No Jazz Station here

[daniboi81]

Hi Everyone,

I've lived in GR since 1988 now living on the NW side near Richmond park and am wondered why there was/is never a full-time jazz station on the air here. Sure there's Jazz brunch fo 3 hours on Sunday or if you get lucky you may catch a song on 88.1.

Traverce City and Michiana both have jazz stations which seems weird given their size. Does anyone know if we will be getting a Jazz station soon or why there was never a Jazz station to begin with.

thanks muck.

[GR_Urbanist]

Hi Everyone,

I've lived in GR since 1988 now living on the NW side near Richmond park and am wondered why there was/is never a full-time jazz station on the air here. Sure there's Jazz brunch fo 3 hours on Sunday or if you get lucky you may catch a song on 88.1.

Traverce City and Michiana both have jazz stations which seems weird given their size. Does anyone know if we will be getting a Jazz station soon or why there was never a Jazz station to begin with.

thanks muck.

The issue was raised a few weeks ago on a messageboard where many west Michigan radio and TV industry workers hang out:

http://mibuzzboard.com/phpBB2/viewforum.ph...5358ca69aa41b54

It came down to an issue of what will sell ads. Since the bread and butter of radio is selling spots, no one will risk losing that ad money on a format that sadly does not bring enough ears to the radio to ensure a good return on the dollars that a business put forward for that air time. So the only place to get niche genres like jazz is on public radio or a listener supported stations like WYCE. Unless the station can make money from it, it's most likely we will never see an all jazz station.

[monsoon]

Actually most FM is worthless these days anyway. Go get Sirius or XM and you will never listen to FM again. Sirius has several excellent jazz stations.

[GRDadof3]

I was going to say that with the advent of the internet, MP3's and satellite radio, FM radio is going to become less and less important. 96.1 just went all automated format with no DJ's, and I wouldn't be surprised if others follow suit. I don't think anyone would take that risk today.

[eagle]

I didn't realize that 96.1 had made the switch. I've read that more and more stations are attempting to duplicate what so many of us have become used to...the "shuffle" on our MP3 players.

[daniboi81]

...So the only place to get niche genres like jazz is on public radio or a listener supported stations like WYCE. Unless the station can make money from it, it's most likely we will never see an all jazz station.

I kind of figure as much. I wonder if it has anything to due with the conservativeness of this region. One would think that with the GR area growing as much as it has been in the last 5 or 10 years that you would hear a little more diversity on the radio. At least we have NPR here.

[monsoon]

Most likely not. The decline of FM is due to the government that has changed rules so companies such as CleanChannel and Infinity Brodcasting can buy up most of the stations in the USA, then turn them all in to 6-7 formats that are boring and full of advertizing. FM no longer serves the communities they are supposed to serve.

[snoogit]

I kind of figure as much. I wonder if it has anything to due with the conservativeness of this region. One would think that with the GR area growing as much as it has been in the last 5 or 10 years that you would hear a little more diversity on the radio. At least we have NPR here.

Theres quite a few NPR stations in the area: (Strong signals, and locally operated networks)

WBLU-FM: 88.9

Blue Lake Public Radio

Strong signal WBLU-FM: 88.9's signal is strong in Grand Rapids, MI.

WGVU-AM: 1480.0

Public Broadcasting for West Michigan

Strong signal WGVU-AM: 1480.0's signal is strong in Grand Rapids, MI.

WVGR-FM: 104.1

Michigan Radio

Strong signal WVGR-FM: 104.1's signal is strong in Grand Rapids, MI.

WGVU-FM: 88.5

Public Broadcasting for West Michigan

Moderate signal WGVU-FM: 88.5's signal is moderate in Grand Rapids, MI.

(From npr.org)

I didn't know ClearChannel owned so many GR stations:

WBCT-AM 93.7

WBFX-FM 101.3

WOOD-AM 1300 / FM 105.7

WTKG-AM 1230

WVTI-FM 96.1

WSNX-FM 104.5

(From: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/clearchannel.asp)

The other two major radio owners are Citadel, and Regent Communications. Las Vegas, NV and Cincinatti, OH respectively.

[OneSweetWorld]

102.1 FM plays jazz most nights...its a radio station out of WMU in Kalamazoo..its some pretty good stuff if your into jazz music

[woz]

Both WBLU and WGVU offer jazz programming in the evenings. I don't listen to WBLU much anymore, but when I did, Lazaro Vega hosted their jazz shows and he knew his stuff cold. Scott VanderWerf at WGVU is very good, too, but Lazaro's knowledge of jazz is legendary.

WGVU also offers syndicated NPR music shows such as "Piano Jazz w/ Marian McPartland" and "Jazz Set" that Michigan Radio (104.1-FM) dropped a few years ago when they switched to the all news format with BBC World Service on the overnights.

[rstravis]

We used to have a commercial classical station in town, too, but sadly, they shut down earlier this year, and now 98.7 is oldies, I think.

It's sad, but the statements about what sells are correct. As a classical musician, I find this particularly disheartening, but it is simply a reflection of society. We tend to put the arts in general into a low priority level in our lives, where in reality a society as advanced as ours should be elevating the arts. I've got nothing against pop music, but all it is is easily accessible packets of sound designed to be easily understood without much effort. Music that takes understanding and effort to appreciate will not ever support a radio station unless we put more emphasis on educating people to understand music. (Did I mention that I am currently pursuing teacher certification in music? So I'm just the guy to take on the challenge! )

Anyways ... take it for what it is. It's business.

Rob

[torgo]

We used to have a commercial classical station in town, too, but sadly, they shut down earlier this year, and now 98.7 is oldies, I think.

It's sad, but the statements about what sells are correct. As a classical musician, I find this particularly disheartening, but it is simply a reflection of society. We tend to put the arts in general into a low priority level in our lives, where in reality a society as advanced as ours should be elevating the arts. I've got nothing against pop music, but all it is is easily accessible packets of sound designed to be easily understood without much effort. Music that takes understanding and effort to appreciate will not ever support a radio station unless we put more emphasis on educating people to understand music. (Did I mention that I am currently pursuing teacher certification in music? So I'm just the guy to take on the challenge! )

Anyways ... take it for what it is. It's business.

Rob

Yah, I can agree with most of that, as long as its actual music with musical instruments, as opposed to some guy whacking wood blocks together (yes, I witnessed this 'music' once). Complicated music is kinda fun to sort out, as long as its your style.

And welcome Rob! (if no one has done so yet )

[GRDadof3]

What instrument (s) do you play Rob? We may have enough musicians here to start quite the ensemble I think Zen's husband plays classical piano?

[rstravis]

um, I whack wood blocks together. heheh, just kidding. Actually, I'm primarily a French horn player, and I do a bit of piano playing (some is necessary as a music educator). I also sing bass.

I'm all for an UrbanPlanet Symphony Orchestra ...

And thanks for the welcome!

Rob

[snoogit]

I'm pretty much a lost cause for learning music.

I've gone years without listening to music intentionally (buying a CD, putting on a radio station thats got music on it) The closest I get to hearing music is in a movie, or an elevator. or in the background of a store. even then its prety much filtered out. I dont understand why I can't appreciate music, but the love for it is gone.

[mgreven]

Sign me up for the Urban Planet Orchestra...I'm a band director. Thought I'd add my 2 cents to the fun.

[rstravis]

snoogit, sorry to hear that ...

mgreven, what band do you direct? We'll soon be colleagues.

Rob

[torgo]

um, I whack wood blocks together. heheh, just kidding. Actually, I'm primarily a French horn player, and I do a bit of piano playing (some is necessary as a music educator). I also sing bass.

I'm all for an UrbanPlanet Symphony Orchestra ...

And thanks for the welcome!

Rob

Yah the thing I was talking about was this "electronic music" concert I went to, and it was some guy playing a sound, such as a single beep, or the sound of wood blocks being whacked together, over and over and over again with the noise having a slightly different pitch every time. Talk about 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back! Not exactly "music" if you ask me!

[rstravis]

some folks have very loose definitions of music. In theory, my definition is relatively loose, but I do have some standards. I might agree that something like you described could be called "music," but perhaps (no, probably) not good music.

Technology is great when it serves another goal, but when it is the goal in and of itself, it is counterproductive. I feel this way about the use of technology in education, and about the use of technology in music. There are those who will disagree with me, and that's their right, but it sounds like what you saw was someone using technology to organize sound, simply for the sake of using technology to organize sound.

Music, at its most basic level, can be defined as "organized sound," but that does not imply goodness.

*plink plink*