Re: [ARSCLIST] Community Radio

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "phillip holmes" <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx>
> The public will buy what they are told to buy.  If they package and
produce
> enough, and force it on the radio, people will buy.  They need to add some
> studio special affects, some pretty faces and they can recycle all these
old
> recordings.
>
Well, "the public" have little to do with community radio...in fact,
if that large segment of the population listen to electromagnetic
(on-air) radio at all, it is generally one or another of the most
popular commercial stations...and those are often programmed by
"experts" many miles away from the stations!

Also, it would be difficult to "force" content on radio...commercial
stations broadcast what they assume will improve ratings (and thus
allow them to increase advertising rates), while non-profit stations
usually have their objectives specified by their licenses.

Finally, the one most important characteristic of radio is the fact
that you, the listener, CAN'T see who is "on the other end"...so
pretty faces go unseen (except in publicity photos, which can be
faked if necessary). That's why, for example, Kate Smith could be
a star on radio...and why many radio stars never became TV stars!
Radio can (as an old ad created by Stan Freberg made clear!) use
its invisibility to broadcast events that don't happen, just by
selecting the right sound effects (i.e. "War Of the Worlds," which
created widespread panic among listeners who weren't aware it was
only a dramatization!

As far as special *E*ffects making old recordings once again
popular, I'm not sure exactly what is meant. You can "de-noise"
old analog recordings and make them sound more or less like CD's
(but not always without creating "artifacts"...) or you can
try to put them into "electronic stereo" (which isn't really
possible, as many LP's demonstrate)...however, the result will
still be OLD music (which is probably acceptable to many
classical fans, but appeals to a VERY limited audience in
the "pop music" field!).

Somehow, I suspect that if I could somehow convince any local
pop-music station to play, say, fifteen minutes of my complete
archive of the Benson Orchestra Of Chicago...the next sound
you'd hear would be a million radio dials being re-set as
young listeners went looking for their favourite "Urban Dance"
charted hit tunes!

Steven C. Barr