Indie 103.1: Has Radio Run Its Course?

if you look at the way the music industry has gone over the past 28-29 years now (some of you are too young to remember this obviously), you'll notice that when MTV first went on air, you still had bands that were actually TALENTED, COULD PLAY THEIR INSTRUMENTS and their music had definite SUBSTANCE. now, you don't even have to be able to sing. as long as you look hot enough for some guy or girl to jerk off over, that's all you need. we have auto-tune and drumagog (or even worse, drum machines that sound just like live drums) to "fake" that talent. shocked? don't be. listen to your favourite pop song now, then listen to an old stevie wonder track (any track up to 1975). tell me which one actually moves you, fills you with emotions and possibly inspires you. my money is on the old stevie track.

with all that said, to me, this is nothing more than social engineering. i mean, let's face it...how many spanish and top 40 stations does a large city need? i can actually count...on ONE HAND how many rock/alternative stations exist...

let's see...

you have KLOS (95.5), KROQ (106.7), 93.1 (JACK-FM) and KXLU (88.9) (this one plays basically everything from classical to some obscure rock stuff....neat station). let me know if i've left any out here.

i believe there's one or two classical stations, maybe one country station (KZLA is no longer)...

everything else, top 40 and spanish (and i can't even count how many of those stations exist on both feet and hands...). do you see a trend here?

there used to be good stations back in the day. KROQ was good, you had KMET (before it became the wave...which i'm sure soon enough will change formats AGAIN to either Top 40 or spanish), Pirate Radio, KNAC and of course, Indie 103.1.

now granted, KNAC and Indioe live on via the internet...but it's not the same as tuning in on your radio dial and hearing anything from Death Cab for Cutie to Sepultura blaring thru your car's speakers. sure, you can PAY ADDITIONAL MONEY and get satellite radio (or i believe some newer car decks actually get 'net stations. sound quality is horrible though), but radio for the masses was solely meant to be a means of semi-free communication (commercials are how radio stations are supposed to make money to pay the DJs and staff) to bring music freely to the general public in a general area.

when radio started, there weren't such things as Demographics or Formats. it was all based on what the DJ felt like playing. that's how it should be still...

perhaps orwell was right.

James of NV 9:49PM April 19, 2009

I disagree with Matthew Bandyk. Your choice is still limited, podcasting and myspace will never replace Radio as a legitamite medium for people looking to discover new music. Air Radio is superior because it is too easy to become uverwhelmed by millions of postcasts and millions of bands asking to add you on myspace. In addition, satellite radio is on the verge of failure. Indie 103 will be missed and this is just one piece of evidence to prove the consolidation of mass media.

James of CA 6:48PM March 21, 2009

They will be missed.

jonnyb of CA 3:34PM January 24, 2009

Something very similar to this happened around 12 years ago. There was a radio station that was playing cutting edge music that ultimately converted to a Spanish format. This is a reflection of what is happening to LA in general. Eventually, all radio will be Spanish. The problem with having a radio station like Indie go off the air is that there is no longer an outlet for new music. The DJs at Indie were able to research and find music by new bands we had never heard of. Now we may not ever hear these bands.

Doc of CA 12:19PM January 22, 2009