Re: Record Industry Decline

[Bill Fox <billyfox@soundscapes.us>]

Stephen Goodman wrote:
>> These days, a radio station won't play anything except:
>> 1. bands that the corporate office tells them to play.
>> 2. bands that can tell them what other stations are playing their 
>> music. Of course that's none because getting that first station to 
>> play your music without being able to say...  Well, you know it's 
>> Catch 22.
> Sounds a bit like the selectively-locked doors that the games business 
> sometimes seem to have on their open positions.  An exec with an 
> unnamed company once told me, "The best way to get a job in the games 
> business is to have a job elsewhere in the games business."  Hopefully 
> this path to disaster via stagnation won't be followed too long...
Unfortunately, stagnation has been in place for far too long.  
Otherwise, this discussion wouldn't sustain itself for very long.

It takes brave people to buck the system.  Bands wanting airplay do it 
all the time.  Ultimately, it might be a matter of will a band wear down 
a Program Director (or Games Personnel Director!) rather than that PD 
being brave.  My friend is a big Spock's Beard fan.  When V was 
released, Greg spoke to the local rock station's PD.  When Greg asked 
the PD if he would play any Spock's Beard, the PD asked, "What other 
stations are playing them?"  (This is an exact quote.)  PDs are not 
hired to have original thoughts.  My question is, if PDs can't decide 
for themselves what to put on the playlist (because the corporation 
dictates that), what is there left that a PD is supposed to do that 
would attract any music lover to the position?

Of course, many loopers aren't even playing mainstream music making it 
even harder to get airplay.  First, you have to find a station that has 
a specialty program that plays your genre of music...

Cheers,

Bill