AC Tones said:
I have a guaranteed lifetime pension for 20 years of dedicated public service here and abroad in high-threat environments (and can send you my CV if you want), and do this just for fun and the intrinsic value of knowing that my listeners enjoy what I am doing and that it helps relieve stress from their day. Something to pass away the time and lower my own stress level.
I see nothing wrong with that. In fact, you are obviously pleasing yourself and a group of persons who do enjoy your efforts. If you follow the link below, you'll find an endeavor of a similar nature that produces no income, and has cost in the tens of thousands... so I understand the satisfaction you derive from your online station.
The issue is that commercial broadcasting has one model, and that is the amassing of as large an audience as possible so that advertising can be sold for as high a rate as possible. This can only be done by pleasing the listeners that each station is seeking; they don't appear by miracle and they don't stay just because of some billboards or ads on TV.
While you work for the satisfaction, for most of us in radio, the satisfaction is a key part, but we also work for the income that sustains us and our families. So we can't think about the art without thinking about whether the art is salable. As they say, Van Gogh might not have cut off his ear if imprssionism had been accepted and he had sold a few paintings...
Ask me how many $$$$ I have spent to advertise my station...ZERO...NADA...ZILCH...purely word of mouth, and obviously my mouth is not nearly as big as yours. Ergo, I do not expect to put up huge numbers, and really I could care less anyway.
That's the differnce. We do care, because getting good ratings is what keeps us employed, is the measure of our success... or failure... and is crucial to the sale of advertising.
What I am enraged about is that you and your crony buddies at BA
I don't work at BA. Never have. But, like most of us in the business, we know the players. I know Allen and think he is a good programmer, businessman and his work with local music programs and the NARAS is commendable. I have also known Owen Leach for perhaps 15 years or so, and consider him both a friend and an excellent radio person. And I know people ranging from the owner of Mexico's largest station group to engineers in markets like Palm Springs.... so singling out a couple of friends in an industry I have been in since 1959 is a bit disingenuous.
UNFORTUNATELY have the infrastructure, the reach, and resources to keep this format viable, but your unmitigated arrogance eeps you from seeing the forest through the trees.
I don't have anything to do with the format, so however arrogant I may be or not be has nothing to do with the smooth jazz format. On the other hand, I recognize the issues that the format has, and the biggest one is getting large under-55 audiences. I also know that by playing lots of new artists and new songs, you don't get the 35-54 audience in any format.
Frankly, I have had far greater challenges throughout my career getting guys to hang themselves with their own words and deeds. I have seen plenty of guys your type, and have had the displeasure of working for them as well. Insecure "bullies" hate to be challenged on any level (especially by some brash outsider like me), particularly if they feel they have a sense of entitlement simply because of their longevity in the business or the fact they have the power.
Without getting tedious, I have been in the business this long because I have been successful at a very high percentage of my projects. Power is ephemeral, and in radio one has a little of it only as long as the successes keep coming. Those with senses of entitlement are limited to station owners, and even then
the truest power in radio comes from the listener.
