illusionofjoy | Radio ga-ga

"You will never get that monkey off of your back," was one reply when I posted to a message board that I would no longer have access to WAIH. My days of on-air DJing and - let's face it - college radio domination within my own little sphere of influence had come to an end for the foreseeable future. When I moved to Pittsburgh, I didn't have any idea exactly how much radio in this city would...well, suck! I was thinking to myself, "okay, I can get my music fix easily in a major municipality. I don't need all those promo CDs that labels used to send when I was a music director. Pittsburgh will have at least one or two stations that play quality alternative music. I'll be okay...I can get my fix." How quickly illusions die in the cold, hard face of reality.

I suppose that being able to mould WAIH into my particular vision of what a quality radio station should sound like spoiled me. There were times that I faced some heavy opposition towards what I tried to do, sometimes to the point of sabotage. However, by the time I had reached my last couple of years at the station, I was pretty much hearing what I wanted to hear broadcast over the frequency of 90.3MHz.

For me, it was always pretty simple: a good song is a good song is a good song. My personal DJ style, driven by that theory, evolved to be one where I'd pretty much play anything that tickled my fancy. Granted, I'd shy away from the stuff that one could hear ad nauseam on any of the mainstream musical outlets, but otherwise, damn the indie elitists and full speed ahead if I wanted to follow Porcupine Tree with Queensr che, do a break and then spin a New Order track followed by Laura Branigan. I could never understand people who allied themselves with one genre and ever deviated from said genre in their listening preferences. The emo kids were always the worst offenders in regards to this musical monotony.

Radio is Pittsburgh is quite good, when it comes to the artlessness of musical monotony. It doesn't help that the majority of the commercial stations are owned by either Clear Channel or Infinity Media. In fact, only two area stations are owned and operated by an independent company: Steel City Media (the same company publishes City Paper). Still, I've come to expect such things from commercial radio, seeing as how it is a business. It is necessary to find an audience for the advertiser and what better way to do that than to tap into those who ally themselves with one genre or style (or make people think they ally themselves in such a way).

Musically, I had higher expectations for the non-commercial stations (with the exception of National Public Radio, whose stations generally specialise in dead genres). I can't really give an opinion that is here or there about Pittsburgh's college radio stations, since I can rarely get a clean signal from them. However, I can say that WYEP is a glaring disappointment. Their motto is "life begins after top 40," but to listen, one would think it was, "we're trying to put you to sleep while you're driving." Every time I've turned that station on, all I've heard is the most bland post-hippie folk crap ever pressed into ones and zeros. Rarely have I ever heard "alternative" music so lacking in a sense of adventure. I know from my work at WAIH that I could program a better format! Of course, whether or not the denizens of Pittsburgh would let me do such a thing is another matter entirely.

I've been visiting the website for the Federal Communications Commission. Indulging in my geekery, I've been reading up on what it would take, regarding paperwork, should I wish to start my own radio station. In comparison, running a station is easy, but getting through the red tape in order to reach that goal seems a Herculean task. It makes for very dry reading, trying to navigate these forms as well. The FCC even recommends that one not go it alone, stating that parties interested in applying for broadcast licenses should seek legal counsel and engineering advice. I don't doubt it.

Also, while I was Googling community and college radio stations, I found a site describing a group in Grand Forks, North Dakota who wishes to build a community radio station. Unfortunately, the page isn't dated, so there is no way of knowing if the project has just begun or has been stalled for several years now. The last entry on the site (part 4) tells of a legal issue which would prevent the organisation from getting a license. Frustrating stuff. Still, it would be nice to know when this was all going down. If ever a 'blog were needed for a site, this would be the time.

You know, I think the phrase "public airwaves" has become archaic. Signing off now. END TRANS