The Face of Music
I went to the feedback forum at the Edge 103.9 office last night. Eight of the ten invited made it. Something happened that I should have foreseen. Those that were there, cared about music in general. Who else would make the effort? The majority audience of the Edge, was grossly misrepresented. And that’s a good thing. I don’t have any backing stats, but it is my educated guess that the main Edge listener is your High School teenager. I don’t think there was anyone under 20 at the forum and they were all male. In fact, I’d say a couple of them were in their early 30s.
The forum was moderated by someone from L.A., not affiliated with the Edge. We started by filling out a survey, with questions very similar to a previous on-line survey. Then the moderator asked for our answers and we discussed. Everyone there was for more variety and less “big hit” repetition. However, most everyone there felt the Edge was close to be being a great station, not much more to change. One of my answers stated that the Edge “was definitely better than before, but still needed a long way to go.” He came back to me and asked my why and how. I stated that the Edge is playing more of a variety of songs, but that the majority of the bands played are still on corporate record labels and it would be great to hear more independent bands. I also mentioned that my fat CD case is still 95% filled with bands that aren’t played anywhere on the radio. He asked what my top three current CDs were and I mentioned a few and no one had heard of them. He mentioned that I seemed knowledgeable of the independent scene and asked how I stay up on that. I just said “Internet, word-of-mouth, and concerts.”
So, it all went pretty well. I got a free CD out of it also. I think we’ll have a decent FM radio station here in Phoenix. As long as they have enough listeners that advertisers will still want to spend money. Will we have the perfect station? Most likely never. In order for that to happen, it’d have to be privately financed or at a college. And there are some colleges that have awesome stations.
2 comments:
Sounds cool, but in a way, the fact that they're bringing in someone from LA to run this session is a bad sign. That's what everyone else does. Why can't they be truly unique?!
It's ironic to tout yourself as "independent radio," but not play many (or any) "independent bands."
Listened to the EDGE briefly tonight. Turned it on and they were plaing HUM/Stars, then Dresden Dolls/Coin-Operated Boy, then Pearl Jam/Daughter. Excellent mix of something I never expected to hear on the radio again, something I had never heard before, and something I always enjoy hearing.
Man, it is something else when you hear something great on the radio that you have never heard before. That's what I want from a radio station, push me a little bit, surprise me. Play songs I've never heard before all day! I haven't listened to rock radio for five years now, this is starting to bring me back.
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