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Posts Tagged “Radio”

listening station

This New TV On The Radio Song Is Fantastic In Way Too Many Ways For Me To List

No, seriously, it is: It starts off with a twitchy bassline that reminds me of the Au Pairs' finest moments, then opens up into this absolutely gorgeous, string-laden track that sounds like it's meant to soundtrack a sumptuous dream, the type that results in you waking up with a satisfied smile playing across your lips. I'm only sorry that I didn't get to it until the end of the day (damn the RSS-cluttered world of the music blogger!), because that means that those of you who have already left work for the day won't be able to hear it until 15 hours from now or so. [TV On The Radio]

5:45 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,309 views, 20 comments

Latest by Tauwan: @brownham: What I think T'Challa is trying to get at here is some of us are, yet again, being those random, faceless internet commenters quick to supply the snark and negativity to yet another band with a little popularity? TVOTR are more »

somethin 4 the weekend

Which Radio DJ Saved Your Musical Life?

I've had the sports-radio yakfest Mike & The Mad Dog on for most of this afternoon, and it's been distractingly compelling, thanks to today's show being the last of the program's current iteration. The show, an afternoon-long chat about sports between sorta-smarmy Yankee partisan Mike Francesa and frenetic Giants fan Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, had been on New York's WFAN for 19 years, and served as something of a sports-talk juggernaut; last night, WFAN announced that Russo was exiting his contract and was off the station effective immediately. Today's show, hosted by Francesa, has featured call-ins from fans all over the country, including the governors of New York and New Jersey, and a tearful goodbye to the fans from Russo himself. (There's much, much more background and play-by-play at this hilarious blog dedicated to the show.) One thing that's struck me has been how many people were crying—really, truly sobbing—over the end of this era; it's a testament to how radio is such a personally powerful medium because at its core, it's basically just people talking to other people, even if those people may be scattered all over a geographical area (or, in the current era, around a particular IP address). And it made me wonder if any of you out there feel, or have felt, as powerful a connection with any radio hosts who brought you music. More »

5:45 PM on Fri Aug 15 2008
By Maura Johnston
851 views, 38 comments

Latest by Wasp vs Stryper: OMFG My life would not have been the same without Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito's radio show on the old Columbia station. Those two and also Riz from the Crooklyn Clan. I would listen to Riz spin vinyl and talk about more »

fire sales

Wanna Buy A Radio Station?

Clear Channel's buyout by the private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital means that the company needs to get on the task of unloading a number of its stations, thanks to some FCC rules about ownership and the like. If you live in one of 37 markets, one or more of your radio stations might improve in the near future. (OK, probably not, but it's nice to dream.) The list of stations that can be yours below the cut. More »

2:30 PM on Tue Aug 5 2008
By Dan Gibson
590 views, 18 comments

Latest by Silverfuture: @MTS: Well, it would probably still be a better playlist that anything Clear Channel would come up with. Also, I wasn't suggesting actually listening to the station, just profiting off of it. more »

What do those much-buzzed-about Millennials want out of terrestrial radio? According to USC professor Jerry Del Colliano, they want freeform song selection and fewer, "better" advertisements with live reads by the DJs. So, in other words, they want to listen to college radio. Or, uh, no corporate radio at all. [INSIDE MUSIC MEDIA via Maria and Spinning Indie]

8 comments

the truly detestable, the summer festival

While You Enjoy Pitchfork, Think Of The Little People

While you're enjoying Jarvis Cocker tomorrow night (I'm looking at you, Maura), be sure to enjoy the festivities a little extra thinking of the sort of festivals we get here in flyover country. Phoenix's abysmally programmed "active rock masquerading as alternative" station announced its one-day festival lineup and it's a doozy, with a few tolerable acts mixed in with some of the worst acts you could imagine being forced to watch in the midst of a working farm in the middle of nowhere. More »

3:30 PM on Fri Jul 18 2008
By Dan Gibson
731 views, 1 comment

Latest by NoOneCaresAboutYourFuckingBlog: Technically, the Pitchfork Festival happens in flyover country. At least according to Wikipedia: "Even Chicago, one of the larger cities in the U.S., is often considered part of the region." more »

video games make the radio star

"Madden NFL 09" Threatens To Make Bands Like Innerpartysystem Famous

According to Electronic Arts, "the Madden NFL soundtrack has launched premier artists that include Good Charlotte, OK GO, Fallout Boy [sic!], Franz Ferdinand, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Yellowcard, Dashboard Confessional, Jet, Ozomatli and 30 Seconds To Mars." Putting aside the idea that a press release might be hyping the "launching" abilities of what it's touting just a bit, it might be worth paying attention to the lesser-known bands that will appear on Madden NFL 09 alongside Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, The Offspring, and Gym Class Heroes. Better the derivative, obnoxious devil on Fuse you know, right? More »

10:00 AM on Wed Jul 9 2008
By Anthony Miccio
452 views, 3 comments

Latest by westartedthis: the obnoxiousness of the menu music (as well as the inability to turn off the in-game music) completely ruined Madden '08 for me. and, yes, i otherwise appreciate a good game of Madden football. because i'm a bro. even more »

the world is collapsing around our ears

Music Industry Tries To Take Back Its Money From The "Pirates" Running Radio

Following a campaign that included mailing herring and a dictionary to their current nemeses in the terrestrial radio industry, a consortium of groups comprising record labels, songwriters, and musicians, had a small victory yesterday, when a House of Representatives subcommittee passed a bill that would require performance royalties being paid when songs are played anywhere on the AM/FM dial. A co-sponsor of the bill, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), didn't go so far as to say that radio spins are tantamount to piracy, but he did profess skepticism about the medium's promotional value, saying that there's merely "a correlation, not causation" between being on a top-40 station's playlist and music sales. But now that it's come out of committee, will the bill make it out of the House? More »

10:00 AM on Fri Jun 27 2008
By Maura Johnston
335 views, 12 comments

Latest by TheContrarian: Not to mention the fact that over-the-air broadcast licensees are operating on the PUBLIC SPECTRUM. more »

the world is collapsing around our ears

Recording Industry Protesting "Piracy" Of Terrestrial Radio Via Gag Gifts

The recording industry is still locked in a battle with the radio business, saying that radio needs to help them fatten their profit margins to pre-Napster levels pay royalties on the songs it plays, because music is the lifeblood of radio and this whole "free play" thing that's been in effect for years is just not fair. The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents the terrestrial-radio industry, claims that the reason it doesn't pay royalties for playing music involves radio's value as a "promotional tool," which stems from the idea that, perhaps, maybe people will actually be moved to acquire music after actually getting a chance to hear it and decide whether or not they like it. But musicians and record labels and songwriters are not having it. They want their money now! As musicFirst spokesman Martin Machowsky told Wired's Threat Level: "[Broadcasting songs on radio is] a form of piracy, if you will, but not in the classic sense as we think of it... Today we gifted them a can of herring, about their argument that they provide promotional value. We think that's a red herring." (What is this, Clue?) "Nobody listens to the radio for the commercials." Tell that to the guy who sings the Foxwoods commercial, Martin! More »

12:00 PM on Tue Jun 24 2008
By Maura Johnston
444 views, 9 comments

Latest by cheesebubble: Terrestrial radio is the least of the recording industry's problems. more »

your $199 iphone just made my christmas gift a little less joyous

The Phone You Want, The Radio You Don't

The announcement of iPhone 2.0 dragged the Internet to a screeching halt on Monday, and now that things are starting to sort of get back on track, all the exciting features of the Phone To Save Us All are being unveiled. You know those terrible local radio stations you've been ignoring in your car or in your home? Now, you'll be able to listen to them while rapidly draining the battery on your iPhone! More »

1:00 PM on Fri Jun 13 2008
By Dan Gibson
316 views, 8 comments

By The Numbers Radio listening is down across the board, but there's a difference in just how much one socioeconomic group has been tuning out: "Over the last decade, college graduates ages 25-54, who make up an increasingly large portion of the population, have abandoned radio eight times faster than nongraduates. Today, they listen to 15 hours and 45 minutes of radio a week, while their peers without degrees listen to 21 hours and 15 minutes weekly." Why is that? One expert thinks that the spread is a result of the types of jobs college graduates have, and not the notion that they'd be fleeing to Internet or satellite radio—or that current formats are less to their liking: "In part, it's the nature of the work that people do," Mr. Rosin said. "Nongraduates are more likely to have jobs that allow them to listen to the radio. If you think of teachers, for example, that's a huge category of college-educated people in an environment where it's entirely impossible to listen to the radio." [NYT]

5 comments

Maybe I Picked The Wrong Time To Pay For A Year Of Sirius While the conglomerations behind terrestrial radio stations do their best to stop the proposed XM/Sirius merger, the still-separate satellite radio providers look they might be in a bit of financial trouble.

5 comments

"Lou Reed's New York Shuffle," a new weekly music program, will debut on Sirius Satellite Radio this Sunday. Episodes are hosted newlywed Lou Reed and the king of classy covers albums, Hal Willner. "For years, I've always been a fan of eclectic radio, such as FM radio in the past when you could hear stations play widely divergent music, ranging from rock to country to jazz to opera," says Reed. "We will try to bring Sirius' listeners audio from all parts of the world that covers the whole musical spectrum"...covered by art-house faves at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. [Reuters]

2 comments

all radio news is bad news these days

An Update: Bonneville Hates Music In General

As an follow-up to my April post lamenting the demise of V100, Los Angeles' station featuring R&B for the grown and sexy, the station's replacement is now firmly entrenched on the airwaves—although not with the news/talk format it was rumored to take on. Instead, the listeners of L.A. get more middle-aged dad rock. More »

3:15 PM on Fri May 9 2008
By Dan Gibson
243 views, 5 comments

radio daze

Radio Is Dead, And Adam Carolla Is Playing Pinochle In Its Snout

This may have little to do with music, but a Wall Street Journal article about the hunger to create long-term franchises on the air may serve as a reminder to those considering flipping on their FM dials to, well, not. CBS had some drama recently between "next Howard Stern?" Adam Carolla and his then-sidekick Danny Bonaduce. Seems Carolla's mellow was so harshed by the former Partridge/'roid freak that the ostensible "talent" started calling in sick in protest, despite Bonaduce obviously helping his still meager numbers. CBS, deciding they'd invested too much in Carolla to let him stay aggrieved, gave Bonaduce his own show instead. Will radio see a return on their investment in DJs like Carolla? I can't imagine who plans on helping. More »

11:00 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,031 views, 10 comments

Latest by N/A: Carolla would do better on a station that didn't suck in EVERY other dsypart. more »

as summer festival announcements turn to fall

Monolith Festival Seemingly Comfortable With Indie-Intensive Lineup

A festival with Justice and Devotchka as the headliners? Where's the Jay-Z or Joe Jackson? Where's the Weiland? The ironically named Monolith Festival, which will hit Red Rocks Ampitheater on Sept. 13 and 14, is keeping the scale kind of small, but kind of awesome as well. TV On The Radio, CSS, Del The Funkee Homosapien, and bands with even less name recognition may not pull in the suburbanites, but it should make for an enjoyable show. Lineup after the jump. More »

2:30 PM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Anthony Miccio
274 views, 5 comments

Latest by Ahh! Jim lad!: I'm planning on going. I went last year. Flaming Lips, Cake, Brian Jonestown Massacre, BRMC = very awesome. It was put on very well. It wasn't exactly a huge crowd draw, but Colorado's not super hipster packed. more »

leak of the day

ScarJo's Tribute To Tom Waits Is Actually Dave Sitek's Tribute To Ivo Watts-Russell

ARTIST: Scarlett Johansson
ALBUM: Anywhere I Lay My Head
RELEASE DATE: May 20, 2008
WEB DEBUT: April 30, 2008 More »
from the company that brought you radio hegemony

erockster: Horrible Name, Not Entirely Horrible Playlist

I'm having a hard time deciding how to feel about the new Clear Channel initiative erockster (no caps, please). First of all, anything that comes from Clear Channel is immediately evil, right? I think we've cleared that up already. Secondly, the station's debut in the Coachella area this weekend was hokey to the max, with billboards declaring the station as "pirate radio" with voice-disguised DJs spinning tracks from Coachella acts past and present. Thirdly, a press release dreamed up by CC's marketing execs in San Antonio that declares erockster "breaks all the rules" isn't helping any cool quotient the station might have. (And the city that isn't exactly on my good side right now, anyway.) But when you look at the playlist, you realize that the format may not be not the worst idea. More »

3:00 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Dan Gibson
547 views, 12 comments

Latest by Lawson: "erockster is created for 13- to 34-year-olds with hopes of appealing to music lovers of all ages." read that sentence again; brilliant. by their logic you simply don't listen to music if you fall outside 13-34. more »

video games > radio stations

"Grand Theft Auto IV" Possibly The Music Story Of The Day, Too

Tough break, Coldplay, Madonna, and Kid Sister. You picked the wrong day to try to release new material, as the world as we know it has shut down completely over the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. While I personally cannot be separated from my copy of Mario Kart Wii, if you're the type who enjoys (digital) murder for sport today is like Christmas and that time when Sonny Corleone got shot at the toll booth all wrapped up in one. The even better news: The music you'll hear while you're busy banging hookers and executing cops is really good. More »

12:30 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Dan Gibson
1,600 views, 10 comments

Latest by westartedthis: yeah - one definitely needs to crank the radio volume and lower the sound effects. in san andreas, there were probably complaints from kids who hated getting into a car to be assaulted by "all that rap music." you know more »