Right now I’m dwelling on college radio’s past, as I prepare my presentation for University of Maryland’s “Saving College Radio” Symposium in two weeks. In connection with an exhibit about the history of student radio station WMUC, this symposium will focus on the importance of (and challenges inherent in) archiving college radio’s history. I’ve become […]
This week the total number of granted LPFM applications crossed 1100. LPFMs-to-be are already fundraising and making plans for their new stations. For example, in Portland, Oregon, Q Center’s station Wild Planet Radio, purportedly the “the world’s first nonprofit LGBTQ radio station,” is gearing up to get on the air, sharing a frequency with The […]
It’s been kind of a quiet week on the podcasting news front this week. Adam Carolla continues to make the rounds in support of his Save Podcasts Legal Defense Fund and has set up a Soundcloud page with clips from shows discussing the patent troll case. The fund’s benefit event added comedian and podcaster Doug […]
Turntable.fm shut down its last component earlier this year: Turntable Live—a concert version of now gone turntable.fm. TT.fm founder Billy Chasen reflected on the end of the Turntable project in a blog entry posted on Wednesday: “Ultimately, I didn’t heed the lessons of so many failed music startups. It’s an incredibly expensive venture to pursue […]
With High School Radio Day Coming up on April 23, it seemed like a good time to do a round-up of recent high school radio news. First and foremost, it’s been thrilling to see that so many school districts and high schools are in the running for new LPFM licenses. One such group, Jasper High […]
This week, there were some interesting developments on the college radio front. The FCC finally closed the books on the contested future of the former Vanderbilt University FM radio station WRVU. Despite protests by supporters of the FM station, the license was assigned to Nashville Public Radio this week. For nearly three years, the station […]
The flow of new low-power FM construction permits is slowing to a trickle as the FCC gets towards the end of the singleton applications. Many of the 19 stations authorized in the last week require a 2nd adjacent waiver in order to be spaced a little closer to existing stations. Commensurately, a fair number of […]
Last Thursday the national board of the Pacifica Foundation fired Executive Director Summer Reese, who was hired for the position in November after serving on an interim basis for more than a year. The how and why of Reese’s ouster are unclear. According to the New York Times article that broke the story, board members […]
Plug.dj, the online music/chat room service, has a great blog post on making online communities work. The seven tips go as follows: help your visitors feel welcome from the start; use social media to promote your room; make sure your staff are nice people; post clear community rules and guidelines; be multilingual; stage events for […]
The fight against the Podcast Patent Troll continues on. Last week there was a small victory for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, while podcaster Adam Carolla starts a legal defense fund to fight the troll in court. On Friday Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins struck down an attempt by Personal Audio to subpoena the names of donors […]
