Anyhow, I live in a good-sized metropolitan city, with a million-ish residents in the MSA. We have lots and lots and LOTS of original local music, and absolutely no radio support for local artists. None. The lone station that was friendly to local artists changed format (shakes fist at Clear Channel) in July. There has been no replacement.
I have my own theories about that - I don’t think the station reached out to local hip-hop and rap artists enough, nor any other artists that inhabit the “fringes” of the local music scene (the punk bands, metal bands, noisy indie bands, and so forth). The fact is that Birmingham is nearly 75% African American, and nobody that I know of is reaching out to the musicians in that population. I know for a fact that there are probably hundreds of aspiring hip hop acts out there in this city.
Anyhow, I digress. My new pipe dream is to give all those guys radio play, regardless of their musical style. People should be soaking in all the local music around anyway, and I think they would. I have my FCC radio license (courtesy of a long stint on college radio way back in the day).
But I have no idea what it would cost. I know independent, non-profit radio stations have popped up in urban centers all over the country. Does anybody have experience in the financial side of it? Know how much it costs to start up? Licensing? Equipment? Operating costs?
Like I said, pipe dream, but I would love to consider it.
Money and logistics aside, I suspect one issue you may run into is this:
You talk about hip-hop, and punk, and metal, etc. The only thing that brings all of those together is that they’re all local Birmingham bands. I suspect that you may be a bit unusual, in appreciating that diverse range of music; I imagine that many hip-hop fans have no interest in listening to metal, while many metal fans have no interest in listening to hip-hop.
That’s why most radio stations stick to a pretty well-defined format – while some music fans may be willing to be experimental, and want to be surprised by the next thing that’s played, many listeners want to be able to tune to a particular station and know which genre they’re getting.
If your dream is to put what you want on the air, go for it. Just realize that radio formats exist for a very good reason; if doing what you’re suggesting was a way to generate listenership, someone would already be doing it.
Sure, but there lots and lots of independent radio stations that do format shows (a set block of punk, a time-slot of hip-hop, etc.) That’s nothing that can’t be dealt with.
Oh, and my larger point was that the black population probably wasn’t tuning in to “The Songwriter Cafe” a whole lot, and that there’s an untapped listenership out there.
I’m not an expert, but have been around the periphery of the radio business. Assuming you want an on-air station, the first thing you need is a license (for the station) and a frequency. Those aren’t cheap, and are heavily regulated as I’m sure you know. You don’t just create a new one, you have to find an existing one and use it for your purposes.
On the other hand, you might think about an internet station. I don’t think there is any licensing requirement for that, and it has to be a lot cheaper to operate. Of course the ghetto kids can’t listen to it on their boomboxes, but they can listen on their smartphones, which might be good enough.
Other thought: start small by squeezing in a small show on an existing channel with a different format. They might be willing to give you an hour on Sunday night to fulfill a “community outreach” requirement. Build some buzz and show that your idea can work.
Final note: most people think that the “customers” of a radio station are the listeners. They aren’t; the listeners are the “product.” The true customers are the advertisers.
The Spy was an indie station a while back that just re-opened in OKC. I’m so thrilled to have an independent station again! Something to listen to besides Classic Rock and Country!!
I’ve believe that the guy running it has been planning this for a long while, so he could probably give you some advice. I’ve heard he’s a pretty nice guy, too.
I don’t know. Getting involved in the middle of promoting local hip hop and rap artists without the inevitable gangster elements associated with that genre also getting involved seems like a chancy proposition. I don’t care if you are black, white or brown those are dangerous people who can take deadly offense at the slightest things that normal people would ignore. If you start getting in the middle of that scene as a defacto playtime promoter someone’s liable to get pissed at someone else, and if you are in the middle of that scenario too bad for you.
Unless you get your thrill riding that tiger there are less hazardous genres to promote.
That, among other things, is why it would be non-profit community radio. We ain’t making money on it, and neither are you, at least not from us. We play your stuff, and that’s all you get. But that’s not targeted specifically at the hip-hop community. That’s for all the greedy shitheads out there.
Also, yeah, there’s a danger, but I know several local hip-hop artists, whose music I wouldn’t mind seeing get play time. Nice guys. Very nice guys. Honestly.
I am a dj at a college radio station that is similar to your ideas. The station WAS independent from the college for a number of years. The school took the station back, and the program director and a number of the dj’s formed a new station, now internet but aiming for low-power FM licensing.
Google them. You’ll like it!
It’s called CHIRP
Well, KERA (NPR affiliate) here in Dallas, TX just purchased the 91.7 signal for their new KXT music station for something like $18 million, but… up until some point last year someone in my neighborhood was broadcasting a pirate radio station out of their house - played a musical mix kinda like what you mentioned. I think they probably had a half mile broadcast radius, though.
KKFI, 90.1 in Kansas City Missouri is a community radio station.
Getting on the air was the result of more than a decade of work. They had to find a frequency they could use - luckily there was one being used at a very low power by a small bible college. They had to hire a professional engineer to show that increasing the power could be done without interfering with the other frequencies around it - including the “public” (read NPR) radio station in town, who didn’t want the competition (for pledges).
All this work was expensive, and had to be done by qualified professionals who expected to be paid.
And that money, years before the transmitter was ever turned on, was generated by forming a non-profit organization - and running a Bingo game. And everyone involved in the station had to work the Bingo game.
I was involved before it got on the air, wiring up temporary studios, including one in the basement of the principal fundraiser where the very first shows were recorded.
I was never involved in the financial aspects, other than working pledge drives for the station after it was on the air, and working the Bingo game. But I’d be shocked if the costs to turn the transmitter on the first day where anything under two million dollars.