Radio? Srsly!

Radio?

I can't quite follow the logic behind a recent posting by Star columnist Steve Penn. Both Penn and Gregory Carroll, Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum, seem to be lobbying for a "24-hour jazz radio station" in Kansas City. The item is here.

“I’m putting a call out there right now to potential donors to come to the American Jazz Museum and say what can we do to create a full-jazz radio station?” Carroll is quoted as saying. “We’ll give them the space. We’ll give them the time. We’ll even give them the artist. But we have to get the funding in place. And I believe it’s possible.”

That's just silly.

Sure, I'd love a local jazz station as much as the next Jimmie Lunceford fan. But it's not about us old folks. It's imperative that the needs of the next generation be addressed. And fortunately, it's cheap.

Many people under thirty don't listen to radio, just as they don't read print editions of newspapers. Terrestrial radio is over. New tools, including satellite radio, ubiquitous MP3 players, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Imeem and Last FM have replaced radio.

I even have buddies who listen to the Plastic Sax Muxtape and the Plastic Sax Pandora station on their cell phones.

Nothing's stopping you from "broadcasting" online immediately. Several free internet radio platforms are available.

If you want to continue to think big, why don't you work toward partnering with NPR? They already have a huge assortment of jazz streams and podcasts available. Until you secure that deal, why don't you follow Present Magazine's model. The online Kansas City publication offers a fine weekly podcast titled Sonic Spectrum.

You want a cost estimate? A new Apple Mac mini goes for $599 (less with an educators discount). If the museum doesn't already own microphones, buy a couple for $50 each. I'll bet you could immediately recoup this $700 investment by selling advertising/underwriting spots. It's a money-maker.

I can't wait to tune in.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)