Should KJZZ play indie rock?
The New Times’ Martin Cizmar and Steve Chilton, a local music promoter, debate the issue on a podcast.
I personally can’t imagine taking the time to listen to it, but Cizmar’s distillation of their discussion he puts thusly:
Martin: Give me indie rock or just shut that shitty station down.
Steve: “I would love to see an indie rock station here. I would like that. I just don’t want to see it come at the expense of jazz.”
I don’t understand this debate on two levels. One, KJZZ is a public-radio station, dependent on listener donations to survive.
Unlike a lot of public-radio stations, it has recently been hiring more actual reporters, and ramping up its news coverage in a way that’s going to make a big difference in the quality of the news its audience gets.
Calling it “shitty” seems not entirely accurate.
And in any case, the directors and programmers need to think about the station’s future, particularly in this difficult media climate. Playing “indie” music” seems not likely to be attractive to the sort of audience that will shell out money for the station.
Still, financial issues aside, the question might be, can KJZZ serve the community better? Is there’s a niche there? Is the indie scene underserved?
Seems to me there’s more outlets for indie music than there ever has been in, like, the history of the world.
Everything’s online … there’s a million online radio stations and then Pandora; friends can pass you thumb drives or discs with hundreds of songs on them. MP3 blogs have just about any tune you can think of for free. You can stick it all on your iPod and listen to it in the car, outside, at home, wherever you want.
And the indie-rock audience, of course, is more conversant with these technologies than the jazz audience, which skews a lot older.
Who cares if a dying medium doesn’t play indie rock? And why be so derisive of about the last local quality outlet of that medium?
Comments
b.a. Tuesday, April 13, 2010:
I think you're right on here! An indie rock station would be cool...but most hip young people don't even listen to the radio. They just plug their ipod into their car and don't have the attention span to handle radio commercials and blabber. I do think there's a niche for indie radio...but the reason would be that it would expose other types of people to that kind of music and some give added exposure to local bands. I personally would love to be able to ADVERTISE on a local radio station that I knew wasn't only being listened to by somebody driving a golf cart to the pool in Sun City...or ASU college bros.
By the way, you wouldn't know it from my other two comments, but I love your blog! It rules.
Martin Cizmar Tuesday, April 13, 2010:
Maybe we can turn this Young Martin Cizmar/Old Billie Wyman thing into a shtick.
"Two Music Journalists... Separated by two generations... One with taste, one without... Debate Jazz and the Beatles..."