I think a road trip is in store to see this. Words do not explain. Basically, a hipster is a genre of human male that have generally rolled into several vibrant cities in the southern states - Nashville, Asheville, Charleston, etc. Now it's attacking Chattanooga, Savannah and college towns in AL, GA, etc. They pack their cars full of squared off checkered shirts with pretty patterns, skinny jeans and some form of non-Southern boot-type things. They come in never washed Woodstock-style cars, with only a suitcase, no razors, but more knowledge of how the world should be than anyone in the city they enlighten upon. Usually, they find their way into the hottest new restaurants and create "mixology"-type drinks, drink or suggest locally made craft beers from where they came (and complain that they can't get any of those beers 1,000 miles away) and spend time after work going to music events and buying cheap cologne to keep their tracks fresh. They can be roughly 26ish up to their low 40's. They could have a man-bun hair"cut" or generally never washed their hair or shaved since puberty. They tend to stick together as a group. They manage to attract the pretty women and they go hang out in the hip parts of town until the next hip part of town becomes their next fix and abandon the old hot spot without regret. They generally are like preppies in the 80's, just more designs on their shirts. They are into local, but will leave a city in a heart beat, if the internet tells them to go.
Music Row is a wasteland of corporate shells, Big A. You know that. They have fled and scattered in the night with downsizing, label cons, layoffs. Small producers still try to reflect the past and pay tribute to some of the historical aspects of country music. Mainly, the county format has evolved to more of a "pop" sound, with predictable patterns, seventh grade pick em up truck driving lines and are considered, by the hipsters in particular, to be of no value. They are not, as a group "allowed" to listen to The Big 98, except maybe Romer, who could be a hipster, I guess, in his own way. So they embrace a bit of the glorified roots-style music. Note I said "bit." Small bands, non-conventional sounds and lyrics, elements that could never find any success on the majority of corporate-radio stations. Yes, it is a similar situation to Austin or Seattle or now San Diego. Go to some of the Roots shows and you will see quite a diverse crowd. You are right, the majority is a bit older who go for the actual music. Most of the hipsters go more for the social aspect and stay with in an ears distance of the music, but not in the venue, with them old peoplez on them church pews. They generally "hear it" while talking and texting. Some of this, while sounding brutal, is actually good. Most of these folks are harmless. They bring in business and they demand local, quality products verses the "national garbage" on grocery store shelves. They tend to be able to make decent money suggesting weird wines their younger than them manager has stolen from older somms lists in NYC and Chicago, spouting off the plastic-flavors of their favorite funky beers made with anything except beer and upselling food items in the restaurants and bars to newbies in Nashville or the droves of tourists visiting our 5,000 cranes on the all new skyline city they believe is a result of their arrival and lack of ever saying thank you when someone let's them in the worse-than LA traffic. Dammit, they even still use their turn signals. Same hip-folks tend to also go for the retail or online-type companies, or work at the mall at stores selling coffee, containers (as in card board boxes) or Trader Joes. In all honesty, they are pretty dang good folks. We just can't tell you that.
This Americana crowd and music-genre is not one-size-fits all. The music is just too diverse to please the ardent followers with each and every group or artist. But, it creates sort of an old style WSM-AM Barn Dance that has some pretty awesome elements of "wonder what the heck's next." Add that to a Grand Ole Opry-style design and hosts and you have a whatever the night of the week it is hoedown. I have seen people in their teens (very few) to folks in their 80's and 90's. Same as a Cracker Barrel on a Sunday night, but the Hipsters don't do Cracker Barrel.
This format will work on WMOT "better" than what they had recently. They had lost 99% of their listeners. This just gives the station a fresh, semi-locally based format and a company designed to tie all the marketing, advertising, promotions, groups and artists in to one big radio broadcasting event. John Walker, Roots creator, had been working on this for quite some time. He has wanted a 24/7 station for years. WMOT bit. I have to say it is shocking the stars lined up. They do not usually do that in Nashville. This the painful allure. As for the bidding process, I am sure we will hear how that played out when the ole WRVU-ers hit the Nashville Scene and say they never had a chance to bid. They have their own version of "college" radio with WXNA now. Your are correct on the fact that WMOT is a college station only in location of studios. But, to be fair, not many students had the interest in playing NPR, jazz or classical. WMOT was always the advisors station, designed for adults and pretty much off limits to any pimply-faced freshman ready to, uh, pop their own band onto the airwaves. I can only imagine what the format of the payola per month plan might be.
