January 07, 2004
Taking A(nother) Bite Out of the Youth Market
Posted by nerdling | January 7, 2004 03:04 PM
In current LA news, Clear Channel recently forged a deal with California media firm Entravision Communications, owner of what you locals will remember as Super Estrella, 103.1. Somewhere along the line in the murky depths of this deal, Clear Channel decided that 103.1 would be the perfect battleground for a war on LA's reigning alternative rock heavyweight, KROQ. Hence the birth of CC's own Indie 103. Here's an excerpt from the radio-info.com message boards explaining the changeover (accomplished in the fashion we have all come to expect from huge media conglomerates like CC):
Suddenly, right after Thanksgiving, they fired the entire airstaff and ran the format jockless for a couple of weeks. This came right after Entravision announced a JSA with Clear Channel for the 103.1 stations. Then they went to an all alternative/punk rock Christmas format for five days before going to an Alternative format...
KDLD is licensed to Santa Monica and KDLE is licensed to Newport Beach. They simulcast 24 hours a day on the same frequency.
:: Posted by KMRichards ::
Now, those of you who know me know that I hate listening to radio (because, let's face it, formatted radio blows really hard and college radio just doesn't have the punch of a professional DJ), and that I hate KROQ particuarly. They started out in the '80s with a solid idea—let's play the music that people want to hear but no one else is playing! They were successful and rolled on through the '90s slowly and steadily pulling an MTV-like shift from playing music of quality and interest to playing major-label sponsored pap that is only on air because someone paid a lot to have it there. There is nothing I would like quite so much as to see KROQ rearrange their format into something I would like to listen to (or at least like it more than I do now) but I have to say that I am firmly against Clear Channel being the one to force them to do it.
I dislike CC on principle and I don't like the notion that they are using the music I like in a bid to gain a foothold in the attractive and easy-to-sell-stuff-to youth market of Los Angeles. I think it's great that there are bands—good independent bands—that will be getting more exposure on radio and therefore, selling more independent records. The problem here, as I see it, is that if it's big corporate money that is doing the pressuring, luring the advertisers and paying for the signal, then it is also, vicariously, big money which is providing more money to those indies. I'm not generally an "ends justify the means" sort of person and in this case I think that the means (CC sponsorship) could do a lot to undermine the independence that all things indie are based on—and that is a very big, bad end indeed.
You will have a hard time finding a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, or anywhere, that is not interested in making money.
No matter who owns/operates/sells the commercials the people at the top want to make money.
Hell, even public radio makes no bones about the fact that they need to bring in money to stay on the air. A show that brought in no money would not last on public radio.
Lets be thankful that Indie 103 has been let loose to bring some good music to the airwaves. It's a truely rare event in commercial radio.
Mark Sovel
Music Director
Indie 103.1
LA/OC
Posted by: Mark at February 15, 2004 11:14 AM
I don't mind that radio needs to make money to stay on the air. I need to make money to eat and so do lots of other people. I don't get pissed about it because there really wouldn't be a point to it. Capitalism, such as it is, is here to stay.
I am thankful that there is a station playing music I would like to listen to, as rare an event as it is. I heard the steady decline of KROQ and have watched anything and everything that was good about all the LA startup stations of the past decade become mired in the red tape of major communications firms. Not to say I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I'm expecting a big PLUNK! any day now.
It's not that I don't like having a radio station that plays music I like, whether the station is motivated by profit or not. More to the point, I can't afford to become attached to a station that is going to scrap whatever programming I like whenever it stops being fashionable.
Posted by: Marleigh at February 16, 2004 10:05 PM
Good music will never go out of fashion.
Ramones, X, Iggy, Clash, and now so many great new bands.
They will stand the test of time, unlike a lot of what we've been hearing too much of on the radio these past few years.
Posted by: Mark Sovel at March 20, 2004 08:54 AM
don't know how i missed this post before, but mr. sovel is a corporate suckass who is justifying his blood oath to the soul-less machinery of clear channel by proclaiming (add your own religious fervor):"Lets be thankful that Indie 103 has been let loose to bring some good music to the airwaves. It's a truely rare event in commercial radio." it could be said that your "indie" station is just another in a long line of bottom-feeding vampires co-opting a formerly underground culture and exploiting it for monetary gain--thereby removing said culture from its original context and perverting it for your own ends. but now that you explain it, i stand corrected.
incidentally, while bands such as the ramones, mr. pop, clash and x were indeed good, they all had major label contracts. maybe that's what you meant to say, you fiery independent spirit, you.
bite it shitbag,
dan
Posted by: dan at March 24, 2004 02:43 PM
post-script: you also spelled 'truly' incorrectly--or is bad grammar the new punk?
Posted by: dan at March 24, 2004 02:54 PM
Just to clear up any lingering questions about the true committment of Indie 103.1 to being DIY and supporting the community, below is a partial list of their sponsors. The full list can be found here.
Scion
American Express Blue
Guitar Center
7-11
SBC
Carl's Jr.
FOX
Home Depot
Bank Of America
Pepsi
Adelphia
T-Mobile
Universal Studios
Washington Mutual
Hollywood Records
Sprint PCS
AT&T
20th Century FOX
Sony Pictures
Cedars Sanai [sic]
Del Taco
OSH
Starbucks
Coca-Cola
Clear Channel Entertainment
Honda
Toyota
Hooters
Volkswagon [sic]
H&R Block
If that isn't a list of caring, independent, community-oriented businesses, I don't know what is. I guess they just couldn't get Wal*Mart to join the ranks prostituting the youth of LA. Oh well.
Posted by: Marleigh at March 24, 2004 03:27 PM
