBR show certainly doesn't do.

I've been watching this thread for a few days and just want to add my $.02 since it is my show that is the topic of this thread. First of all, merely looking at the artist roster of one show over the course of 15 years of shows takes what I do "out of context". The compelling feature of my show is it's always different. Yes, many of the artists are so called classic Rock, Jazz, Folk artists but I can assure you the tunes are not the "Usual Suspects" you hear on commercial or even Satellite Radio, ad nauseam. I always throw in some newer music and I play artists long gone from any "Classic Rocker" rotation. I also play Jazz, Blues, Pop, Country, Reggae, Alternative, Comedy, Folk and yes, pray tell, Classical. My criteria for content is it must be good not just different. I've never repeated the same set of music in over 15 years, all my musical sets last 13 -20 minutes and there are no "Train Wrecks". I have complete freedom, no one pre-approves my content, and all music is from my personal library. I started in Radio at the dawn of "Progressive Rock" and left when the consultants came in and tightened playlists to the point of strangling a once vibrant format, last stop was WYSP FM in Philadelphia when Quad was all the rage. I returned to Radio at KSBR and was given the opportunity to do something different on Saturdays beginning in 2004. Please go to http://bobksbr.podomatic.com or http://www.tunein.com and check out the setlist from past shows (podomatic.com has complete shows back to 2015) perhaps even listen, if you're looking for an intelligently programmed music show. By the way, playing music just because it's new or obscure is not a guarantee of good Radio. The best part, my show is always "LIVE", no Voice Tracking like Satellite or much of terrestrial Radio these days. "Try It, You'll Like It"
Bob

 

[AM FM listener]

Whoa. Bob, himself, replying to a thread about his own show. That's pretty cool.

 

[Maestro]

Update to Radio The Way It Ought To Be

Whoa. Bob, himself, replying to a thread about his own show. That's pretty cool.

Beginning this Sunday, “Whole ‘Nuther Thing” will be aired on 88.5 FM from 3 - 5 PM following Mimi Chen’s Peace, Love & Sunday’s. My Saturday 3-7 show will remain on the HD2 Channel. Both show’s will have unique content.

 

[Maestro]

Radio The Way It Ought To Be Update

Beginning this Sunday, “Whole ‘Nuther Thing” will be aired on The New 88.5 FM from 3 - 5 PM following Mimi Chen’s terrific Peace, Love & Sunday’s. My Saturday 3-7 show will remain on the HD2 Channel. Both show’s will have unique content.

 

[goriajk]

GREAT ARTICLE!! If you like great music and miss hearing great music on the radio, Please check out this article (BTW you can hear it by "tuning in" from anywhere in The Universe.) https://www.ocregister.com/2018/09/...m-hd2-digital-station-that-needs-to-be-heard/

AMEN!!! Please don't forget to donate to 88.5FM to keep programs like Bob Goodman's show on 88.5 HD1 AND 2
Joe G