Jan., 2004. Interview with an Empire... Insider.

Join the Musical Revolution Y'all: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalrevolution/
Check out previous newsletters: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalrevolution/messages
Below: My first newsletter posted to Cowbell. Enjoy!
Matty.

www.themusicalrevolution.com (currently innactive)
themusicalrevolution@yahoo.ca

Jan./2004. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Edition (d).

PROMO: www.discoinfernolive.com - Check out my boy Richie's Disco Band. Maybe you might like to book them for your next corporate event ;)

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. DIG YOUR ROOTS: http://www.digyourroots.ca/
2. GARAGE BAND: http://www.garageband.com/
3. MP3.COM: http://www.mp3.com/

EDITORIAL:

O.K. Let's just call this edition of the "musicalrevolution newsletter" part 3 of 3 in an investigation into commercial radio. Quick review. In part one, my girl Paula raised some "concerns" about the corporate sponsors (one in particular) of radio contests. She exclaimed and I quote, "I won tickets to the Molson Canadian Rocks House Party... I have retitled the event to the Molson Canadian SUCKS "House" Party." Why Pauls felt the need to put the word "House" in quotes is an enigma but then... it is Pauls - she was probably high - LOL! In part two, yours truly got up one day at the ripe old time of 5 AM to further research the commercial radio/corporate marriage by analyzing a cross section of a listener sample of the highest ratings period of the winningest radio station of the worlds greatest web... In short - I'm a nerd/commercial radio is a corporate whore.

Of course - all this is pure speculation and probably illegal cause, "Da Man runs the system too yo!!" So here I type at you from my pink rubber-room jail cell in sunny Kingston thinking, "Hmmm... How can I implicate someone else now?" As an aside, I also face another dilemma - I'm starting to bore the shit out of you! So here I go - I will kill two birds with one stone. I will manage to put another in harms way while maintaining the interest of my dearest readers. I will interview someone with first hand experience at a corporate radio station - someone who actually knows what transpires behind those mirky, payola drenched walls - someone with more to lose than a job at Loblaws and a 4X4.5 foot basement apartment.

Ladies and Gentlesorts... I present to you my interview with Curtis the "former" Commercial Radio DJ. Ta-da!! "What the..." You say. Read on - it'll all make sense shortly... promise...

Personal Background:

i220: 1. What kind of musical education/musical experiences did you have growing up?
Curtis: Didn't have any real education in music it was more or less experience. Started playing the drums in elementary school and joined a band through high school. Always enjoyed music in any form............playing in the band, listening to music, going to concerts etc.

i220: 2. Who did you work for during high school?
C: Early years of high school brought on some pretty wild jobs. Did alot of factory work............ you know shift work that paid crappy - but hey I was a kid and it was money in my pocket! Once grade 12 came I did my co-op at the college radio station in North Bay. Then during my grade 14 year (loved playing hockey), I got my "big break" at a commercial station.

i220: 3. When did you decide to enter the radio profession?
C: I actually did a radio project in my grade 11 english media class with Benny. We had a blast and when we handed in the project, the teacher said "you really have a gift for radio". It was around that time when people started putting the pressure on me to decide what I want to do with my life, so it seemed like an easy fit. That's when I decided to do the co-op in radio and things just progressed from there.

i220: 4. What was it that attracted you to the profession?
C: Sitting around listening to music and getting paid for it. There wasn't really allot that attracted me, but that seemed like a pretty cool thing to do and get paid for. Oh yeah, there was always the free trips, free cd's and free concert tickets.

Educational Background:

i220: 5. Describe the steps one must take to get the education needed to apply for a D.J. position at a commercial radio station.
C: Well, the traditional steps would be to start volunteering during high school. Radio stations LOVE the word volunteering..... (that means they don't have to pay you!) Then you would look at going to college for radio broadcasting. It's usually a 2 year program. That's when you will want to look at putting together a demo tape and send it out to as many radio stations you can possibly find. Then you hope that someone likes your sound and brings you on.

i220: 6. Were you successful at college? Did you graduate?
C: Was I successful at college? Yes................when I went. Did I graduate? No.......I didn't need to. I was offered a full time job just into my second year so I thought of the OSAP money I could save by dropping out so I packed my bags.

i220: 7. How important is post secondary education in landing a job in the field? Why?
C: To be honest......not important at all! It's that way because radio is something you either have or you don't have. It's not like a doctor where, with the proper amount of intelligence of course, you can go to school and study and study and be really really good at what you do. Radio is a talent. You got it or you don't.

Professional Background:

i220: 8. Which radio station (and where) did you get your first job? What were your duties there?
C: My first radio job was at CKAT in North Bay. My duties there were everything. Setting up remotes, setting up promotions, operating the board and the overnight show announcer on "The Cat". That's usually where the new voices started.

i220: 9. In chronological order list all of the radio stations that you worked for, their locations and their musical formats.
C:
CKAT North Bay, ON Country
CIGM Sudbury, ON Country
Q92 Sudbury, ON Rock
THE WOLF Regina, SK Rock
THE FOX North Bay, ON Rock
THE HAWK London, ON Classic Rock
FM 96 London, ON Rock

Information about the Profession:

At a typical radio station:
i220: 10. What are the different departments? What are each responsible for? Comment on the power structure. Who is the boss, second in command, etc...
C: There are alot of different departments and to some extent all have their share of power. The easiest way of breaking it down is like this;
Management
Station Manager (GM) - basically runs the station. Budgets, rules that kind of stuff.
Sales manager - runs the sales team.
Promotions manager - oversees the stations promotions and involvement in the community.

Programming
Program Director - oversees the announce staff, music director, promotions dept. Makes what's on the air sound good.
Music Director - deals with the record labels, schedules music for airplay. Runs music meetings with the PD and basically decides what gets played on the air.
Announce staff - entertain! They are, in essence, what sells the radio station.

Production/Traffic
Production staff - create the commercials for airplay.
Traffic dept - schedule commercials into their proper positioning according to what the sales rep sells them.

Sales Team - sells the commercials for airplay.

that's the basic outline of the station. You also have your secretaries, remote set-up guys and that kind of stuff. The most power belongs to the station manager. The sales manager and the program director rank a close second, but that's basically the top 3 in the reign of power. Announcers have alot of power as well because an unhappy announcer means a pissy job of entertaining!!!!

i220: 11. Who decides what music to play when? How much control as a D.J. do you have over the music?
C: As mentioned above, it is usually the program director and the music director who have the ultimate say in what gets played. They will also tell you that "consultants" will help tune your station. These are usually overpaid people that haven't a clue about music, but because they are paid top dollars by the station to do this pitiful so-called job of research, program directors feel the need to do exactly what they say. As an announcer, you basically have no say in what gets played. If you are fortunate to work at a half decent station, you may get the odd call upon on your thoughts on a tune here and there.

i220: 12. How is income generated? How does a radio station acquire funds for radio contests?
C: Income is generated by the sales department selling commercials. They are done on a local and national level. also, remote broadcasts are sold to clients as well for a pretty hefty price. Radio contests are usually done through "contra". An example would be a travel agency giving a trip to the Bahamas in exchange for 4 weeks of 60 second commercials during the morning show. The dayparts also determine the price of a commercial. the morning show commercials are more expensive than the overnight commercials based of course on listenership. Also, the higher the station is in ratings, the more they charge for commercials. Radio stations always give away big prizes during ratings!

i220: 13. What is the wage structure for D.J.s? What do you make?
C: Most of the wages are spent on your morning show. That of course is when the listenership is the biggest. Then you move to your midday show, drive show, evening show and overnights. Depending on the market, usually the evening and overnight show are done by a computer which is called voicetracking. In my radio career, I did overnights, evenings, drive and middays and the highest my salary got was $32,000/year. this included work in 2 so called "major market" radio stations.

i220: 14. What are the perks that a D.J. enjoys? What was your favourite radio experience? What was your worst experience?
C: There were some cool perks. Free cd's are always nice. It was also cool to meet bands and hang out with them. My favourite experience would probably be the Molson Canadian Rocks blind date that I was sent on as a host. It was in San Francisco and it was the Foo Fighters. We got first class treatment and it was just a total blast! I actually got to hang out with the Foo's a couple months later when the came to Sudbury. The worst experience would have to be dealing with bands that thought because they were successful in the music industry that people should bow down to them!!!!

The Music:

i220: 15. As a commercial radio D.J. how much independent music do you get exposed to on a daily basis?
C: To be honest with you.......minimal. The only time that independent bands got played was if there was an on-air special or if there was a battle of the bands to open for a headlining band at a festival or something along those lines. Unless you were signed by a label, you really had no hope.

i220: 16. What do you feel is the best way for an independent musician to get their music played on commercial radio?
C: Unfortunately there is no best way. In most cases, a music director only looks at music that comes from the hands of a label rep. Walking into a radio station or calling a music director with your cd, usually means another one for the pile in the corner of his office, or if your real lucky, it may get used as a coaster.

i220: 17. Do you feel that the typical commercial radio D.J. is enthusiastic about playing independent music? Why or why not?
C: I totally tried to support indy bands when I was in radio. The nasty thing is that I believe DJ's would be enthusiastic about playing indy music if they only got a chance to hear it. As I mentioned, the only two people that are in a weekly music meeting is the program director and the music director. So maybe if the people that actually push the button to start the songs that actually go to air got a shot at giving indy music a chance, we wouldn't hear people like the Bare Naked Ladies 25 times a day.

i220: 18. Do you know the names any of the five major recording companies in Canada? Do you know the names of any of the other 404 labels?
C: Sony, Universal, BMG, Columbia and Arista are 5 I know of. As for the other 404 labels....no clue.
i220: Not bad - 3 out of 409, not that I could fair much better thats for sure! Columbia = Sony, Arista = BMG. The other 2 majors = Warner and EMI, I know - easy when you have the answers in front of you.

Follow Up:

i220: 19. Why did you finally decide to leave radio?
C: There were many things.......unappreciated, underpaid and especially (towards the end of my radio journey), it was never about what the listeners wanted to hear. It was all about budget and shareholders. Companies always wanted more out of you, but never wanted to compensate you for the extra stuff you did.

i220: 20. Who is your current employer? What is it that you do for them?
C: I currently work for a company that markets warranty and insurance.

i220: 21. Do you think that the skills that you acquired in the radio profession help you in your current line of work? How?
C: Working in radio did help me in some ways. It gave me a good knowledge on how to deal with people and how to handle different situations. I also built "thick skin" and have become good at handling criticism.

i220: 22. Most improtantly, did being a D.J. on a commercial radio station help you get laid? Stories?
C: Ah................no stories..........i'll leave that to your creative little imaginations! :o)

i220: So - there you have it folks, almost 100 lines of - not Me :) Interesting... and... informative... If you have any questions for Curtis email me and I'll pass 'em on.

And that wraps up my first real expose - in three parts no less - Pretty Fly for a White guy huh? Hmmm sorry. If you have any further comments you wish to chuck out about radio/corporate monies/how it effects the independent, send 'em ova, I'll be sure to share em with the group. So I finish that topic (for now) with a limerick from my boy Lucas. Check it:

FM RADIO

I have an FM radio but I never turn it on
Because I may like one arpeggio but never like the song
So if I sample you and use it
It's 'cause I like your music
But the rest I think went on a bit too long.

All that said and done, I've decided to start off the new year by taking a good look around me and check into what others are doing to shake things up a bit. Being that this IS the internet I thought that I might showcase other "resource" sites for independent music lovers/musicians.

INSPIRATIONS:

1. DIG YOUR ROOTS: http://www.digyourroots.ca/
I first heard of this site from Mr. Lucas G. Check themusicalrevolution newsletter - Nov./2003. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalrevolution/messages
What this site offers is best summed up on their "about" page. http://www.digyourroots.ca/aboutdyr.html
From what I can gather, it appears that artists are encouraged to promote themselves and their music on this site. http://www.digyourroots.ca/howtosubmit.html
Who listens? Well, aside from the general public, it would seem that a panel of "esteemed" judges is also exposed to the material and they are responsible for deciding what artists get to be added to a nationwide compilation C.D. and virtual tour.
Who's in charge? The site says the NCRA (National Campus Radio Association). Who? Check: http://www.digyourroots.ca/aboutncra.htm
Who's really in charge (translation: who pays the bills)? The site's main page lists "Corus Entertainment".
http://www.corusent.com
And... Who in the hell are they? Well, Curtis could tell you because he worked for them on more than one occasion. They are, among other things, "Canada’s largest radio operator in terms of revenue and audience tuning.", as stated on their web page.
Personally, I can only recommend this site as a resource for someone interested in hearing some independent hip hop, spoken word or electronic dance (the presently featured genres). My lack of faith in the "industry" and distaste for compartmentalizing music lead me to believe that digyourroots.ca may not be a strong promotional tool for the independent musician.

2. GARAGE BAND: http://www.garageband.com/
I have had first-hand experience with this site and can recommend it to both the interested listener and independent music creator. G-Band does sort music by genres but at least there is a decent selection. Anyone interested in listening can do so in a variety of ways from free internet radio to buying compilations directly from the site. Listeners are asked to review new music. http://www.garageband.com/review
This is what makes Garage Band worth joining for both the listener and the artist. By rating music a listener can help sift out the shit and discover the true cream. At the same time the artist can get valuable feedback from his/her actual target audience, there are compilation C.D.s for top artists and there is a remote chance that they will sign you to their label. Musicians interested in joining need only have a bio, pic and musical sample for review. http://www.garageband.com/musicians
If you are a musician, however, be prepared to have to review a lot of music. This site holds the artist accountable by exchanging its promotional services for your musical expertise.
I also must note that it has been over a year since I used this website and I have noticed quite a few changes overall, most noteably in the management team: http://www.garageband.com/htdb/companyinfo/management.html
You will notice that the new staff boasts quite a bit of expertise. High credentials usually come with higher salaries. A higher payroll usually requires more revenue. Websites usually rely on their advertisers and patrons to provide that income... you know where this is leading...

3. MP3.COM: http://www.mp3.com/
Back in tha day - MP3.COM used to be the site. Artists were able to promote themselves and their music for free regardless of genre, haircolour, whatever. Listeners were able to scout around, listen freely, find out more about an artist if they so wanted, even purchase if the mood was to strike. Why the big deal you ask? Well, number one was the sheer volume of people on the site. Free music over the internet used to be a novelty and independents reaped some benefits through sites like MP3.COM. Another sweet thing was that apparently, if enough people showed an interest in your band the site would pay you money??? I personally never witnessed this phenomenon but that was the ugly rumour.
Today: Hit it up. They're promising a new and improved MP3.COM. Make your opinion known. Support. Sites like this are what keep the musical evolutionary wheel turning and churning. And - coolest of all - it's LEGITIMATE FREE MUSIC. These artists want and need your support. The music is good even though some cat in a $1500.00 suit hasn't realized it yet.

Disclaimer: I must note that the internet is still quite young and a constant changing medium. You may find that some of the information that I have provided is misleading or just plain flat out wrong. While I do apologize for this, I cannot be held responsible for fat greasy opportunists wanting to capitalize on what originally was a good idea. In short - if it is good, someone is eventually gonna ask you to pay!

The key is to keep sucking like me. No illusions of selling out here - need something to sell :)

If you are a recent inductee and enjoyed what you read here, check out some old newsletters.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalrevolution/messages

You know the drill, pass this on, email me if you have anything to promote/contribute/whatever or just keep reading, s'all coo.

Peace,
i220

www.themusicalrevolution.com (currently innactive)
themusicalrevolution@yahoo.ca

Posted by Mattay at December 31, 2003 07:15 PM