Author: goat

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I’ll quickly throw my two or three cents in on this debate.  As a radio professional and musician I stand in favor of the Performance Rights Act.

I’ve been in terrestrial-radio (T-radio henceforth) since the mid-seventies.  While never a recording artist, I have appeared on T-radio as a performing musician.  My current program, the Colorado Sound, represents many DIY musicians who receive no compensation whatsoever from T-radio (or many other sources, but that’s for another blog post sometime).  If they record a song written by someone else, that writer receives a royalty via their association with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC when that song is played on T-radio, but the performing artists themselves receive nothing.  And, generally speaking, at the most local level, whatever airplay they might receive will have marginal affect on any real world sales – so the free T-radio promo and advertising argument is pretty slim imo.

It used to be that T-radio had a direct promotional benefit, and for some it still does. However, whatever direct benefit exists today only exists for a very very slim percentage of the musicians who are out there  working hard at producing records.  The NAB (National Assoc. of Broadcasters) argues that any new fees on their business will benefit the recording industries top four companies – and that those companies by and large are foreign/overseas companies.

That’s a fair enough statement – except for one thing:  If the NAB is opposed to the RIAA backed overseas foreign owned companies making money at their expense, why are they airing that music?    It is also true that these companies own the huge catalogs of recordings that T-radio airs, and that the companies bought and paid for – so yes, those fees will go to those companies… and to the hundreds and thousands of smaller independent labels and DIY musicians who are not owned by the big four… and that only receive marginal acceptance at mainstream T-radio.

Readdressing the copyright royalty issues in this country is messy business.  The original laws were written at the dawn of the recording and radio industries, nearly a century ago.  Successful lobbying by the NAB and other pro T-radio groups has maintained what is obviously a highly pro T-radio biased regulation all these years.  Successful lobbying by the RIAA, the musicFIRST Coalition and others has created new fees that cost satellite, cable, and Internet radio stations while feeding musicians’ hopes and dreams of making some kind of a living from having their performances publicly “broadcast.”  I’m glad to see the Commerce Department take a stand for fairness in this deal.

There’s something about spring that makes this old goat jump… smack into the weeds beginning to show in the yard, the grass that doesn’t seem to want to come up through the rock and clay “soil,” home improvement projects that I have no business attempting in the first place as limited as my carpentry skills are … and music … lots and lots of music, especially of the outdoor live variety.  I can’t wait for the first downtown live show under the stars or on a warm (or not) Sunday afternoon… LOL … got that old spring fever I guess.

I want to throw some props out to Dave Herrera at the Westword for contributing to this blog.  Every week, Dave posts the playlists of shows like mine, the Mountain Homegrown Show (99.5FM the Mountain), Locals Only (KTCL), Local Shakedown (Radio 1190/KVCU), and the Colorado Wave.  And, every week I tabulate those spins into my spreadsheet so I can keep track of what’s getting played so I can chart it here each month.  So for that, thanks brother Dave 🙂

This past month I logged 201 current titles (going back to Jan 09 release date) into the spreadsheet that goes out to radio stations around the state.  Of those 201 titles, 110 received at least 1 point in the scoring system used for our charts each month – meaning that title got at least one spin at one station or show in one week during the tracking period for this month’s chart.  Of course this also means that 91 titles got no registered or reported spins this past month.

As I survey and chart Colorado music programs and radio stations I am always amazed at the music I believe they would likely play and that I wind up thinking they just don’t have in their collections.  I don’t know the exact reasons why more bands, artists, labels, and out of state promotion companies don’t service all of the independent stations and Colorado music programs that exist throughout the state … That has always baffled me.  In some of these cases, I’ve spoken directly to the “band” or label about servicing their record to radio and encouraged them to get the music out there — yet month in and month out I find many of those very titles I think might do well just don’t show up in our tracking.

When you read the charts here and ask why “X or Z” got so high up on the charts – it is first and foremost because they got their recording to the most number of stations and/or specialty shows… and they let those stations know in big bright letters that the recording is from a Colorado band/artist.  I cannot stress enough how important that piece of information is.  I talk to djs and programmers all over who might have a recording filed, but don’t know it’s from Colorado.

Typically, these generally independent programmers at public/community and college radio and specialty shows play what they know.  If they don’t know something is from Colorado and have no personal knowledge about that act they are not likely to play it.  So all the more reason to reach out and let radio folks know who’s who and what you do as musicians in this great state… especially jazz recordings.

Nearly all of the public/community stations in our network have jazz shows, yet I find Colorado jazz grossly under represented — and again, it’s an issue I believe where those titles are not being serviced throughout the network.

With that, here’s the spins chart for this month…

Top 30 Spins March 2010
1. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
2. Head for the Hills – Head for the Hills
3. John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
4. Emmitt-Nershi Band – New Country Blues
5. Yonder Mountain String Band – The Show
6. Matt Morris – When Everything Breaks Open
6. Spring Creek – Way Up On a Mountain
7. Euforquestra – Soup
8. Dave LeMieux & House of Soul – Jazz Shaped
8. Kyle Hollingsworth – Then There’s Now
9. David Williams & the Wildgrass Band – The Crazy Kind
10. Honey Don’t – Honey Don’t
11. Boulder Acoustic Society – Punchline
12. The Congress – The Congress
13. Gregory Alan Isakov – This Empty Northern Hemisphere
13. Loose Cannon Bluegrass – Loose Cannon Bluegrass
14. Barbara Ernst – April Child: Mistura Bela (Beautiful Mix)
14. Blue Canyon Boys – House Full of Sorrow
15. Ethyl & the Regulars – Fill ‘er Up With… Ethyl & the Regulars
16. Rob Drabkin – On These Heavy Feet
17. Megan Burtt – It Ain’t Love
18. Hello Kavita – To A Loved One
18. The Knew – The Knew’s Pulperia
19. Aakash Mittal Quartet – Videsh
19. Pretty Lights – Passing By Behind Your Eyes
19. The Subdudes – Flower Petals
20. Ode to the Marionette – Uncomfortable Situation
21. Colcannon – Three Days in May
21. Fierce Bad Rabbit – All I Have is You (single)
21. Otis Taylor – Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs

KAFM (Grand Junction)
1. Euforquestra – Soup
2. David Williams & the Wildgrass Band – The Crazy Kind
3. Ethyl & the Regulars – Fill ‘er Up With…Ethyl & the Regulars
4. Emmitt-Nershi Band – New Country Blues
4. Honey Don’t – Honey Don’t
4. Jaden – Midnight Sky
5. Head for the Hills – Head for the Hills
5. Loose Cannon Bluegrass – Loose Cannon Bluegrass
5. The Subdudes – Flower Petals
6. Blue Canyon Boys – House Full of Sorrow

KBUT (Crested Butte)
1. Boulder Acoustic Society – Punchline
1. Emmitt-Nershi Band – New Country Blues
1. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
1. Head for the Hills – Head for the Hills
1. Spring Creek – Way Up On a Mountain
1. String Cheese Incident – Trick or Treat
2. Kyle Hollingsworth – Then There’s Now
2. Loose Cannon Bluegrass – Loose Cannon Bluegrass
3. Bill Frisell – The Best of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1: Folk Songs
3. Blue Canyon Boys – House Full of Sorrow

KCSU (Fort Collins)
1. Paean – Songs For Us To Sing
2. Dovekins – Dovekins
3. Sam!! Well, Hell… – It’s a Long Story, So It Goes…
4. Rad Vibes – Mind Is The Maker…
5. Fierce Bad Rabbit – “All I Have Is You” (single)

KDNK (Carbondale)
1. Euforquestra – Soup
1. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
1. Head for the Hills – Head for the Hills
1. John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
1. The Motet – Dig Deep
2. Colcannon – Three Days in May
2. Dango Rose – Banjo Poems
2. Dave LeMieux & House of Soul – Jazz Shaped
2. Gregory Alan Isakov – This Empty Northern Hemisphere
2. Tequila Mockingbird – Luck & Trouble

KGNU (Boulder)
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – This Empty Northern Hemisphere
2. Blue Canyon Boys – House Full of Sorrow
2. Chris Daniels & Bmaster – We’ll Meet Again
2. Honey Don’t – Honey Don’t
2. Reed Foehl – Once An Ocean
2. Yonder Mountain String Band – The Show
3. Bad Weather California – Young Punks
3. Fred Hess – Hold On
3. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
3. John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty

KOTO (Telluride)
1. Rob Drabkin – On These Heavy Feet
2. Honey Don’t – Honey Don’t
3. Blue Canyon Boys – House Full of Sorrow
3. Euforquestra – Soup
3. Otis Taylor – Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs

KRCC (Colorado Springs)
1. Haunted Windchimes – Honey Moonshine
2. The Changing Colors – Ghost of Red Mountain
2. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
2. Houses – Fall EP
3. Ethyl & the Regulars – Fill ‘er Up With…Ethyl & the Regulars
3. Flashbulb Fires – Glory
3. Head for the Hills – Head for the Hills
3. John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
3. Ode to the Marionette – Uncomfortable Situation
3. Tango Red Tapestry – The Window EP

KRFC (Fort Collins)
1. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
2. Chuck Pyle – The Spaces In Between
3. Flower Petals – The Subdudes
4. Colcannon – Three Days In May
4. Honey Don’t – Honey Don’t
5. The Delta Sonics – Never Enough
5. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Everything Is Alright
5. John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
5. Megan Burtt – It Ain’t Love
5. Runaway Express – Howlin’ At the Moon

KUVO (Denver)
1. Barbara Ernst – April Child: Mistura Bela (Beautiful Mix)
2. Aakash Mittal Quartet – Videsh
3. Ben Markley – Second Introduction
3. Erik Applegate – Red Skies
3. Fred Hess – Hold On
3. Keith Oxman – Doing All Right
3. Ricky Sweum – Pulling Your Own Strings

KVNF (Paonia)
1. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
2. Matt Morris – When Everything Breaks Open
3. Ethyl & the Regulars – Fill ‘er Up With…Ethyl & the Regulars
3. Loose Cannon Bluegrass – Loose Cannon Bluegrass
3. Spring Creek – Way Up On a Mountain
4. Boulder Acoustic Society – Punchline
4. Euforquestra – Soup
4. Flobots – Survival Story
4. Otis Taylor – Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs
4. Yonder Mountain String Band – The Show

The Colorado Sound
1. Kyle Hollingsworth – Then There’s Now
1. Romano Paoletti – Story of a Lifetime
2. Andrea Ball – Dial Tone
2. David Williams & the Wildgrass Band – The Crazy Kind
2. Head for the Hills – Head for the Hills
2. Yonder Mountain String Band – The Show
3. Dave LeMieux & House of Soul – Jazz Shaped
3. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
3. John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
3. Matt Morris – When Everything Breaks Open

Okay, I cannot simply let this one get past this week… as much as I may have wanted to… thanks once again to my friend Dave Herrera at the Westword for bringing this cool bit to our attention.

Nathaniel Rateliff – EPK