[Dixielandjazz] Fw: "Jazz Radio" gripe

[Stan Brager]

The reason for the lack of detail is simply that most in the listening
public want to hear wall-to-wall music without interruption from an
announcer. When I had a show playing jazz, I felt that my audience wanted
title and artist information including names of pertinent players. In the
interests of those who didn't care for that information, I'd play about 10 -
15 minutes without any break but would announce the first number and artist
and back-announce after the "set" was complete. I would also set aside a
short period of time to announce where and when various bands were playing.

However, station management was always on my back to say less and less - to
be more like the commercial stations.

My own feeling is that radio plays a major role in the career of every
artist, informing the public of the artist's name so that the buying public
would purchase their recordings and go to concerts featuring those artists.
In a way, it's a form of advertising. Often listeners would call to inquire
about a tune or an artist. Today, many stations use the internet to publish
their daily playlists.

Many record collectors would take a chance on a new CD by an artist whom
they had heard when that musician was playing as a sideman with another
band. This is how, for instance, Harry James and Gene Krupa were able to
parley their "stardom" with Benny Goodman into their own big bands.

In my case, at a public radio station, the support for my show increased
steadily from year to year. I believe that it was the listening public
valued these services which were done for the public and the musicians.

Stan
Stan Brager
Trombonist-in-Training
Former Jazz Radio Host

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry Weil" <kc1ih at mac.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Fw: "Jazz Radio" gripe


> At 11:52 AM 6/23/2003 -0700, Robert S. Ringwald wrote:
>
> > > Several decades ago, innumerable pop and easy listening stations
decided
> > > it was fashionable to play several tracks in a row without announcing
the
> > > names of the songs and artists until the end of the set. The boast was
"We
> > > play more uninterrupted music." That's okay for Top 40 tunes or music
to
> > > chew gum by in an elevator or a supermarket. But unfortunately, it has
> > > become standard practice on many jazz radio programs.
> > >
> > > The effect is not a trivial matter. Jazz fans are deprived of basic
> > > information. The name recognition of jazz musicians is diminished. The
> > > viability of record companies is threatened. This is especially true
in
> > > the case of lesser known artists and small labels.
>
> Some of this may have to do with copyrights and internet broadcasting.
The
> rules governing internet broadcasting prohibit announcing a song before it
> plays, so as to prevent an internet lister from digitally capturing a song
> as soon as starts since the listener knows it's coming.  Thus, if the
> station is streaming, they can post-announce but they can't pre-announce.
>
> Since much jazz is broadcast on non-commercial stations, and they are the
> ones that are still streaming in many cases, this could be a significant
> factor in this problem.  Of course, what was originally posted is probably
> still part of the problem, I just thought this additional info might cast
> some light on the situation.
>
>
> --
> Larry Weil
> Lake Wobegone, NH
>
>
>