Here it is the end of February, and I am just finishing up (tomorrow) the end of a week’s vacation. Vacation from my school job, and vacation from Seattle’s gray, rainy days. In order to have a successful vacation in February I believe one must leave the gray, or spend it with good people. The perfect combination, however, is to do both. And this is what I got to do. Thank you LA, and thank you to all my peeps (family and friends) who live down here and make it that much easier for me to have a happy vacay. I love you, both the city and the (my) people in it!
Happy, float on a cloud, love of LA aside, I thought I’d take a few minutes to discuss my bittersweet feelings about the technological changes/advances that bring music to the world in new and amazing ways. Overall, I love many of these changes. I love that people can have success through YouTube (Justin Bieber and that Friday song girl aside, because seriously, I don’t get that.). I love that home studios allow creative people without the means to hire professionals to create something close to their hearts & release it to the world if they so desire. I love that blogs bring new music to people all over the world, and that teenagers can start nurturing their dreams without waiting to be discovered by some talent agent (not that the discovery hurts!). I love that artists have more control over their music, overall, & should they not get signed (or choose not to sign), they can probably still make it work if they have a strong enough fanbase (or so it seems). And I love that I don’t have to carry CD’s all over the place in order to have a ton of music with me in the car, on the plane, etc.
Here’s what I don’t love. I don’t love that with the CD scene heading out the work that artists put into their covers/designs, etc., largely goes unnoticed. I actually like reading through those, strange as it sounds. Especially as a teenager—I loved knowing what my favorite artists and albums were all about. I don’t love that I no longer have DJ’s I can rely on to bring me music. I know that sounds funny to the younger crowd, but as I grew up in the 80’s/90’s, I actually have a connection to these people.
See Dar Williams’ song, “Are You Out There?” for a little more understanding of what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl-i15ieG7I
I left Seattle for college in Illinois, but everytime I came home I was eager to turn on The Mountain. The Mountain brought me the music I loved—adult contemporary, but with just a smattering of rocky Pearl Jam, some classic rock like Fleetwood Mac, a little Steely Dan (which I actually like), but mostly, it kept me hearing new artists that I completely connected with—Sarah McLachlan, Brandi Carlile, David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, Adele, Mumford & Sons, Norah Jones, India Arie, etc. They had (have) a show called Sunday Brunch that would take it to an even mellower level, and I learned a lot of music that way. And they had New Music Tuesdays where one of my favorite DJ’s, Shawn Stewart, would spend part of the day bringing the listeners new music—either a new artist, a new song, a new album, etc. She gave me little facts and stories that kept me engaged, and I loved that.
And then she got fired. And the station changed. Or rather, the station changed, and then she got fired. First one of the other favorite DJ’s, Marty Riemer, got fired. And the station changed. And then it changed back. And then he got rehired. And then it changed again. And he stayed. But she got fired. What is happening?! And why am I relating this to the change in technology?
I don’t really know if there’s a connection, but I suspect there must be. It seems to me that with the easy access to music everywhere there’s a much lower demand for good radio stations. Although it was my understanding that The Mountain had many loyal followers, the umbrella company (Entercom) chose to go to a new format, where classic rock became the norm and modern music became the rarity. More classic rock? Really? Because we didn’t already have 4 other classic rock stations in the city??? Seriously, how is that a good idea? That aside, I can only assume that this comes out of desperation. Perhaps they think that the only people still listening to radio (satellite aside, that is) are people from the classic rock generation? Don’t get me wrong—I love me some good classic rock. But I had FOUR OTHER STATIONS TO CHOOSE FROM!
The Mountain was different. I bragged about it when I lived in Boston. I missed it when I lived in St. Louis. My friends from other cities would comment on the great radio station when they visited me in Seattle. I looked for something similar every time I visited a new city. When I came back to Seattle I always felt more at home just because no other station made me as happy. And now it’s gone. I feel sad about this. And in that bittersweet way, I am thankful for my iPod, Pandora & YouTube to turn to. But I really miss my DJ’s.
A Living Song 