8-15-14
The station formerly known as X106.7 in San Antonio is now "106.7 FM The Eagle." CMG San Antonio?s KTKX has been playing classic rock for four years and PD Keith Hastings says, "The new 106.7 The Eagle?s philosophy is that Classic Rock isn?t just a bunch of songs?it?s a way of life. This is incredible music that comprises a lifelong soundtrack for a huge segment of the population, and we?re proud to provide it on one of the best, most powerful radio signals in San Antonio.?
1-7-13
Cumulus announces the launch of NASH FM 92.3 yesterday, marking Cumulus?s Country entrance into New Orleans. The station was formerly rock-formatted WRKN. Cumulus will eventually have more than 60 owned-and-operated Country stations operating under the NASH brand. Cumulus is looking for an experienced Country PD for the station and on-air talent. Apply to mike.mcvay@cumulus.com
10-25-13
The New York Daily News is reporting that legendary rock and roll DJ Dave Herman has been arrested for trying to arrange sex with a 6-year-old girl in the Virgin Islands. Police picked Herman up at the St. Croix airport after allegedly attempting to set up a meeting with a 36-year old woman who was willing to let him have sex with the girl. It turns out the woman worked for the Department of Homeland Security. Herman allegedly wrote in an online chat room, ?I find girls that age incredibly sexy, soft, and their innocence is also a huge turn-on for me. Age 6 is the perfect time to start her being loved that way.? Herman is due in court Friday in St. Croix. If convicted, he faces 10 years to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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4-5-13
Greater Media's Rock station WMMR in Philadelphia turns 45 this year. A great accomplishment for any radio station. Radio Ink will profile WMMR's 45th in an upcoming issue. Along the way the station has had some big names program that station, including Jeff Pollack, Charlie Kendall and current PD Bill Weston. WMMR has become "part of the fabric" of that city according to Market Manager John Fullam. Kendall was there from 1980 to 1983 before he was shipped to New York to take over WNEW. We asked Kendall what it was like to program a radio station that has become a nationally recognized set of call letters and a totally dominating rock station.
"Programming WMMR was a fabulous experience for me. The stations was owned by people who empowered their Program Directors to actually ?program? the radio station. A proud tradition that continues under the ownership of Greater Media. Jeff Pollack was my predecessor and he had done a good job of giving the station good formatics. My job was to move the average age from 19 to about 27. Quite simply, we removed the ?teen? focus of the station 
and targeted ?young adults?. We made WMMR ubiquitous at every concert, stadium, club and bus stop in Philadelphia. We took the station live on location as much as possible. Lots of live concert broadcasts and even when we weren?t live, a WMMR DJ introduced the band and our promotion team put something with out logo in the hands of every person there. We embraced the local music scene and supported them whenever possible. This gave us the opportunity to do live Block Parties on Chestnut street, at the shore and elsewhere and drew tens of thousands of people at virtually no cost. We were the party. None of this would have been possible without the blessing of our General Manager, Hal Smith. He let us try and succeed at some stunts many would have said no to. It would also not have been possible without some truly exceptional talent. I was lucky enough to find Piere Robert and John Debella to add to Joe Bonadonna, Bubba John Stevens, Anitia Gevenson, Steve Sutton, Michael Tearson, Steve Lushbaugh, John Bloodwell, Kevin Gunn, Tom Sheehey and more my ancient brain can?t remember right now."
Reach out to Charlie Kendall HERE
We'll have more from Kendall, Weston and John Fullam in an upcoming issue of Radio Ink as WMMR celebrates 45 years.
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Listen to WMMR HERE
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Adam Duritz ofCounting Crows is many things. Apart from the crafter of hits like ?Mr. Jones? and much loved movie music like?Accidentally in Love,? Duritz is a full-blown social marketing thought-leader. I had the chance to catch Adam this week giving a presentation at the Pivot Conference, part of Social Week in NYC. His session was called ?The Audience Imperative: a New Relationship Between Artists and Fans.?
It will come as no surprise to those who know Adam?s history he?s an independent thinker. He?d have to be to look at the longstanding system of artists, record labels and radio stations that made him famous and helped him sell 40 million records, and say it?s broken. To realize that even though it worked for him, it doesn?t work for most artists. And it?s not because those artists aren?t any good.
The social landscape, and specifically how Facebook is changing the music & radio industries, is putting an enormous amount of power and opportunity in the hands of both musicians and the fans who love them. Do labels and radio stations have a place in this going forward? According to Adam, they could, provided they see, understand, and help facilitate what?s going on. Adam?s comments:
-Artists can?t get famous from behind a computer screen. They still need to be out there, meeting as many people as they can, making face-to-face personal connections.
-You screw up when you directly market your music online, because viral isn?t linear. At best it?s reciprocal. If you want your fans to do something, you have to be giving them something first, such as a vested interest.
-What made you a million dollars today may not make you a million dollars tomorrow. That?s how fast things are changing. Companies gorge themselves on research and obsess over every number. But today?s research may not even apply to tomorrow.
-Radio screwed up when research changed the way it programs stations. It?s misuse of information. Social can make this same mistake if they go overboard on analytics and operate with no gut instinct, pure originality or common sense.
-Radio has almost completely dismissed the importance of discovery. In the process, they also got rid of the passion music should inspire. When a fan discovers a new group, they feel personally and emotionally invested in seeing them make it, they want to be a part of it.
-When radio stations stopped interacting with their hardcore fans face-to-face & on the phone, and went to random surveying, they messed up. Social is about listening closely to those who love you the most. Nobody knows better than they do what fans want from you, what you?re doing right, and what you?re doing wrong.
-When someone complains, it?s not a negative thing. They?re trying to tell you how to make your product work better for them and people like them. To dismiss them is arrogant and puts a wall between you and the real human advise you need.
-Radio messed up by getting rid of the on-air talent, and by taking away the talent?s ability to discover and expose people to new music. There were no bigger fans of music, no greater lovers of radio, and no greater friends to listeners then jocks. Radio has severed its lifeline, its umbilical chord to its fans.
-The public can?t tell you they want something that they don?t even know exists yet. You can research them and focus group them to death, and they won?t know what to tell you. But they know it when they hear it. And when they do organically discover it?they can?twait to tell the world about it.
-People are on a blog, or a site, or a Facebook Page because they?re totally into what that stream is about. That kind of focus on a specific interest can be far more powerful than traditional mass media.
-People want to be part of a ?scene.? So make a scene.
-Social media is driven by the way real people act toward each other. If your band or your station isn?t talking to fans like two human beings talking together, you?re off the mark.
Mike Stiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
Find him on Facebook or on Twitter @mikestiles
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