Rebuttal: U-T Article on Mourning DJs (July 31, 2002)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/

Here is my letter to the U-T I sent yesterday:

Dear Editor

re: Mourning DJs: Corporate radio has pulled the plug on many a radio personality, U-T 7-30-02

Listeners should be the ones that pick the music from a wide pool of talent, not the programmers who pick from a narrow selection of what they call demographic-friendly genres. Which group is the genius? Obviously, radio is not, as its hemmoraging listeners to other medium.

Internet radio and file-swap networks is where I (male, 42), for one, learn about the kinds of music that I enjoy hearing and buy CDs of that radio won't play. So much for promoting Ja-Fool or whoever on the radio ad nauseum.

Jim Richards' comparison of radio to McDonald's leads me to conclude that he's much more qualified to run a fast food outlet than a radio station. Why is radio different from other industries he asks? Radio effectively exposes new music, taste not accounted for. Nothing else comes even close. Both have one thing, however, in common: they're not tapping into what's healthy for me to consume.

Just when I thought those Clear Channel reps have said the stupidest things ever to the press, they keep talking.

sincerely

David Tanny

Now, here are excerpts of the artcile followed by my other comments:

Article: Less than a year later, Congress passed the 1996 Telecommunications Act, completing the massive deregulation of the airwaves.

Me: Looks more like a complete demolition of the airwaves thanks mostly to corporate radio's McDonald's way of programming radio.

Article: Once larger-than-life renegades, introducing listeners to new music and new ideas, radio DJs have seen their numbers dwindle and their roles diminish. In today's corporate climate, a Wolfman Jack could no more exist than could an outspoken sports hero like Muhammad Ali.

Me: Radio should reembrace those musical experts and put them in charge of the shifts. They're the ones with jobs on the line. If the music they play that the program director dictates sucks, then so does their shifts, and people won't tune in to listen. Deejays, along with a phone request staff person, connect with their listeners via the music and the listeners are the experts when it comes to what songs should be hits or not. They don't want to hear the same cookie-cutter fluff, they want radio to reflect their collective progressive tastes, so rap rock and sleepy R&B boy bands are long out of sync since, er, 1997 or so.

Article: In the new era of radio, DJs keep the chatter to a minimum and the music is dictated by research-driven playlists.

Me: Big mistake. No wonder people are leaving radio. Teenagers won't even listen to today's Top 40 music supposedly aimed at them; they want more mature and innovating music.

Article: The radio DJ's plight is a result of a tsunami of cultural forces. Deregulation, corporate profits, the rise of the Internet, the fracturing of American society and tastes have all undercut the role of the DJ.

Me: This is partially incorrect. Deregulation itself is not to blame, and radio needs to make a profit, but radio can't make a profit by playing the same boring stuff nobody wants to listen, so people are listening to Internet radio. Society is fractured to a point where Americans, at least myself, would rather be hearing non-rap/R&B Euro-style rock, dance, and instrumentals, than the same 90210-era pop that nobody cares about. Society is fractured into two camps: those who tolerate bad radio, and those who do not and seek out better music.

Article: Program directors and consultants, not DJs, pick the music, using state-of-the-art listener research to determine what will be the next big thing.

Me: What's the next big thing? Let us, the folks who buy the music and who are over 25, pick the hits for you. After all, radio is supposed to be aimed at the older folks anyway, but radio can't appeal to the over 25 demos if the only new music they play are teenage-aimed pop fluff that not even the teenagers want to hear, so radio is in a lose-lose cycle until the idiots at corporate radio wise up and serve the mature demographics.

Article: "I hate to say it, but the way things are now, how can you tell who is a good DJ and who is bad DJ?" said Bryan Jones, a former 91X DJ. "If you suck as a DJ, it just means that your program director sucks."

Me: So nobody at 91X sucks except Bryan Schock, the programmer, to paraphrase Bryan's assessment, is that right? Ratings of 91X are down. Ratings of 92.1, run by independent thinkers are up. Guess who's the genius here.

Article: Jim Richards, director of FM programming for Clear Channel's San Diego operations, said research is critical to deliver the music the audience wants to hear.

Me: Jim Richards. Is he a sibling to that Nanny and the Professor kid Kim? Anyway, looks like the staff at Clear Channel is misinterpreting their research and concluding that the only new music worthy of airing are soft pop, R&B, nu-metal, and pop alternative. This is what we want to hear? Hello? Anyone at the "Cheap" Channel San Diego Outland HQ have anyone on their payroll with a brain? Not Roger Hedgecock who likes to pick on gays. Not Dave Rickards whose idea of comedy is out of line with the world culture of comedy. Not Schock who programs the same narrow selection of songs. Don't these idiots ever follow global music, humor, and sexual diversity?

Article: To Richards, the fact that DJs no longer select the music is a nonissue. "The role of the DJ has changed, but so what?" Richards said. "I don't see what the fuss is about."

Me: The programmers are doing a poor job selecting the songs, so perhaps the DJs should be in charge. "Dim" Richards is oblivious to that fact. Why does San Diego have so many stupid idiots employed in radio? Same problem with idiots on Goodyear and Midas on Convoy; the mechanics are total idiots too!

Article: The real threat to the DJ occupation, however, is the rise of voice-tracking, which allows a DJ to prerecord material that can be used on other stations. With voice-tracking, a radio company can cobble together a show using a series of taped segments, music intros and phone calls from other radio shows, all designed to mimic a live and local DJ.

Me: You can't fake a live broadcast. Look at KGB's voice tracking nightmare. Listeners are leaving. The station is a 1.9 during all non-DSC shifts averaged out! KOOL 95.7's voicetracking is just plain cold and is a poor version of KCBQ's golden days.

Article: Popular San Diego DJs who work for Clear Channel get a flat rate to prerecord shows for the company's other stations in such cities as Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City. That arrangement allows Clear Channel to hire fewer DJs.

Me: Unfortunately, smaller markets are left without in-house jocks, making the smaller Outlands even more like radio ghost towns than even San Diego's.

Article: But "Dim" Richards insists that the DJs and the listeners also benefit. Listeners in smaller towns get to hear top-quality on-air talent, and DJs get to make more money.

Me: Voice-tracking is top quality? What a dope he must be!

Article: "The more talented individuals are making more money than ever before," said Mike Glickenhaus, general manager of Clear Channel's San Diego operations.

Me: at the expense of the jocks in smaller radio markets that is.

Article: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there will be an almost 8 percent decline in need for broadcasting announcers in both radio and TV because of industry consolidation. In addition, pay for radio announcers is stagnating with the average hourly salary of around $9.

Me: I'm better off delivering pizzas averaging $10 an hour than to work at "Cheap" Channel San Diego. I'm getting paid more money per hour than a radio announcer at "Cheap" Channel? Dude, this is very f-cked up, right there!

Article: Brandi Schmidt, a former DJ at XHTZ/FM 90.3, has seen the profession she loves transformed. Clear Channel recently took over Jammin' Z-90, a hip-hop station, firing much of the on-air staff, including Schmidt, host of the Grub N' Groove lunch hour, and popular DJ Eddie Love. "Radio sure has changed from what it was when I fell in love with it," Schmidt said. "I started in '91 as an intern, and what a change the 1996 FCC deregulation has made. No doubt a change for the worse."

Me: That's an understatement. Victor Diaz, like Luis Kaloyan, ran Mexican stations independently (the latter with low ratings), then sold the marketing rights to "Cheap" Channel and Jacor, which got eaten by "Cheap." Blame the radio owners for selling their stations' rights to corporate radio, putting the almighty dollar ahead of serving the public good, and for that, Diaz and Kaloyan should be draped face up over hot coals!

Article: Schmidt, 33, says she went into radio because she enjoyed creating a bond with her listeners. That bond has been broken, to the detriment of the audience - and the radio stations, she says. "It's almost like I developed a friendship with my listeners," Schmidt said. "By having everything voice-tracked, there is no one for listeners to relate to."

Me: How can anyone bond with someone who doesn't exist at the moment? "Cheap" Channel is fake radio at its worst.

Article: "Dim" Richards of Clear Channel said radio is a business and to be successful it must give customers what they want, which is a certain level of consistency.

Me: Psst! The ratings are down. Looks like they're not tapping into what customers want to hear.

Article: Radio DJs in the '60s and '70s only played what they wanted to hear, not taking into account the listening audience or advertisers needs. A worker on a Ford assembly line can't use his discretion on what color racing stripe he puts on the car, just as a McDonald's employee can't all of a sudden put ketchup on a Big Mac, Richards said. "Why is radio different from any other industry?" Richards asked.

Me: Where does this "Dim" Richards moron get the idea of comparing radio to fast food and assembly lines? What gets played on the radio, or should get played for that matter, is not the same as what you eat or drive. Music is personality; food and mechanics are not. Music is diversified culture; food and mechanics are staples. Geez, get this man some college music education, or put a dunce cap on "Dim"

Article: Jones, the former 91X DJ, now works at e.Digital Corp., heading its digital music subscription service. He said radio has become so homogenized that it is irrelevant. Teen-agers no longer take their cues from radio, searching out new music online instead.

Me: the teenagers are the smarter ones, smart enough to know bullshit acts when they hear it, so they tune out. Let the teenagers tell the "Cheap" Channel suits what they would rather be hearing, and chances are, it's not going to be the same kind of music radio listeners 25 are familiar with hearing. Ask them. There's a research project.

Back in the 70's, I was a teenager, and radio wasn't a priority of mine. How could I listen to the radio if all they keep playing were nauseating soft crooners and junk bubblegum bands that were way out of line with my diverse musical tastes I acquired simply by watching TV. TV is good for you. They expose you to musical styles radio is not playing. I watched comedy, variety, classic cartoons, and game shows mainly for entertainment back then and found the music much more fun than the soft stuff radio was playing. Then came punk, new wave, and synth, and the accidental discovery of Dr. Demento when I got tired of watching reruns of The Jeffersons, and by the early 80's, I went from Eight is Enough to eighties music, dropping TV (except for Dallas, NBC, and GH) in favor of listening to music most of the time. MTV helped transform the dull Top 40 charts back in 1981 into fun music in 1983.

You see, if the music is not fun, the youngsters just won't tune in. Take it from me.

Article: Teen-agers listen to the radio less than any other age group, according to Arbitron.

Me: More so than I did when I was a teen 27 years ago? Enough of this. I'm putting on some polka music from the American Polka CD and turning off "Cheap" Channel now.

Corporate radio: they just don't get it.