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ptruswell View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Music radio shows - what's the point?
    Posted: February 25 2017 at 12:05
At the tender age of 57 I'm a newcomer to this exceptionally brilliant site. I was weened as a kid on Prog Rock and now 40+ years later I'm a newbie radio presenter. So here's the Q:

What's the point of a music radio show?

I present a new music radio show dedicated to Prog called 'Topographic Tunes' on my local community radio station. As I choose content for the show week by week, and take new tracks to the station through production for air, I can't help wondering why, in a world of instantly accessible music, should anyone listen? After all anyone can go find new music, assemble a playlist and hit go - and have been able to for many years now, and don't have to put up with chat in between songs or annoying edits! (?)

So I ask again - What's the point of a music radio show? I can guess at a few answers; in my case listening to the newbie presenter make gaffs and mistakes might be one of them!
LOL






Edited by ptruswell - February 25 2017 at 12:13
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 25 2017 at 14:58
Ohhh... because I love radio.   I mean real, live air-waved radio.   You can't get that immediacy from any other medium.   And besides I don't really like the perpetual feedbag of digital radio; it's no fun, there's no humanity, and I feel more like a customer than a listener.   More power to you for doing your show.

The point?   There isn't one.   That's the point.


"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 25 2017 at 20:22
The point? Three fold.

One is when the presenter (in the US we call them "DJs") is musically intelligent and informed. I used to enjoy Greg Gillespie on the Deep Tracks station on XM Radio. I liked the banter in between songs, as he always had something informative and worth listening to.

The second one is, new music. Sure anyone can find new music, but is it good? Personally, I'd rather someone with an ear dig through all that new music for me and tell me what's good, what's worth listening to... better yet, put it in a radio show so I can hear it and decide for myself (this is why I started Progkast). Radio shows are a great way to find new music. Radio has ALWAYS been a music promotion tool. Just because anyone can find music, download it and have the music they like, does not discount the importance of radio... or a radio show. In fact, individuals have ALWAYS been able to make their own, so called "playlist", I did it when I was a kid... it's called the "record" button. I'd been making my own "playlist" "mix" or whatever you want to call it since I got my first cassette recorder when I was 7 yrs old (suffice it to say, that was several decades ago!). So nothing has really changed.

The third point, is the "live" factor. Even though many radio stations are automated, most are live during the morning or afternoon hours. There's something about being connected live that gives one a sense of... well,... connection... Much like facebook... and one of the reasons why it is so popular.

So to answer your question in one sentence... (lol), good presenter presenting good music and making a connection.



Edited by Progkast - February 26 2017 at 09:09
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 26 2017 at 09:32
Originally posted by ptruswell ptruswell wrote:

After all anyone can go find new music, assemble a playlist and hit go - and have been able to for many years now, and don't have to put up with chat in between songs or annoying edits! (?)

So I ask again - What's the point of a music radio show?


The point is that someone else will go find new music that you don't...and if they didn't go to the trouble of putting it into a ready assembled show for you, complete with info, links etc about where to find out more about the bands/artists, you might never have known they existed. Nobody can do it all on their own...the more people we have like Jul above - who take the time and trouble to go out discovering new prog and collecting it together every week/month in a radio show or podcast, so that all we have to do is switch on and listen - the better for all of us who enjoy this magnificent genre of music.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 27 2017 at 06:19
That's an excellent response Progkast - very much appreciated. I can confirm the fog is clearing! Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 27 2017 at 14:22
...in fact it was so good that I decided to make it a permanent feature of my embryonic website at www.topographictunes.com. Thanks Juls - will be listening to your podcasts! 😊
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 27 2017 at 14:44
Thanks! And I appreciate the links back to the podcast.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 27 2017 at 20:25
BTW, I really like the show... think it was yours I was listening to... One of my new favorites..., Julie




Edited by Progkast - February 27 2017 at 20:30
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 28 2017 at 22:40
Interesting article published by Pitchfork about this a few weeks ago:

http://pitchfork.com/features/article/10018-does-college-radio-even-matter-anymore/

Luckily I live in an area where there's a surprising amount of independently run stations (SOU, FUV, WPSC, WFMU, WMSC).


Edited by The Ghost - February 28 2017 at 22:42
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 01 2017 at 07:09
Thanks for the link, Ghost, I got about halfway through the article (I have to go to work right now), but I disagree with what I read. Sometimes I feel like articles are written just to be written and not really because they are built on any truth. I think at this date and time college radio is more important than ever. Many many people are fed up with the corporate cookie cutter format (you know, the auto tune top 40) and are turning to college/community/satellite radio for alternatives. Our college radio station here is the only place where the hungry, sick of auto tune, girl singer, boy band and rap, 17-30 yr olds (and us older folk) can hear new/alternative/neo psych and exciting rock music. They don't want to ride their cruiser skateboards to rap or maroon 5. Our selection of stations is pretty bare. In Albuquerque we have KUNM, which, again, is the only station that plays reggae, prog (continuously), jazz, native american, etc. If it is a good station with good management, it isn't going anywhere. It is corporate radio that is dying, not community radio.Corporate radio is to community radio what Taco *ell is to homemade tacos. Shear trash. It comes out the other end as soon as it enters. ;)  Julie


Edited by Progkast - March 01 2017 at 07:21
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2017 at 00:40
^ The article makes a turn towards optimism in the end.


Edited by The Ghost - March 02 2017 at 00:41
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2017 at 05:40
Yeah, I probably should have read it when I got home - before I posted. I'll check it out later. :)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 10 2017 at 12:22
In Germany 90% of all radio stations and broadcasts are format radio. So you hardly find anything interesting new on FM. There are only an very few monthly prog broadcasts on local radio like "Progressive Rock Hour" on Oldenburg 1 and "Rock Art" on Ems-Vechte-Welle. So for prog artists and prog addicts Germany is like a desert. Now that's the good thing about internet radio and podcasts: The Krauts can get inspiring old and new prog from all over the world on their computer, tablet or anything else...
Personally I prefer shows that have a personal identity. The DJ can  provide you with inspiring music you've never heard before. Just like Jul's progkast do...
For independent bands like mine (The J Conspiracy) formats like this are a great chance to get heard. And as a by-product we got immense feedback concerning our work.

http://thejconspiracy.net/j-cons-prog-radio-timeline/
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 10 2017 at 18:49
You're sort of in the same boat I am Christoph. Here in Southern New Mexico, there is no Prog played on the radio.  :O Shocked


Edited by Progkast - March 10 2017 at 20:33
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 05:14
Hi Juls - just to let you know that my show has been rescheduled from 20:00 BST/GMT to 22:00 (two hours later). Apologies if you tried listening in yesterday and some other random stuff was on Canalside - unfortunately I was only given very short notice of the change. Anyway - I hope that the new time suits you in New Mexico? Looking forward to my first ever trip across the Atlantic this year - sadly still a very long way from NM; it would have been good to meet you :) Paul x
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 19 2017 at 12:31
The later time is better, but still unable to listen on a regular basis. Maybe once I get a modern phone I can start streaming music - at least that's the plan ;)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 10 2017 at 09:11
Hi,

Depends, on the time and place, and the communities at learge.

The main issue with this state of mind, is that almost all radio these days, in AMERICA, is part of a corporate group of some sort, and they do not feature anyone local, and it seems that anyone that is a part of that local community can have a voice, idea, or different thought, than what you are fed every day in local newspapers, tv and other media, up to and including that ever present tweets and crap chat services out there porn'ifying things even worse!

At the time, I was brought up (born in 1950) I got a chance to hear the huge sound waves and strength of radio (before TV) that helped America come to Europe. It leiterally blasted the other side of Europe left and right, until it busted them, with Beatles, Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and many others. The youth of many of those nations, wanted more, was our thought, then, and now.

I was lucky in that I was a small part of one show that to me, still is the best EVER done on radio (check out the ProgArchives thread on Space Pirate Radio), and its musical choices and desire to bring us out of a socio-political structure that was getting more and more corporate every day, and fans and folks out there more and more stoned, and caring a lot less about things, than they were about getting bombed by some overly saturated with bad chemicals stuff that went by the term "grass" or "dope" ... and eventually it became sort of like the politician that once said ... let them smoke dope, I will win all the elections ... " kind of thing, knowing that most people would tune the whole thing out.

Today's conglomeration of folks playing "music" that supposedly is "progressive" is a very sad comment on the state of things. The more you listen, the more you hear the same bands, and the same repetition of material supporting their favorite band, and nothing but, to the point that after an hour or two, you have to turn it off ... nothing interesting and different is happening. 

I seriously doubt that our much beloved "progressive music" or "prog rock", can survive and continue gaining attention with the current generation, which has very little appreciation for anything artistic past their top ten. Even I will tell you that Gentle Giant is not my favorite band at all, but listening to 3 or 4 of their early albums, is an incredible breadth of fresh air and amazing musicianship, rarely found in a rock band ... and the deserved affection they have gained over the years, past the incredible number of insults and bad comments during their time, while being played on the air by my friend, including ... how can you call that music?

I may, yet, return and do some air work, on the internet, and none of it will ever be the same as anyone else, and be displayed as the style of hits, and top ten, that most shows seem to be designed around, since it is all they know and are capable of doing.

Freedom and expression are two great gifts ... and the sad state of affairs in radio, is about killing it, in favor of corporate structures, and local folks not realizing they can have a voice, and instead burying their heads in the sand.

Maybe one day, we will wake up fro our slumber ... but I'm not sure we can see the stars for the universe, that is out there for us to find and appreciate! Some day ... who knows?
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2017 at 09:30
Having a radio show together with my wife for the last 5 years, I think I have something to say on the matter.
Here's my point of view:
  The trouble and the effort you are getting into when you run a desent radio show, are really great, and nobody can understand that.
  When we begun the show, we had only some friends as listeners. But now, after 5 long years, we have people from all over the world listening and participating in the show. We have "build" a very strong fan base of people, who are waiting for the next Sunday night to listen to us. (Seriously).
Further than that, we met with many artists who came as guests in our show, loved it and now they are coming back again and again as listeners. Not to mention the honor of meeting people like Clive Nolan (who invited me to his home), Dave Cousins of Strawbs (with whom we shared a few beers at a pub), John Lees of Barclay James Harvest, (who invited me at the beckstage before their gig), etc, among many others.
In my opinion, all these things give you the courage to carry on.

And you know what? Yes, you can find music everywhere. BUT, you have to know what you are looking for! Because further than the music itself, the point is the connection and the bonding between all these people. We have people in our audience who are listening to our show for more than 3 years now, that we never met from close. And it is a great pleasure and honor to know that all these people from USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Greece, etc, will tune in on every Sunday, to listen to music altogether, have some fun through the chatbox and spend 2 very pleasant hours together with us.
 One of our new (back then) listeners once said: I felt like I entered a pub, filled of friends who were having fun while listening to good music.
And that my friends, is a very important thing for me!
Thank you! :-)
If anybody wants please visit: http://www.gfreedomathina.blogspot.com/

This is my Blog mostly about Rock music, but also a few other things as well.

You are most welcome!

Thank you. :)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2017 at 08:52
Hi,

Looking back 45 years and counting, because Space Pirate Radio lived on until at least 2000 that I know of, there is a lot of truth to what you said Jester, and in many ways, SPR was a show for friends, more than anything else, although it is hard to say how Guy felt about it, since the show for him, was a lot more than just ... a night out with friends ... his show was much more like ... a night out at the Magic Theater, and you never really knew what was going to happen, or what material was going to be there, but you knew that what you were going to hear ... was totally different and way out there ... that no one else ever ... and I mean EVER ... has considered or thought about or will EVER appreciate.

That feeling alone, was one of its greatest draws, because as far as 1974, no one mentioned "progressive" or anything else and Guy even got some raps now and then about not playing anything American during that particular show ... on his other nights he did play some American stuff, and would blind you silly with his knowledge and history (for example) of the LA area music scene, when he would play something like The Fool ... and you go ... wtf is that? Or even a funny version of "Close to You" by a group named The Clams ... only to find years later ... yeah ... that's right!

Stuff like that is priceless, but LA, AT THE TIME even had on KPFK someone named "Captain Midnight" that was also doing weird stuff amidst even more weird stuff and in the middle of it, KPFK's own ... the Firesign Theater that got its start there. His music mixes bordered on the very strange and weird, and out and beyond left field. Guy's show, was basically another universe that also featured some comedy and fun stuff, and he likely wore out the sound effects library from here to the moon and back a few times! This type of creativity is something that radio is not well known for and no one could create something as literate and well done as Guy did ... and not to mention that his list of bands by the end of the first year, was already into the 300's or so or more probably ... and we're not talking "hits" ... we're talking music that was, and still is, meaningful to me, to him, and many others ... I can still love listening to the Edgar Broughton Band ... and Third Ear Band ... and I doubt anyone else has ever played them ... type of thing.

Radio, and specially in Guy's case (commercial radio station!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), is not really what radio's history was about ... and what the internet has created is indeed a sort of bar where we can all meet and share a brew or a cup of tea ... but it is, by comparison, a very minor take/side of what radio could be. Too many of these shows are still ruled (even subconsciously) by a top ten format, like, you play one or two unknown things, and immediately have to play one well known piece so you do not "lose" your audience ... and with Guy's show, the "lose" the audience, only happened on his regular nights, not on his special night, which eventually also started getting carded and watched for listening patterns, to see if the bigger stations around LA were getting an audience and the locals were not (just 85 miles out!). There were no ratings for midnight to 6AM at that time ... but it tells you how much more of an idea there was about that particular show, and its appeal, however different and unusual it tended to be. But no one, even on his regular nights, did as much as he did ... like when Genesis' The Lamb came out ... and no one at the station knew which song to play, so Guy goes on at midnight and played the whole 4 sides back to back ... and then because of demand and calls, he did it again in its entirety ... and you just do not know how something like that affects your listenership, but it did ... folks were tuned in because they knew that someone like Guy would play this stuff that no one else did, other than adding hits to their listing.

I suppose that I wish that something like Guy's show could come around, but it is impossible, because what he did was personal and an expression of who he was as a person, actor and artist. It wasn't just all the music and the artistry ... the show itself was an art, and this is not something that we think about when we listen to these shows.

From 1999 to 2001 I did run a show called "The Space" and it was more about the artist than anything else, and of the 140 or 150 hours I did, only 3 shows (about 6 hours) had single cuts from various artists, and one of them was all ECM stuff ... and here is another complaint ... show me a "progressive/experimental" show on radio/internet that is not afraid to mix/match ECM stuff into their choices ... and that just goes to show you, how difficult it is to hear different things ... and the Tube kinda helps ... but it would be nice to catch them in the other form, and I will likely have to do this to make sure that other music can be heard. I am not sure I can do the sound effect mantras and lind melts (my word) that Guy had which were trully inspirational, but at least, you got to hear different things that otherwise would never get played anywhere else.

There are a couple of fine things on the net ... but sadly, all of the ones I have heard, have to return to familiar ground by the 5th cut ... or you can even time it ... within 15 minutes ... which tells you that the show is not about the music ... it's about someone's favorites!
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 29 2017 at 16:25
Hi,

Trying to add to this, since the two large postings I had, might have a tendency to suggest that radio has already been done, and no one elsse can do anything any more, that might be of interest as a sort of history of the art form itself.

While I am not a historian of radio, there are some things that I have heard and enjoyed over the years and they go back to ... yep ... Orson Welles, and then many folks after him, and how they changed what radio was about, and could be, and set the course for many years, of radio stories and programmes that had drama, music sound effects, and in fact was a television for YOUR MIND ... which, unffortunately, is not something that is quite appreciated in the 21st century, when we only listen to the things that we KNOW, and not go check out a show, because we do not know what it is about, or where it will take us, and this was one of the biggest and most important parts of the history of radio.

In the 1950's and 1960's in America, it all became "commercial", until the mid 1960's when FM radio kinda developed more (now in Stereo unlike the AM band!), and with it came newer music, and this is where a lot of jazz and rock made its name, although the history of black jazz music was already ten years old by that time, shamefully left behind and buried and not released as albums, because they would not "sell", to the numbers that the studios/record companies would want and require ... see Tom Dowd's very important and special document on this for more.

Thus, what folks do today, as "radio" is the only thing they know ... play their favorites, which is to counter the top ten thing a lot, however, when the same thing comes up next hour, the flavor of the show, now is lost for the most part, since the originality and design of the show, is now just a bunch of known pieces, and not anything original to take you somewhere else, which is what some of the history of radio has to offer.

Guy Guden's Space Pirate Radio, in many ways, was more like the radio history ... in general, he did not tell you what the song or group was, and everything was played - including albums in their whole side - and the only time he told you the albums included was at the end of the show, although at the beginning of the show he might specify some of the newer things he had, but in general how they were mixed and matched, was a different story, since a whole album might be played across the whole night, or all of it in the first hour, and much of this was never really clarified or specified, and I am not sure that it has to. Some things, you just let them play out on their own, because its appreciation is related to its continuity ... not a specific song. A great example of this is Peter Hammill and how different he was in all of his solo albums, and simply playing one piece as a part of a sequence of 6 or 7 songs, is not the way to present Peter at all, and it ends up making it sound weird and different, and is not given the time and space that he deserves for people to catch on to his expression, which is so different than many others. This is but one example.

Now, I will never sit here and say that radio has no future, or ability. I will say, that it has become a commercial venture, and that if anyone wants to make a difference, they need to look at themselves and what they want to do and like to do, rather than just play songs.

The minute that you are no longer playing "songs", the whole attitude and atmosphere of what you are presenting changes ... and you will start following a flow that you have come up with, or specifically designed, and it is not related to any thing that you have heard before.

The only part of this, which is the difference, is how you estimate "your audience" ... and this is the part that you have to let go. You can not think about "your audience" ... you think about the PAINTING that you are putting together with the music you have. You think about the book you are writing with the music you have.
And then, you have something of great value and beauty ... and different. But, simply wanting to hear the same band every hour? Or something that sounds just like it? Gimme a break! And calling it radio?

RIGHT!

NEXT!


Edited by moshkito - September 29 2017 at 16:27
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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