Article:
Radio, the Culprit, Dan Krimm
Re: Pirate Radio
Pirate radio is not the only alternative to commercial music radio. There's also
public radio and college radio. Problem is, none of these can produce audience
surveys to show a wide enough audience to be of interest to record companies in
promoting recordings, so they simply don't matter, commercially speaking. They are
barely useful for independent acts to promote themselves,
because they don't contribute much audience to the
"critical mass" needed to break even. As far as the music business is concerned, these
alternatives are simply not on the map. The same volume of
audience that attracts advertisers is what attracts music
marketers.
There will always be an underground. So what. How can we change the mainstream?
The mainstream is what influences culture, simply by the volume of exposure.
The mainstream is where people make a living. There's no
logical reason why anyone should have to starve just to make
original music for a living, if they are accomplished enough.
This isn't about listeners trying to find something different
(not enough of them do, without advice). This is about new
acts trying to find a way to make a living without compromising their acts.
No quick fixes to this conundrum. The whole system has to evolve. I'm not
looking for alternatives to the mainstream; I'm looking for
alternatives -in- the mainstream.
-- Dan Krimm
posted 11/29/96
