Altrok's Rantcast

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noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:26:00 +0000

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90.5 FM/HD1 Tonight: The Altrok Radio FM Showcase

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:26:00 +0000

There's a bumper crop of new tracks we'll be premiering on tonight's show at 90.5 The Night - music that'll challenge you, make you move, and generally change your world. Sprinkled in among them, of course, will be classic tracks that you shouldn't ever have to do without.

Specifics? That would be telling - and in most cases, if we told you, you'd say "who?" Though we think you might like the classic Pailhead we dug up. We like Nice Nice, too.

Find out more about "who" - tune in tonight for The Altrok Radio FM Showcase: two whole hours of the good stuff, starting at 11PM on 90.5 The Night.

And in the meantime, remember to check out our lil' slice of heaven at Altrok 90.5 HD2 - tune in with an HD radio (cheap!) or (if you're able to read this) tune in online. All day, all night, in terrifyingly refreshing stereo, or mono, if you prefer.

Malcom McLaren, 64

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:13:00 +0000

Malcom McLaren died today, aged 64, according to the New York Times. Say what you'd like, swindler or no, rock is what it is today in no small part because of him.

90.5's Future Requires Your Help

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:45:00 +0000

It's time for 90.5's pledge drive, and thus we ask your indulgence and support.

Your assistance will provide more fuel for not only 90.5 The Night, but also Altrok 90.5 HD2 and Brookdale Student Radio at 90.5 HD3.

Any amount is welcome at 877-905-4905, and the pledge page has a number of attractive pledge options as well.

Do tell 'em Altrok sent you (it can't be bad for us to be associated with income, y'know...)

WOXY.com Down For The Third Time

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:19:00 +0000

This is a bit of a shock - WOXY.com is going dark...again. I don't know whether it's simply a bad economy, or complications from its move to Austin, TX, or what, but they are throwing in the towel and, this time, it looks like it's for good.

Hope not. They've done a stellar job, and I hope they can figure out how to continue to do so. We've held a long-standing respect for them here at Altrok (and, in fact, their Program Director, Mike Taylor, has graciously contributed to Altrok in the past.)

To put it another way, as I just mentioned to Mike in email:

"Good luck to you and the rest of the staff - you've fought the good fight for far longer and at a higher level than many others have had the resources to, and you haven't ever compromised."

We'll keep you posted.

SXSW: Who's Buzzing?

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:37:00 +0000

In the wrapup for SXSW (which we here at Altrok do not have the liquid funds to attend, unfortunately) it appears there's several attempts to identify the bands that created something like a "buzz"...here's a roundup:

Locally, New Jersey's Star Ledger gave some column inches to the hometown boys, with Titus Andronicus getting the "wailing away on a little stage" pull photo. Other shout-outs went to Status Green, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Roadside Graves and Any Day Parade.

The New York Times' slideshow of the proceedings leads with Frightened Rabbit, following up with Warpaint, Jj, Marina And The Diamonds, The Morning Benders, Memory Tapes (offered up as part of the "Glo-fi" phenomenon - laptop poppers, in my opinion, who are of course not unwelcome.) Apparently Hole and two thirds of The Dixie Chicks (trading as The Court Yard Hounds) were looking for new audiences as well, and they wrap up with a piano driven, string-quartet augmented performance from Germany's Hauschka.

The Vancouver Sun pulls together a nice piece on the final celebration of Alex Chilton's life at Antone's. Looks like everybody wanted to be on that stage.

And if you'd like your SXSW news filtered through celebrities and celebrity watchers, there's no better place than MTV's roundup. (That's the sound of me smacking my forehead...)

Settle in and do some reading - and keep us playing in the background while you do it...

Altrok 90.5 HD2 - Modern Rock Awaits You, And Not Just At The Jersey Shore

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:35:00 +0000

Well, y'know, I wish I didn't have to be such a plugster, but hey, ya don't promote, ya don't get listeners.

Altrok 90.5 HD2 is ON THE AIR. The actual air, as opposed to just over the Internet (though we're still broadcasting there.) We're an over the air radio station with a library that's only better than the one FM106.3 once had because we've had ten years to add deep alternative tracks that actually came out over the last decade (and that you didn't hear because, well, there wasn't an FM106.3 to play 'em for you.)

One other little thing: this is Public Radio, so no commercials.

So we've got the music, and we've got the transmitter. We just need listeners, and that's where you come in.

By the way, we've tweaked the audio so that everything sounds even better whether you're listening on iPhone (yes, there's an app for that), online, or on HD Radio. (Yes, we're still learning how to operate the transmitter, so if you're a fan of broadcasting flubs, you'll probably hear some of those, too. Yeah, we've wanted to run a station forever, but that doesn't mean we were gonna start as experts on day one...)

And Michele McBride provides news in the mornings, bless her soul.

We've also got a Twitter feed and a Facebook fan page - they'll update you once an hour with a teasingly slim view some of the bands we'll be playing some time in the near future. (It's only teasingly slim so that we don't anger the Music Industry Gods - we'd like to let you in on the whole playlist, but that would be telling.)

Here's the last fifty tracks we played. If these light your wick, keep it lit by tuning in, either using your HD Radio at the Jersey Shore (tuned to 90.5 HD2) or online (choose a link, any link.)

The Radio Dept. - Heaven?s On Fire
The Fiery Furnaces - Tropical Iceland [Single Version]
BPA, The - He's Frank (feat. Iggy Pop)
Cake - I Will Survive
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Laura Palmer's Prom
Rudi - When I Was Dead
The Sisters of Mercy - 1969
Cat Scientist - I Saved An Airplane
XTC - Cherry in your tree
Morningwood - Best Of Me
The Church - Deadman's Hand
Green Day - Holiday
Miike Snow - Silvia
Big Audio Dynamite - V. Thirteen
The Fall - Hot Cake-Part 2
Doves - Sky Starts Falling
Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
Beck - Where It's At
Goldhawks - Where In The World
World Party - Ship Of Fools
A Million Years - Suspicious
Swipe - I Am Gospel
The Jam - Precious
Daryl Hall - NYCNY
Sparks - Tips for Teens
Cut Off Your Hands - Happy As Can Be
Maps - Die Happy, Die Smiling
plus-minus - Trapped Under Ice Floes (Redux)
Bettie Serveert - Deny All
R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single)
Broken Bells - The High Road
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint - Six-Fingered Man
St. Vincent - Now, Now
Modest Mouse - Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
The Heligoats - Fish Sticks
New Order - The Perfect Kiss
The Shazam - Squeeze The Day
The Bongos - Numbers With Wings
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Breaking the Girl
Modern English - Tables Turning
Johnny Cash - Personal Jesus
Bad Lieutenant - Twist Of Fate
The Lemonheads - Mrs. Robinson
Detroit Social Club - Black And White
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
The Bamboos - On The Sly
Bubblegum Lemonade - I'll Never Be Yours
The Psychedelic Furs - Into You Like A Train

If that does it for you, tune in - you'll show our tasteful and well-appointed landlords at 90.5 The Night that giving us a whole radio station was a good idea. (Conversely, if we don't burn up the online listener slots, they'll think it wasn't such a good idea. I'm just sayin'.)

Altrok 90.5 HD2 - Try It Again...

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:20:00 +0000

We've made some (fairly significant) changes to the quality of the audio on Altrok 90.5 HD2 (both when you listen via HD Radio and when you listen online.) Tune in and check it out - and if you'd like hints about what's coming up, link in to our Twitter feed - once an hour, it'll give you a clue about the bands we're going to be playing (though nothing more specific - that would anger the music industry gods.) For instance, Stone Roses and Bad Lieutenant (the new band from ex-New Order/Joy Division members) are going to be showing up in the near future...

OK Go: New Album, GREAT Video...And Now EMI-Free.

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:57:00 +0000

OK Go and EMI have parted ways. This is likely a trend.

They explain rather eloquently here.

Looking Toward A Melody Future

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000

It's pretty clear that this year's Pinfield Era Melody Reunion (which Ed Wong refers to as the Melody Reflux) was a huge success - Ed brought the equipment, the Club brought the consumables, I brought the video projector, Stiffy Biceptz brought the classic candid photo set and no small amount of logistical expertise, Pat Pierson, Lisa Uber, Pete Santiago and myself brought the records, Matt Pinfield brought Matt Pinfield, and you brought the party (and many thanks to Laura Schneider for having the good sense to create a Facebook event so more people could bring the party....) The drink profits went to a good cause, and you danced like nobody was watching (and since I wouldn't want to stand in the way of you continuing to do that, I swear, I haven't looked at a single one of the pictures posted on Facebook, honesttagawd.)

So, what's in store for the future? A few things...

The nearest is The Melody Reunion Replay, a full replay of the night's festivities, which we'll be doing soon at Altrok 90.5 HD2. I'd hoped for this coming weekend for the playback, but with a new radio station running it seems big fish keep flopping into our frying pan, so probably another weekend will pass before we can do it. I'll keep you posted.

Secondly, the All-Eras Melody Reunion (for all eras up to 2000, with everyone invited) generally comes up in September, so keep an eye out for that as well.

And, of course, this plug: if you liked what you heard at the reunion, you'll hear a lot of it (and a lot more) at Altrok 90.5 HD2, where we now get to carry on the legacy of FM106.3 with an actual radio station all our own, taking advantage of a bit of new technology. If you're at the Jersey Shore, you can pick us up on an HD Radio at (naturally) 90.5 HD2. If not, why not tune in online and let us know you're out there?

(By the way, some of you were regulars at The Green Parrot, which, like The Melody, is now the site of a hospital parking lot. The fact that there's another club that had such a dedicated following is not lost on us...stay tuned.)

Kathryn Bigelow: Early Work

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:09:00 +0000

Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win the Best Director Academy Award...but not the first director of a New Order video to do so. That honor goes to Jonathan Demme.

Even so, here's her contribution to New Order's oevure, where she somehow apparently convinced them to go all hair-metal...

...and for good measure, here's Demme's.

ABC Versus Cablevision: Could Both Lose?

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:39:00 +0000

Short answer: both are already losing. Cablevision's trying to play the sympathy card, and failing. ABC's losing three million viewers in the Northeast for tonight's Oscar telecast because of their own greed.

Cablevision is playing hardball, as businesses that are supposed to make money do. They pay a lot of money for access to cable networks, and we pay them a lot of money to bring them to us. When their prices get too high, we cancel; when network providers' prices get too high, Cablevision cancels. If they do it sloppily, which they did earlier this year with the Food Network/HGTV fiasco resulting from their sloppy negotiations with Scripps Cable, and which they're doing now with the ABC/Disney fiasco, they incur the wrath of angry customers, who threaten (and occasionally actually) cancel.

The Food Network/HGTV thing was interesting, in that there were so many ways Cablevision could have handled it better. Having replacement channels ready to go would have been a good idea...anything other than the whining they did on the channels where the Scripps networks had gone missing. And they're doing it again on the ABC broadcast channels - nobody liked it the last time, and nobody's handling it well now.

But ABC/Disney is only in this position because they thought they could make money off of over-the-air stations they're already making money off of.

Let's go back a few years. Cable companies once lived entirely by a provision called "Must Carry" - basically, if a TV signal was receivable in a cable company's service area, the cable company was obligated to carry it. No ifs, ands or buts. This gave a livelihood to a lot of fringe stations that wouldn't have been carried under other circumstances - in the New York area, for instance, it's why so many people were able to watch the Uncle Floyd Show when it emanated from a small shack in West Orange, NJ. The signal was receivable within the areas the cable companies served, and so cable companies were obligated to carry it...so we got to see The Ramones and Squeeze on television before anyone else did, thanks to "Must Carry". I call that "value for your cable dollar".

The bigger broadcast stations kvetched heartily about this, partly because they saw someone else making money off of what they saw as their turf (even though they wouldn't have had nearly as many viewers without cable) but mostly because it put the tiniest TV stations on more of an even footing with them. Remember, when big business complains about something, it's most likely not the issue they're complaining about that's actually bothering them - it's the one they can't talk about for fear of alienating the public. And if there's one thing big business can't stand, it's competition.

So the FCC buckled under to their whining and gave them an opportunity to make money off the cable systems, by charging the cable systems to carry them. If they did this, however, the "Must Carry" rule no longer applied...the cable company was free to tell them to go take a flying leap.

Nobody's taken more advantage of this than ABC/Disney, since they're the proud corporate parents of ESPN, a massively-watched cable service. ABC/Disney has made carriage of ESPN a part of a package deal that includes both their troubled channels (ABC Family) and their over-the-air channels on the ABC network. (Fox has done the same, using Fox Broadcasting's over-the-air stations as a chip to bargain for carriage of their less-watched cable networks. That explains the TimeWarner Cable foofahrah earlier this year. It's been a big year for cable skulduggery.)

By making the ABC Television Network a bargaining chip in the cable industry, ABC/Disney made it vulnerable to exactly these sorts of shenanigans - and no matter how much ill will Cablevision generates, ABC/Disney has allowed business strategy to get in the way of the basic purpose of the ABC Television Network - to fulfill their responsibility as a broadcaster as much of the public as possible.

Over-the-air broadcasters should remember that they are broadcasters first, and their business decisions should support that. ABC is now only reaping the fruits of policies sown years ago; they should recognize that and change course. "Must-carry" is the only sane way to run a broadcast network; Cablevision should be delivering viewers to their doorstep for a payment of exactly zero.

UPDATE: It appears that this is, indeed, the result of a long negotiation between Cablevision and ABC over the entire cable package - and Cablevision's claim that ABC's trying to bump up their fee by 20% seems to hold water. It was ABC that pulled the plug on their Cablevision feed of WABC in New York just after broadcasting an angry message, casting it as a reason their viewers have to "Save ABC 7".

The truth, Cablevision viewers, is that the fate of your ABC viewing is firmly in ABC's hands, no matter what ABC's ads tell you.

Welcome To The Machine (That OK Go Built For Their New Video)

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

OK Go have assisted in the building of a magnificent machine to feature in their video for the song "This Too Shall Pass". So magnificent, in fact, that it threatens to overpower the song itself. Take a look:

The song...eh, it's pretty good, but THE VIDEO...

Gorillaz "Stylo" Has Cars & Guns...

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:23:00 +0000

...and about as much plot, CGI, and action movie star power as your average action flick, thus making it that much more entertaining.

No embedding allowed, so here's your link:

Gorillaz - Stylo (YouTube video)

It's Official: WBJB-FM Announces HD Multicasting

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:24:00 +0000

It all happened on Rich Robinson's show at 2PM Eastern, and I was happy to be on hand, along with Fox (head of Brookdale Student Radio, 90.5 HD3) and Station Manager Tom Brennan, for the announcement. Here's your aircheck...fourteen minutes spent discussing the past and the future.

HD Multicast Announcement on 90.5 The NIGHT by BrookdaleStudentRadio

For the record, I'm head of Altrok 90.5 HD2 (officially, "Content Manager, HD2".)

Driving Tales (With HD Radio In Full Effect)

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:01:00 +0000

I took the long way around to get to New Brunswick for the Melody Reunion (about which you'll be hearing much more in the coming days) because I figured it was a great opportunity to get out on the road with my pocket HD radio and see just how big a tract of land the new Altrok 90.5 HD2 signal can legitimately call its own. From Freehold, I picked up Route 33 and headed east, then east-north-east on Route 66, and then picked up Route 18 in Ocean Township and headed north, then west, then northwest to New Brunswick.

HD works better when you're standing still than it does when you're moving...which is a bit annoying when it comes to driving around with a portable player jacked into your car stereo with a wire long enough to do double-duty as an antenna. Note that a properly installed car HD Radio would likely have a much better antenna array to receive with. But it did work, and here's what I found:

I started by moving my car to a spot on my somewhat-distant-from-the-Lincroft-transmitter driveway that I know gets me an HD signal from 90.5. Tuning in, you first get 90.5 The Night's FM signal, and after a few seconds the radio picks up the HD signal and locks on. From there, you can click up to 90.5 HD2, where our little experiment in broadcasting resides. "Locking on" is important for this experiment, because I know I'll be traveling through areas that the signal won't reach - and when that happens, the radio goes silent. (Honestly, it takes a little getting used to, but if this is what it takes to bring Modern Rock back to the Jersey Shore, so be it.)

Route 33 seems to form the southernmost boundary for getting the station when you're not moving. As I tooled along 33, the 90.5 HD2 audio popped in and out as expected, with the signal finally getting fairly reliable near the Garden State Parkway before chopping up again further east. (As I said, a choppy signal in the car translates to a signal that you'll be able to receive reliably at home, once you find a spot in your home that you get it from.)

Same results heading east on Route 66; a somewhat choppy listening experience, getting a bit better when I started heading north on Route 18...

...until I hit the Deal Road exit. At that point, dropouts ceased and I got a nice, consistent listening experience heading north on 18...

...past the Eatontown interchange...

...on up to Route 34...

...past Route 537...

...and then it started getting choppy about a mile from the Route 79 exit on Route 18. Since by this time Route 18's path took me directly away from the broadcast tower, the degradation accumulated quickly. The last squawk of the station I was able to hear was around the Route 9 intersection with Route 18.

So, in summary, it's not exactly a border blaster from days of yore, but in today's extremely conservative programming climate, it'll do quite nicely. Very importantly, your mileage may vary, but I found that with a long enough wire connecting the pocket radio to whatever you're listening to it with, you can get the most signal possible. Red Bank, Eatontown, Ocean Township, Tinton Falls and Long Branch seem well-covered by the signal, and folks living there shouldn't have too many problems listening in. Asbury Park, Ocean Township, Wall, Howell, Freehold, Manalapan and Marlboro are choppy at best in the car, but a stationary radio placed carefully should bring it in. North of the tower, the hills throw the signal for a loop, so I don't expect nearly as much consistent (or even predictable) coverage in that direction.

Help may be on the way from the FCC, who recently announced an increase in power available to digital broadcasters; if 90.5 can take advantage of it, the map may fill in nicely. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

In the meantime, you probably don't have an HD Radio yet, so you're more than welcome to listen in using our Internet station. You may have noticed me pointing out discounts on HD radios...though the two cheapest are now sold out (watch this space, though, for some other deals when we can find them) and now you know...the rest of the story.

Embarking For The Melody Reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:30:00 +0000

...and along the way, I'll be using my HD Radio to tune to Altrok 90.5 HD2...if you're at home reading this, why not check it out yourself?

Melody Reunion Status: GREEN

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:05:00 +0000

For those wondering what's happening with the Melody Reunion, all signs point to it happening as scheduled. Forecasts call for snow showers, but nothing debilitating, and we expect today's mess will be pretty well cleaned up by then.

So...it's a GO. But keep checking here for updates; we'll let you know if anything changes.

(And while you're at it, have you tried listening to our new HD FM station? Any time's a good time, but now is always good.)

It's Official: Altrok 90.5 HD2 Is On The Air

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:41:00 +0000

At about 3:10 Eastern Time this afternoon, Altrok 90.5 HD2 went ON THE AIR, transmitting on a digital signal that piggybacks on 90.5 The Night's FM signal, all of which emanates from its tower in Lincroft, NJ.

Our first song, funnily enough: The Dream Syndicate's "Tell Me When It's Over". With that, Modern Rock returns to the Jersey Shore.

If you're not in range or haven't got an HD Radio, listen here.

Altrok Without Wires - Our New (Web And Not-Web) Radio Station

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:02:00 +0000

For those peeking at us through aggregators, and RSS feeds, you might have missed the new decorations at the top of our pages. That's especially if you had given up on listening to us through Live365 for whatever reason (too hard to connect, too many commercials, etc.)

Those days of difficulty have come to an end. Drop by and check out the new iteration of Altrok Radio - you'll find it's surprisingly easy to connect to...and soon, it'll be even easier if you get your hands on an HD Radio.

For the sake of those who'd like a little sample, here's what we just played...

Underworld - Pearls Girl
Oingo Boingo - Only A Lad
Dave Dark & The Sharks - I've Resigned
Franz Ferdinand - A Song For 'Sorry Angel' (with Jane Birkin)
XTC - Ten Feet Tall
Brakes - sometimes always (with The Pipettes)
Arctic Monkeys - Cigarette Smoker Fiona [EFC]
Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers
Love of Diagrams - Pace or the Patience
The Cute Lepers - Smart Accessories
Sparks - Music That You Can Dance To
Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway
The Prix - Shoot Out the Lights
The Answering Machine - Emergency
Midnight Oil - Best of Both Worlds
Tenpole Tudor - Wunderbar
Anemo - Fallout Renegade
Spoon - Written in Reverse
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Trouble
Dexys Midnight Runners - Jackie Wilson Said
Amanda Blank - Shame On Me
Miss Alex White And The Red Orchestra - Picture My Face
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Harlem - Friendly Ghost
The Ocean Blue - Between Something and Nothing
Crash Radio - So What
Ramones - I Just Want to Have Something to Do
Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun
The Transmissions - I'll Run It
U2 - Some Days Are Better Than Others
Hoodoo Gurus - Like Wow-Wipeout
Best Fwends - Adultnap
The Psychedelic Furs - Dumb Waiters

And there's a lot more where that came from, because we don't have to limit ourselves to 8-hour playlists any longer. More music whenever you tune in, and the longer you wait, the more you miss. Hop on board...just click the Preview link at the top of our page here at http://altrokradio.com

DEVO On The Olympics Tonight?

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:10:00 +0000

What will be happening: DEVO playing at the medals plaza in Whistler, BC tonight.

What might be happening: NBC broadcasting it.

When? Mmm...around 10:20pm. Details will be updated at Club Devo.

...and after they perform, a new DEVO song, "Fresh", will be made available at Club Devo for 24 hours. Get it while it's hot.

More Melody Reunion Updates!

noreply@blogger.com (Stiffy Biceptz) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:35:00 +0000

Hey kids,

The latest Melody Reunion update is that we now have the place until 1 am. So if we are rocking, they won't throw us out at midnight. So come early and stay late, or come a bit later and stay later, anyway you win!

Also, IF we were to have a snow situation, the makeup date is the FOLLOWING Saturday, March 6th. Let's hope that doesn't happen, but if it's going to be a blizzard we'll move it a week later. Stay tuned here and to the facebook page for any last minute updates, and I'll see you on the dance floor on the 27th!!

Stiffy

The 2010 Classic-Era Melody Reunion: Overflow/Afterparty Details

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Some tips on weathering the 2010 Classic-Era Melody Reunion on February 27, 2010:

Remember, it starts early and peaks early. This is good - basically, this soiree is aligned to Manchester time (UK, not NJ) starting at 7pm and going to 1am. There'll be the customary nod to our hosts' formalities at 11pm, when the power officially dies for sixty seconds in deference to Elks who've passed to the great beyond, and then the party continues until the clock strikes midnight and our coaches turn into pumpkins. (And if your coach doesn't do that, read on.) Note that last year, this happened a bit earlier because WE DRANK THE ELKS' CLUB DRY. (They expect to provision a bit more of those libations for this year's event.)

Because it starts early - and I can't emphasize this enough - you need to get there early. Fire codes dictate a certain occupancy, and we meet that every year; when we do, that's when we really start to get picky about who gets in. Recognizable faces get recognized; others not so much. If you think you're recognizable, that's great, but if you demand to be recognized, the folks at the door may want to recognize someone else. Be cool, be courteous, be there early.

For some, 1am's about as late as they're prepared to stay out. For others, the night is young...and for those folks, the party will continue at the corner of Somerset and Easton...a.k.a. The Corner Tavern. Remember, that's CORNER. The Corner Tavern's also there for you earlier if you can't get in to the main reunion for whatever reason - if you're too young, or if you're tired of standing in the line you were too late to avoid. They're open 'til 2 AM.

Wherever you are, I'll see you there, and I'm sure another slew of vaguely disconcerting pictures will make it onto Facebook. Enjoy!

Does "Good Business Sense" Make Good Business Sense?

noreply@blogger.com (Altrok Radio) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Radio is a business. Even non-commercial radio; a non-commercial radio station that doesn't make enough money to pay its bills soon becomes an ex-non-commercial station (or at least one that changes format to something that delights its listeners in a way more likely to convince them to support it.)

Let's focus on commercial radio here, though. Many in the central New Jersey area that Altrok calls home have lamented that not only has any radio station whose format came anywhere near daring disappeared, they've almost uniformly been replaced by hit radio outlets.

There's other formats on the dial to be sure, but there sure has been a lot of hue and cry from the folks that lost G-Rock last year and, unfortunately, all that energy has been focused on making the license holders, Press Communications, "pay" for their transgressions - boycotting their advertisers, protesting their live remotes, signing Internet petitions, etc.

To be sure, Press Communications committed a lot of transgressions over the course of their eight-year-long stewardship of the alternative station at 106.3 and 106.5 MHz, at least if it was their intention to actually run an alternative station. First they tried to run an Adult Contemporary station that called itself Alternative. Wrong. Then they tried to add classic rock to that mix and call it an Alternative station. Wrong. Then they hired an experienced Alternative programmer and made him run an Adult Contemporary station (and call it Alternative.) Wrong. By the time they got around to hiring people that actually knew how to program an Alternative station and actually let them run it *as* an Alternative station, Press had thrown seven years of good money after bad. Mitigating some of this, however, is the fact that FM106.3 itself, the pre-2000 precursor to the station's sale and the institution of the G106.3/G-Rock formats, had become a consultant-hamstrung shadow of its former self by the date of its sale to Press.

However, again, I must intone the mantra I began this article with:

Radio is a business.

The goal of this business, if you're a radio station owner, is to make as much money as possible. With an Alternative format running the way Press were running it, a failure to reach that goal should have been a foregone conclusion, but it took Press eight years to realize that they owned a station whose format they didn't stand behind. They didn't like the format, they didn't like the audience the format attracted, and no amount of focus group testing would change that. At some point, after spending eight years smacking themselves in the fingers repeatedly with a ball-peen hammer, pausing only on occasion to buy a shinier, slightly more expensive new ball-peen hammer, they decided to stop doing that.

They changed formats to Hit Radio.

Was I offended that they did so? Sure.

Were others? Sure, a couple hundred of 'em showed up on a cold January Saturday a week after the format flip to protest. Press dismissed that as pathetic, but in my book that was a sizeable fraction of a ratings point willing to take physical action to protest a format change...not war in Iraq, not homelessness or starvation, not abortion, anti-abortion or anti-anti-abortion. A format change. Say what you want, but these folks were committed.

Did I promote the cause of "bringing back G-Rock"? Hell yeah, even though I ostensibly run a competitor.

The fact is, however, that at that point Press Broadcasting's obligation to the community of Alternative Rock listeners ended. They were out of the Alternative business - even though it was always arguable whether they were actually in it, they were now officially out.

Press now runs a Hit Radio station. Which, in my objective estimation, they're doing admirably. Almost like they believe in it. Good for them - it's what they should have done in 2000 when they bought the station in the first place.

The problem is that Hit Radio, as it currently stands, will become obsolete faster than any other music radio format unless it establishes itself as the place you're likely to hear the next hits. If it concentrates on today's hits, it's already obsolete.

It's said that hit radio skews younger in listenership, and I believe that's true - many's the time I've heard Hit Radio defended as being what "these kids today are listening to".

I happen to be a parent of a couple of "these kids", and (probably to the chagrin of Hit Radio programmers) I get to hear them complain repeatedly about hearing a track on a Top 40 station "again". Since this is usually in the car, the complaint is usually followed by preset button pushing until they either hear something that isn't quite so burnt out, or they give up and turn off the radio.

The process is slower when their friends are in the car. Tracks don't burn out at the same rate for everyone, and they'll generally abide hearing something that's stale if someone else in the car still wants to hear it, unless the majority don't, and the odd person out concedes that, yeah, they should switch the station.

They stop when they hear something new that appeals to them, that isn't already on their iPod. At the same time, they're also clued in to the meaning of the word "derivative" - if it sounds exactly the same as the last hit from the same artist (or from some other artist) it gets dismissed.

The fact that they've got itchy preset button fingers, of course, means that they DO NOT tolerate advertising unless it's entertaining in and of itself.

"Where are they hearing these new songs that aren't so burnt out?" you might ask. Well, actually, the moment a song appears on the scene and starts transmitting virally across their friends' radar, they're more likely to pull it up on YouTube than to wait until it shows up on Hit Radio. Hit Radio's really only the most attractive option when they're in the car and out of Internet range.

So who's filling out the Arbitron diaries that result in the ratings that make hit radio so attractive? I'd suggest that, empirically, adults are absolutely listening to that - especially adult women - though the younger-skewing artists wear thin fast.

By "empirically", I mean "in my neighborhood filled with soccer/dance moms and sports dads". Since I'm the guy with the music collection, it generally falls to me to program the music, and of course (since I'm always asked for it) I've done a bit on my own to contribute to sales of hit music. And my programming tool of choice is actually iTunes.

Not only does iTunes make it easy for me to acquire new tracks mid-party, it also, through iTunes DJ, makes it easy to have a true jukebox environment, where more than one person has the ability to influence the mix, because everyone that has a iPhone or an iPod Touch can use Apple Remote to queue up requests, as long as they're connected to my WiFi cloud. (Every party - and there's one every Friday night somewhere in the neighborhood during the summer - usually makes iTunes about $5. Yes, it's a good neighborhood.)

[For the curious, between iTunes and the speakers, there's a C. Crane FM transmitter and a few cheap portable FM receivers scattered around the backyard. If you're within 100 feet of my house, you'll hear us on 103.9 MHz, but we haven't shown up in the ratings. Yet.]

Now then, I don't think that the entire assemblage wants to hear Hit Music (it's really actually a genre of its own now, isn't it?) In fact, some of the wags with access to the queuing system throw in some Pantera just to keep us on our toes, though I have to say my addition of La Roux's "Bulletproof" last summer got some traction. But the fact is that the wives in the neighborhood (who, empirically, generally don't have the iPhones) pressure the husbands (who - again, empirically - generally do have the iPhones) to queue up Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, Katy Perry and Pitbull when they're not queueing American Pie, The Time Warp and Paradise By The Dashboard Light.

(I keep threatening to make this a format, by the way. Yes, we embarrass the kids.)

To make a long story short (too late) I definitely think adults, especially adult women, are listening to Hit Radio tracks. Whether they listen to them on the radio, and whether that listenership is really enough to support SEVEN hit stations in the area is for the market to decide.

Oh, one more thing: Lady Gaga is a genius. I say that without reservation or equivocation.

None of this has anything to do with the popularity of hit radio from a programming perspective. Hit radio is simply an easier thing to sell to advertisers, full stop, and it will continue to be easier to sell until the advertisers get wise that their perception of hit radio's popularity isn't backed up by the numbers for the station they're able to afford to advertise on. Whether that means they stop radio buys altogether or they realize they need to support a different paradigm is difficult to say - I suspect the former.

Radio is a business. The current conventional wisdom for the running of that business dictates that your station's format must appeal to the largest number of people by playing the most popular music. Audience cultivation is not a priority - only audience reach. You need to get as big an audience as you can now; it's not cost-effective to attract a more committed listener.

But committed listeners stay committed. Causal listeners push buttons and disappear.

I see a better future for non-commercial stations that cater to their audience.

With any amount of luck, I'll soon be running one, so we'll see.

Two Weeks Until the 4th Annual Melody Bar Reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Stiffy Biceptz) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:25:00 +0000

Time flies. What was once months away is now right around the corner. The 4th Annual Melody Bar Reunion is February 27th at the Elk's Club in New Brunswick starting at 7 pm. Barring another crazy blizzard, it should be another glorious evening of revisiting, reliving and rejoicing a magical time in our lives, the many evenings spent at the Melody.

There will be dancing and drinking and all sorts of fun as we listen to the greatest music of the past. All the great DJ's, and yes Matt WILL be there.

This year we've managed to round up a few more lost Melody souls who will be making their first appearance, and I'm sure they will experience what we all did the first time we attended. A big smile and maybe even a tear or two.

As for the Elk's, well we drank them dry last year, so they will be much more prepared for us this time. We also stuffed their register for their charities, and I know we'll do the same this time.

We still need to try and get Cal and Steve to attend. Someone please track them down and let them know they should see what legacy their little club on French street has produced.

And we also need to get Tito Class to show up. He's in north Carolina last time I spoke with him. He shouldn't miss this either. Somebody please call him and get him here.

As usual, both the Hyatt and the Heldrich hotels are right near by our event and are ready to welcome hordes of Melodyites who would be best advised to end the night safely in a warm hotel room they can walk to, especially if they happen to be one of those who help drink the Elk's dry again. And don't forget the after party, which I was told was happening, but the details escape me. Check back here and on the facebook page, I'm sure the information will appear shortly.

Remember, our private event is 38 and up, with Big John the gatekeeper to paradise. We do not want the event overrun with non-Melody types, as occurred a bit too much last year. All are welcome to bring a spouse/partner as always. Bottom line is if you were a Melody regular anytime up to 1992, you'll get in right away, no waiting. There will be a line for "the others", and John will use his good judgement as to who among them gets in and when. If you are a regular and for some reason have a problem, just stay cool and we'll get you in. We all know who we are.

Final point, we are charging everyone one dollar at the door. This is to compensate Ed Wong who once again has graciously offered us the use of his great sound equipment, which without we'd have no party. And also to thank Big John who will be keeping a careful eye on the door for us making sure our private party stays private.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. I look forward to seeing you all and having a lot of fun again like we did a long time ago.

Stiffy