CAUTION: Rant Ahead

A word of warning:  You are going to hate this post.  You may even hate me after you read this.  If that is the case, so be it.  If you even think you are going to be offended, stop right here and go somewhere else.

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From time to time, as I sit and think about the state of things now and the state of things to come, I ponder with some amazement and wonder at the world we currently find ourselves existing around.  We as a species are moving faster than ever.  To what end, I don't know.  Some of what I do see is positive and some of it, not so much.  The things, we as a people are affecting are pretty good for the most part.  I have always believed that people, in general terms, are of a good nature.  We try to be accepting of those around us.  We try to be helpful.  We try to be understanding.  Try as we might, we do fail at times.  Lord only knows I have failed in so many of those things.  But, I try.

More specifically, I look around at the world I have chosen for myself.  Away from the madness of the corporate machines (as much as is humanly possible) to attempt to make the world a little bit better of a place than I found it.  Once again, not always successful, but I try.  As I will continue to do so.  As should all of you.  But, I am not here at this moment to preach.  We all get enough of that as it is.  What I am here to do is to get out there, some thoughts regarding the state of things as I see them.  And from my vantage point, at least, there are some things going on out there that are beginning to stoke those old familiar fires of frustration and discontent.

I am often amazed at the lengths people will go through to boldly tell someone else a flat out lie.  Stupid stuff mind you, but a lie is a lie.  As my old friend John McCormack would say in reference to one of these type of people, "He would rather climb a tree to tell a lie than stay on the ground and be honest to your face."  And it is these people who seem to get ahead in the world.  Boggles the mind, don't it?  All those years in the corporate world where I saw this happening as though it was nothing more than standard operating procedure have taught me one thing.  There are some really scary people out there and we have put them in control.

At Radio Memphis, I have been blessed with an extraordinary group of people, that is a good thing.  We are doing very well, thank you very much.  I am proud of what we as a group have created.  Something larger than all of us and I know we are making an impact because of some things that have happened.  We pissed someone off, for starters.  That is a good thing.  That is how you know you are doing something different and remarkable, you piss someone off.  Anger them, frustrate them, freak them out... all these things point back to one emotion. Fear.

On no less than three separate occasions, I have been openly seduced by companies and individuals to leave what I have created and be a part of their operation, the ultimate goal, of course, shutting down Radio Memphis.  I politely turned them down and offered them someone else for their "job", but they refused.  I am flattered, but it gets better.  Recently we were given an outright threat by a large corporation.  The details of which are not important.  What is important is that it proves Radio Memphis is here to stay.  With all of this in mind, this post (overdue as it is) is dedicated to putting a few things out there.  All you major broadcast corporations are officially on notice.  Your industry is dead because it has failed to adapt to technology and public demand.  It is dead because you raped it.  You left it's mutilated corpse at the feet of those who blindly consumed it.  Like hyenas, you laughed at it's death and in your destructive wake, lie the casualties of those who did your bidding for you.  But, you're not done.  You think you can redeem yourselves with continued thoughtless insight to keep you up with the pulse of society.  Or that pulse your consultants have told you about.  You continue your lies to the consumer you count on for your very existence to the point that you are totally unaware you are doing it.  I would hate to think you were actually aware of these lies, that would be downright sick.

How cute it is that you have a computer system in place that is supposedly smarter than the consumer.  It plays the songs your consumer wants to hear.  The question is, where is the human interaction?  Are we that lost in our technology that we don't need people to be entertained?  What the hell do people do all the time?  They are talking to each other, that's what.  They text, speak, share words and pictures, they take videos of themselves or of others and share it with the world.  They post on boards, Facebook and Twitter.  They email, chat, blog, Skype and renew lost connections and gain new ones along the way.  They are plugged in, synched up, friended, included, invited and updated about each others lives, children, husbands, wives, dogs cats and what the hell they are having for dinner.  Complete with photos, videos and instant messages.  But, you corporate idiots can't make money off of current habits.  So, you merely eliminate the human and sell your version of a vacuous and vapid world as something, in your eyes, as what we really need.

Having said that to them, now let's talk about you the consumer.

You have heard this before, but I will repeat it here for the record.  FM and AM radio is dead.  Broadcast TV is dying a slow death.  Satellite radio ain't long for this world either.  Who pays for radio anyway?  Cable companies will soon be reduced to internet providing services.  Satellite TV companies will follow suit.  Your TV is going to have an internet connection (as many already do) and the hottest big ticket item on the Christmas list for 2012 will more than likely be this thing called a "smart TV".  To stay somewhat competitive, mobile phone companies will all offer unlimited services.  The desktop computer will pretty much be replaced by the tablet.  Everything is headed to the web.  I am not just saying that because of Radio Memphis.  I say that because it is the truth.  Increasingly, every bit of your lives are going through your computer.  Be it a laptop, desktop, tablet, pad, pod or that thing little thing we lovingly call a phone.  Think about the possibilities.  Think about the realities.  Then, prove me wrong.

Some truly great things are coming to you, the consumer.  But there is a serious problem.  All these existing systems that are supposed to be providing all this entertainment are lacking something, content.  That is why the media world as you know it is changing and/or dying off or, in some cases, already dead.  Just try and watch something new and creative on TV these days.  Everyone is copying each other.  How many TV shows do you really need about crabbing, fishing, shrimping, auctioning, pawning, picking, logging, truck driving, swamping, detecting, ghosting, singing, modeling, surviving, dating, hoarding, intervening, and for God's sake who the fuck gave the Kardashians TV time?

Are you that starved for entertainment?  Are you that dumb?  Maybe you should ask those idiots on The Jersey Shore what they think.  Judging by what you see on the "news", you are supposed to give a shit what they think.  

All this just proves my point.  If it is available for consumption, someone is consuming it.  Having said that, if you were to get a new pot to piss in, why wouldn't you piss in it?  What is wrong with you people?

Bill Gates once said "...content is king".  Sadly, there ain't much content out there and the stuff that is out there is being raped, copied abused and downright stolen, manipulated and transformed into something that is like everything else out there.  Garbage in, garbage out.

We as a society have allowed our creativity to be smothered or at the very least, stifled.  You accept what is available to you as your only and best choice, because you don't have any choices left to make or worse, willing to make or create for yourselves for the betterment of everyone else around you.  Entertainment and faked drama has permeated your lives so much you have to tune in to some whiny rich people who are living just as fake a life as you can imagine scripted by someone who thinks they know what you want to see to make yourselves feel better about the world around you.  And you lap it up.  You are so saturated with this tripe you no longer have creative instincts. Or worse, you are now an uninspired bunch of lazy, fat, drunk, limp penised, drooling, incontinent, depressed and chemically enhanced sheep. 

Or, are you?

In a sad sort of way, it's amusing to see all these things happening.  I believe I have a pretty good seat to the Entertainment Apocalypse.  While this media meltdown goes down, I'll be easy to find.  I'll be the one maniacally laughing and pointing at the outright downfall of what was once humanity's ability to be themselves.  Now placed in that big blender of time which has a button on it that reads, "Rend Asunder".

From what I am seeing, maybe it's my finger on that button.  Hey, a man can dream these days, can't he?

Stay tuned...

Money Whores

It is high time the record got straight.  Radio Memphis does not and will not pay to play your music.  Period.

It's a scam.

Not long after Radio Memphis was launched, I was approached by a certain organization (local scam artists) who felt it necessary to hip me to this group called Sound Exchange.  Here's a little something from their website "SoundExchange is a non-profit performance rights organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), Internet radio (like Pandora), cable TV music channels and similar platforms for streaming sound recordings. The Copyright Royalty Board, which is appointed by The U.S. Library of Congress, has entrusted SoundExchange as the sole entity in the United States to collect and distribute these digital performance royalties on behalf of featured and non-featured recording artists, master rights owners (usually record labels), and independent artists who record and own their masters."

Uh huh...  Now dig this from p2pnet.net "The [un]SoundExchange was originally dreamed up by the RIAA and later spun off as a supposed, “independent, nonprofit performance rights organization” designated by the US Copyright Office to, “collect and distribute digital performance royalties for featured recording artists and sound recording copyright owners (usually a record label) when their sound recordings are performed on digital cable and satellite television music, internet and satellite radio (such as XM and Sirius),” as it says on its site, stating,

"SoundExchange currently represents over 3,500 record labels and over 31,000 featured artists."


The trouble is, as Nashville entertainment lawyer and p2pnet correspondent Fred Wilhelms consistently points out, the not-so-ex-RIAA outfit has an unfortunate, and on-going, tendency to ‘lose’ thousands of the artists it’s supposed to be paying.
John Simson is the organisation’s front man who, “apparently said that SX has failed to track down 40,000 other artists,” said Wilhelms in a post a little more than a week ago."

That said, keep in mind this... Sound Exchange will pay 1 penny for every 32,000 times 1 record is aired on Radio Memphis, granted I give them the minimum of $500 a year.  Think about that for a second.  Take one cent, divide that by 32,000 and that is what they will pay an artist for their performance on Radio Memphis.  That is, should we sign up AND should the artist sign up AND assuming there is some straight up accounting going on which there doesn't appear to be. Do the math, 300 artists (and growing) with 1,500 songs (and growing) so, how much can they make?

ANY artist expecting a royalty check of any substantial amount needs to be aware of this bullshit.  Radio Memphis exists to promote the artists.  If the artists want money, sell records to those who hear it on Radio Memphis and sell tickets to shows and it might not be a bad idea to sell some merch.  I've said it before and I will say it again, if any artist feels any differently, I will gladly stop playing your music. Then, who is going to play your songs?

In the meantime, those out there who feel for the artists, go and do the right thing, buy their music, buy their tickets and for God's sake, my a damn t-shirt.  That is the support they need.

There, it's in print and THAT is the Radio Memphis stance on royalty payments.  Any questions?

Stay Tuned...

OK, Now What?

Back in April, when the idea of this station came to be, there was only one fear I had.  What happens if it works and we have us some listeners?  That was it.  A fear of success.  It seems sort of stupid on the surface to have that kind of fear, but as I learned, that is not necessarily a rare thing.

As it turns out, Radio Memphis is a success.  Listeners are joining the ranks in droves.  With that comes advertisers who have been spending some time getting comfortable with the beast in the room that is internet radio.  Although there are still many people who are unsure of how this medium will do in the long haul and there are those who coming to grips with just how it works, it seems to me that internet radio and Radio Memphis is here to stay.

Several factors point to this kind of happiness.  First off, the listeners.  These folks have quickly come to grips with the fact that terrestrial radio is as dead as a fried chicken.  Everyday, corporate radio does something remarkably stupid that benefits internet broadcasters such as myself.  Limited playlists, day parted music, reduced staff and the insane idea that so called "broadcast consultants" actually have a clue.  They don't.  Thank God.  The corporate broadcasters have found new and unique ways of stepping all over the intellect of the people who listen (or used to listen, as the case may be) to radio in general.  What's more, people have figured out the simple reality that there are more options.

Secondly, the technology.  There is no way in hell we could have pulled off something like this 12 or 15 years ago.  The timing of all of this is just perfect.  Our staff like to think of the fact that we are about 6 to 10 months ahead of the curve.  More and more people are discovering internet radio and indeed Radio Memphis.

Part of the problem has been (and to a certain extent still is) internet radio's perception by the audience.  Change is often difficult and scary.  But, now that we have made it rather simple, people seem to find it a remarkable breath of fresh air within all the polluted airwaves out there now.  Sure, we are a commercial station and we are discovering that with the growing number of listeners we have on a day to day basis come those who have a new platform by which to deliver their messages.  It works for us and it works for them and everyone seems pretty happy.   

Years ago, long before the very thought of Radio Memphis came to be, I once told my wife that one day, after the corporate raping of the industry was done, it would take mom and pop operations to save what's left of a dead business.  I just never thought I would ever be one of those mom and pop operations.

Surprisingly there have been few complaints.  Although there was one naysayer I heard of that made a bet with someone that Radio Memphis would be off the air by Spring.  Well, Spring starts March 20th and I am quite sure we are going to be on the air.  What we'll be doing is beyond me at that point but I can tell you this, there are some BIG things coming that even I find hard to wrap my head around.

When we first went on the air, I learned very quickly the basic stance of this station, we can, quite literraly, do anything.  Is it an easy job?  Not in the least.  But it sure is fun.  Do I worry about much?  Not really.  Except for one little nagging thing, now what?

We'll figure that out as we go along.  As I said, there are some great things coming soon and with the help of those who listen to Radio Memphis, all of us who are a part of this wonderful project will get to take part in this fantastic journey.  Your patience as a listener has been gratefully understood and welcomed.  It'll get rewarded with some truly remarkable things.

Stay Tuned...