"...yo diz stuff must stop..."
-Havoc from Mobb Deep on "Drink Away the Pain"
That quote was the first thing that came into my mind when I read this story from a music blog* that I RSS (I just made "RSS" a verb, but I'm sure someone else has beaten me to it...).
Long story short, L.A.'s (and Orange County's) own Indie 103.1 is closing. It's going away as of today. That's unacceptable. Now mind you, I agree with some that the station isn't as "good" (*cough* "indie" */cough*) as when it first hit the scene, but if it wasn't a great resource for L.A.'s indie scene and a haven away from all the steaming hot garbage on the radio today, then I don't know what it was (a good radio station maybe?). And since I'm only slightly elitist, Indie was pretty dag good to me.
(the station's official message is down below. It's semi-lengthy, so I'll post it after my rant)
The truth is that music sucks right now. No, not music in general, because there's great stuff "on the underground", but mainstream music. And not even all of that sucks, just the stuff force-fed to us on mainstream radio. And don't even let me get into radio Hip Hop right now. If you think Scotty's posts are long.. don't even get me started on that. The fact that one of the few stations, that isn't college owned or suscriber radio, is forced to take it's act to the 'net is disturbing. The music industry as a whole is in shambles. Complaints about sales, downloaders/pirates (arrrg, me harties), and all the BS is clowding the fact that they don't give a ish about artist development and true talent. Just about what they can pre-package in shiny disposable plastic and move on to the next money making single.
We've all heard it before, so I'll just say this. I give up on mainstream radio. That's it. I'm done. Out. I pretty much have been doing this in practice but now it's official. If it's not NPR or KCRW (89.9... shouts out to Chocolate City, Garth Trinidad and Jason Bentley - who may not be there anymore either), then it's my portable mp3 player (see, i didn't say iPod, Qbix!) and cd's (until they eventually die, too). Eff you music industry. Suck it.
(here's Indie 103.1's official statement being played as we speak)
This is an important message for the Indie 103.1 radio audience.
Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option --- to play the corporate radio game.
We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the sound, spirit, and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great. Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves and take an alternative course.
This could only be done on the Internet, a place where rules do not apply and where new music thrives; be it grunge, punk, or alternative simply put, only the best music.
For those of you with a computer at home or at work, log on to www.indie1031.com and listen to the new Indie 103.1 - which is really the old Indie 103.1, not the version of Indie 103.1 we are removing from the broadcast airwaves.
We thank our listeners and advertisers for their support of the greatest radio station ever conceived, and look forward to continuing to deliver the famed Indie 103.1 music and spirit over the Internet to passionate music listeners around the world.
