Okay Tosh, that's like saying it's time Americans got a new president, isn't it... And a lot of Americans did try.
But rules for radio and media are set by the FCC, and the tone of their decision making is typically set by the administration. This is an administration that believes that corporations are good, monopolies are not really a big deal, and any kind of government intervention in such matters amount to some kind of pinko communism. Most Americans appear to believe this. So Clear Channel is probably what a lot of Americans deserve. It's framed as "free speech," God forbid the government interfere with Clear Channel's right to free speech on radio waves it bought. The USA no longer has any notion of public good, except for freeways so we can drive our SUV's. There is no counter-philosophy in existence anymore which might challenge such thinking, or if there is, nobody reads about it because you won't see it in the corporate controlled newspaper. I'm taking a class with other adults on democracy right now, and almost all people believe that democracy and capitalism are identical. Any vaguely socialist idea must have something to do with gulags. However, when given the chance we do put lots of crazy stuff on the air waves. Community based radio IS the equivelant of the national radio that European countries have, that's why you here "NPR" (National Public Radio) news on the exact same stations that play techno or other types of adventurous programs. Not that NPR is so great, but that's just my opinion. You just can't compare the way Europe treats media to the way America is. Americans would never pay for a "national radio" that broadcast music most people probably hate. Americans don't want to find ANY kind of art via government means. Just remember, America is Europe's great utopian experiment! Good work guys... ;) Hey at least we invented house and techno and jazz and rock and roll right?! ~David ---------- Original Message ------------- Subject: Re: (313) Radio Fries - Don't Tread On Me Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:38:40 +0100 From: Tosh Cooey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Robert Taylor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> You're all far too bloody defensive. If you would defend your right to a free and open media marketplace as strong as you defend against a perceived slight against Matt's efforts then this would never be a problem. As John Osselaer previously said: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>The set is from Switch Studios which I guess is a radio station in Brussels, > > > ---> That's national radio for ya. Studio Brussel is the youth channel of > the national radio. Switch runs every Friday and Saturday, I believe from 8pm till the early morning hours. We've had quality dance shows on national radio from the early nineties on (Teknoville) ... > > John "National radio". One more time, "national radio", which means that the entire country is exposed. Granted it's a small country, probably the same size as the Chicago market that Matt services, but it's the idea. "National radio" is more "mainstream" than "community radio" is all that I said. I NEVER slighted "community radio". If you have proof of a counter-example then I'll concede. Damn... Anyway, then Matt got all defensive and made comments like this: "It's time people took community radio seriously as an alternative to the ClearChannel near-monopoly of programming." I disagree, I think it's time people took seriously the idea of PREVENTING or BREAKING-UP the "ClearChannel near-monopoly of programming." And everyone who suggests "well we have community radio and the internet blah blah" is being disingenuous, because that is a position of RETREAT, and the englobulators will not stop and let you have community radio and internet radio all to yourselves, they HAVE to grow otherwise their share price stagnates and they can no longer raise money from the markets, so they WILL GROW into your nice little world, or close your little world down. Anyway, Matt, don't be so defensive, what you're doing is great, and you know it's appreciated, just by proof of the amount of support you get. Nothing would make me happier than for you to become syndicated and available across the country, nationaly, but until then you're a niche within a niche, just like I am. Tosh -- McIntosh Cooey - Twelve Hundred Group LLC - http://www.1200group.com/ Robert Taylor wrote: > I know lots of people over in the UK who listen to the show on the net and > not all of them are 'heads' - I play the show in the office/library - my > colleagues who usually listen to Audioslave and U2 appreciate it and visitors > to the library ask what's playing so regularly that maybe I should get a 'now > playing' sign to put on the hatch! > > -----Original Message----- From: Matt MacQueen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 2:14 AM To: 313 Cc: Tosh Cooey; > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: (313) Radio Fries - Don't Tread > On Me > > > On Feb 7, 2005, at 7:35 AM, Tosh Cooey wrote: > >>> downloaded matt mcqueen's latest radio show (a counter-argument to your >>> claim that 'this' would never happen on american radio), a fabrice lig >>> mix, an old mixmaster morris mix >> >> --> Matt's a great guy, but he's playing for a very very very small niche >> in a very very very small niche market, not exactly mainstream. > > > Somehow i missed this thread, sorry for the late reply Tosh. I appreciate > the olive branch, but that attitude cracks me up. there was once a time in > the US when people probably said House music was very very small niche when > it was on the air here 15-20 years ago and guess what... it fired up a world > phenomenon that is still a part of the dance music culture you celebrate > daily. if you said that back then to the people Djing on WBMX or Hotmix 5 > or whatever, yeah, they could have said "why bother?" -- at that time it was > niche, they were playing weirdo italo disco that was already 5 years old to > US radio audiences. they played disco after disco was "dead". but but they > made a difference instead, they mixed it up and did their own music and > called it house, those radio shows fundamentally shaped the future of > electronic dance music forever. It was the same way with Mojo. A lot of > what he played was pop, sure, but he mixed it with a lot of local detroit > techno records that people then wanted to check out, get interested in, or at > least listen to religiously on his his show. These were major market > commercial stations! Now, what has happened in the last 10 years with Clear > Channel and the homogenization of radio programming options absolutely sucks, > sure, but has only made the independent stations that much more fired up to > keep doing what they're doing. it hasn't devastated the airwaves... yet > > We're broadcasting in chicago on friday nights, prime time 9:30pm - 12:30 > am... how you define a "very very small niche" but to me that's a HUUUGE > opportunity to turn people on. We've had calls from as far as 50 miles > north of the city who can pick us up on a clear night, and last I checked we > were the 3rd or 4th largest city in the US. Think of how dense the > population is in chicago. Having a broadcasting tower is a the great > equalizer. It's time people took community radio seriously as an alternative > to the ClearChannel near-monopoly of programming. Everyone in the US who just > sits on the outside of radio and takes pot-shots, have you ever scanned your > dial for community or university stations, many of whom still truly CARE > about the formatting, are non-commerical or ethical in how they conduct > business, present alternative viewpoints to the mainstream stations, and work > true musical diversity into their programming time? Many major markets have > these. There are some amazing radio programs in NYC too. Here in chicago > you can hear polish folk music to punk to salsa programming to underground > hip-hop, you can find it on the air here. When Bill VanLoo was going to > school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, way up in the remote parts of the > snow-buried rural land, he was pumping out detroit techno week after week. > In Chicago I can think of a few other stations besides WNUR in chicago who > have awesome programming on other nights. Is it mainstream? Only if you hit > people squarely in the ears who had NO IDEA there were still good radio > programs in the US, people click around. I'm not out to change the world and > have techno on every radio station, but I am trying to turn people on to > quality electronic music, one listener at a time. > > And i'm not even getting into the webcasting and site downloads.. i check the > logs and we've got people from 50+ countries regularly listening. Community > radio in the US is powerful, were' on the ghetto end of the dial, but don't > sit there across the world and give us a little pat on the head. :) > > peace -- MM http://sonicsunset.com > > ##################################################################################### > Note: > > Any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily > represent those of Channel Four Television Corporation unless specifically > stated. This email and any files transmitted are confidential and intended > solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. > If you have received this email in error, please notify > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Thank You. > ##################################################################################### > > > >
