WXNA Kickstarter!

I have been waiting for the return of Nashville Jumps since the untimely demise of WRVU.  Radio land knew that Pete Wilson would rise again. In late 2014, the non-profit Friends and Family of WRVU was granted a permit to launch a 100-watt radio station. Now they have launched a kickstarter campaign to pull together the seed money. They have 35 days to accomplish their mission.

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Kickstarting Radio

 Today Janko Roettgers at Bloomberg Businessweek suggested that websites like Kickstarter might change the way public radio raises money. I instinctively rejected the idea but then I remembered I was wrong about facebook, twitter and tablet computers so I took another look. Roettgers used a couple notable examples to drive home his point such as Blank on Blank and 99% invisible.

"Some radio producers have already begun to turn to Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and similar sites to raise funds for their shows. This week Blank on Blank successfully closed a Kickstarter campaign, raising a modest $11,337 in the process. The show, which resurfaces “lost interviews” with such celebrities as Bono, Martin Scorsese, and Tim Gunn, wants to use that money to produce 30 new radio show episodes... Design show 99% Invisible is another Kickstarter success story in the making: It was able to achieve its $42,000 funding goal within 24 hours. Listeners have since pledged more than $74,000 at the time of writing, with 24 days to go. Producer Roman Mars now wants to raise money from a total of 5,000 backers."

But these aren't amateur hour programs, they're distributed by PRX.  Audiences have been migrating away from the meatspace of the FM dial and toward podcasts and mobile apps. This is something that I find depressing, but I have to concede is very real. I recently recommended that WRVU peruse broadcast alternatives rather than expending effort and money chasing the ghost of their old space on the FM dial. This state of affairs was predicted by former NPR CEO Vivian Schiller back in June of 2010:

"In the next five to 10 years, Internet radio will take [radio's] place, and there's no reason why we should be fearful about it. In fact we should embrace it, especially on mobile. Mobile is the second coming of radio. It has been a godsend for us, because mobile devices are so easy to take with you, and you can listen to any stream you want"

So looking just now on Kickstarter,  there are a slew of radio documentaries, and radio plays but there are some novelties too. Roundup Radio on WNMC is looking to buy some new modern equipment. A community group is raising money to build their own radio station in San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Guatemala. CHIRP is raising money to launch an internet radio station. KRBX 89.9 raised money to move from internet radio to become a licensed station. There are many more, but the most compelling tale is of  KHOI 89.9 raising money to sign on by the August 2012 deadline on their CP. They are running it down to the wire. 

Of course with all change comes consequences. The web is more democratized than the radio dial. The immediate problem for radio is that with modern digital tools anyone can make a podcast. When both parties have talent, all public radio can fall back on is branding and local programming, something that many affiliates have sacrificed in favor of syndicated programming. On that more level playing field Public radio might even be at a disadvantage. They certainly have some popular programs, but they have much greater operating costs. The ultimate question is whether it will be easier for them to raise $50,000 than for a small community group to raise $5,000. The total expenses at NPR last year were $187,674,195 [source]. A lean and mean operation like KHOI could live off of Gary Knell's pocket change.  If Public radio doesn't see that as a threat, they need to bring back Vivian Schiller.

WRVU Is Dead

You've probably heard by now but if you hadn't... WRVU is dead. Vanderbilt Student Communications (VSC) has ripped the station out from under the actual students. Whether they approached WPLN for the sale or they approached VSC we may never know but the students only became suspicious when the call letters changed Monday.the way he handled it is a disgrace to the University. VSC sold a student property built and run with students tuition money,  then sold it for one time cash, like a junky trying to scrape up the money for an 8-ball. The sale price was 3.6 million. I'm sure somebody got a nice fat bonus check. More here.

The disgrace is that VSC told the students nothing. They knew it would be unwelcome, that it was wrong and that there would be resistance. So they acted clandestinely. In the Fall of last year there were rumors that VSC was open to selling the 60-year-old 91.1 WRVU. There was no more news until Monday June 6th. The call sign change to WFCL popped up unexpectedly Monday morning in the FCC database. The DJs on air used the wrong station ID for most of the day because they were not informed.

Then Tuesday afternoon the DJ on air was told that there was "urgent equipment maintenance" and hurried out the door... which they then locked behind him. This is pure sleaze. Those kids pay $38,952 a year [source] to be treated like this? What gall.  Below is a clip of the last WRVU-FM disc jockey on the program Rock N' Roll Control making his last announcement on the way out the door forever.

WRVU:  June 7th 2011 - 2:56 PM

Nash-Vegas

I have a friend who calls it Nash-Vegas. But everybody calls it Nashville, or music city. The connection to Vegas is clear though. Both metros buy rhinestones by the metric tons. There are seventeen Nashville's in America but none so shiny as this.
Its an epic city for radio. My hotel was directly across the street from the Cumulus offices, i.e.a great view of a dumpster and their microwave dishes. But nothing beats being on music row, so you can watch the biz pass by.
Another odd Nashville factoid. Did you know that between their dailies and weeklies they have about a dozen local newspapers? Yeah. That's not even counting the Vanderbuilt U. paper. Each paper reports it's own separate list of book signings, plays, concerts, and cultural events. Its the same city so they do hit some of the same gigs, but it was nice to have a day off in a city with so much to see and do. Nashville is a city of many non-coms.

WFSK 88.1 plays smooth jazz and easy listening all day. You can guess my opinion about that.
WVCP 88.5 a very eclectic station at a community college, I know nada about them. They played a killer song Wednesday morning but they've ben running canned programming since the 16th so I will never know what it was.

WMOT 89.5 runs jazz
WPLN 90.1 /1430 NPR talk
WRVU 91.1 is a totally under-rated college variety station. But, they would be hard to over rate. I showcased their jump blues program earlier this year.
98.8 WRFN-LP ... seems cool but I could not receive the station hardly anywhere... but I guess that really was the point of LP. http://www.radiofreenashville.org/ love that logo.

While I'm on the topic...
100.1 WRLT has one of my favorite all time MDs. The world-famous Reverend Coes. Please send the traditional offering of Jack Daniels and skin mags to 401 Church street Nashville, TN 37219. Coes could MD any station any format. He's sly about his skills but ultimately I think he stays at RLT to stay in Nashville.

And the mighty 650 WSM-AM. Everyone should know the Grand Ole Opry. In the early days of radio WSM was a station you could hear on a clear night almost anywhere in America. The AM band is a tad more cluttered these days but when the ions in the troposphere line up just right you can get WSM as far north as Philadelphia. Only then can we Yankees hear the bold station that broke artists like Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. American Sabbatical.com has a great synopsis of an Opry visit. I put the link in the header. (scroll to the bottom of their article)

...and while we're in Nashville, make sure you visit The Hatch Print Show.

Jump Blues

I have only once heard this program live. It was in September 2002.

I was in Nashville Tennessee for the Americana Music Association (AMA) Conference. It was the one that Johnny Cash played. It was a strange weekend. Billy Joe Shaver made jokes about losing his fingers tover gambling debts. Bobby Bare Jr. rocked so hard with the innocent criminals that you forgot that Bare Jr. sucked. I bought his new record after years of swearing him off. ...and WRVU 91.1 FM was amazing for two hours.

Nashville Jumps is a program focused exclusivly on a subgene of early rock n' roll called jump blues. Well, at least he calls it jump blues. It runs 8:00am to 10:00am Friday mornings. Host Pete Wilson showers his listeners with selectsions from his seeming unlimited library of the great unknowns that made rock n' roll come alive. It's Artists like: Laverne Ray and Arlene Talley, Peppermint Harris, Jimmy Liggins, Sugar Boy Crawford, Billy "The Kid" Emerson, James Wayne, Mickey Baker, Annie Ross, Jack McVea, Big John Greer...

Hey, I've never heard of them either. But it's geat stuff and that's the point. Pete isnt just a D.J., he's an enthnomusicologist with a mic.
He had a site here: http://www.nashvillejumps.com/
While it appears to be down at the moment, the show lives on.

Email him here: nashvillejumps@aol.com
or here; njumps@nashvillejumps.com