A New Radio Channel For Local Music

[AgingYouth]

It does not seem we will make money out of this the radio station. We only need to find enough reasons to give it a shot, I don't think we can see that yet.

As you have mentioned, there will be the tricky question of securing advertisers. Grants from the NAC and MDA will be great.

But my only comment is to have fun while doing it. If there's no money to be made, I can only say you shd at least have some fun while you are at it. Fun and passion can blind you to a lot of things like time you should have spent drinking beer and with your family, etc.

Have fun!

 

[afterdeath]

Licence granted!?!

great, man....... :wink:


:twisted:

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

Someone got licence for 26 channels, and this is only one of it.

 

[a_b_normal123]

in the first place, the audience to hit i think would be the teenage audience. in 2003, the top radio station in singapore was yes 93.3...cos the bulk of the audience in sg are chinese...sad to say but true. And what does 93.3 play? they play mandopop...which is mostly mainstream. Which means to get an audience, playing alternative rock, in fact just mainstream rock in general would be one of the "must-haves". And from what I've seen...that's not what most of the local bands play...

just my two cents worth..

 

[blackductape]

here's an internet radio website u might want to check out...
http://www.live365.com/

 

[AgingYouth]

in the first place, the audience to hit i think would be the teenage audience. ..

Radio is just another tool to sell music. The end goal is to push album sales. The ironic thing abt hitting the teenage crowd is that these kids will support and love the acts. However, many cannot afford to buy the album. They will d/l it. Which ultimately kills the market again.

Strangely, I'll consider local bands who play softer kinda rock/pop like what u said more alternative than the so-called 'alternative' bands in Singapore. I hardly see these type of acts ard... :?

 

[Vanderlow]

Some thoughts..

Sustainability was one of the issues raised as well as the ever popular $ issue. To address the $ issue.. Does it really have to make $? Why not just launch an internet radio channel like someboy suggested? The aim here i feel should be to promote the local artistes and offer the appreciative audience a media to easily access their works.

The issue of sustainabilty or "over-playing" the limited tracks could be overcome perhaps by including music from regional up-and-coming bands. However, if one was to broaden the scope and include ALL genres of local music then i believe we actually should have a good number of tracks! Include local jazz, local electronica, local mandarin, local malay, local rock (of course :lol and whatever you can get your hands on!

just my 2 cents..

 

[stillwater]

Stop dreaming guys, wake up. It would never happen. There are already "local" radio stations like 98.7 n power98. if u make it big enough, they will play ur songs. black sun, concave scream, lizard's convention, padres, n recently electrico ... just to name a few... have had their fair share of airtime.

unless all ur albums are A grade production, (even fr a musician's point of view), i can't imagine tuning into the so call local radio station to hear all low-quality recordings, even my beatles albums sound better!
N wat abt to ppl who dun even play music... I wouldn't want to hear frens n colleagues tuning into that station n go, DAMN, I HATE LOCAL MUSIC!

Hmm... why am i even participating in this meaningless discussion...

 

[Dirt]

hey ho let`s go!!!!!!!

wow!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
MAHALO 4 the `confidence` boost stillwater!!!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Azaro]

Radio Ga-ga

My thots:
1. To keep a radio channel alive, it has to receive sustainable sources of funding. To those who think that that is a small issue, I'd say 'wake up!'.
2. To be all inclusive of music genres/language is to dilute the focus of the channel, and this may be detrimental to the appeal of such a station. I'd rather listen to a channel that plays my favorite music all day, e.g. jazz, than one that's completely mixed-up.
3. To be heard on radio achieves the aim of the band, and that is to be able to sell their music. If a band isn't in the business of selling their music, they don't need to be on the radio.

How to address these issues?
1. Start with a clear focus on the type of radio channel this will be - be it alternative pop, rock, jazz etc.
2. Market this channel to the relevant target segments (youths, young adults, listeners from overseas)
3. Get a bunch of top-notch DJs to anchor the important time slots (e.g. X'Ho)
4. Get retail companies excited by the prospect of being associated with this channel (and hence sell their merchandise/services in the longer term), and milk them for marketing dollars
5. Continually refresh the format and approach of the channel

If there's no money to be made from the staion, either the owners have really deep pockets, or the listeners need to fund it. Otherwise, it wil die a quick and natural death.

Another thot:
How about tying up with an already established radio station, and getting them to allow you to host a 3 or 4 hour segment in a non-prime slot each week to showcase local music? That way, the cost is minimised, we could get corporate sponsorship, and we could feature different genres of music each week? And we can ask a top-notch DJ to host it for a small fee or gratis? Passion 99.9 FM comes to mind.

 

[Vanderlow]

[To be all inclusive of music genres/language is to dilute the focus of the channel, and this may be detrimental to the appeal of such a station.]

But isn't the thread title self explanatory as to what the "Focus" of the channel should be?

"A New Radio Channel for LOCAL Music"

:roll:

 

[Azaro]

Sure, that's the broad umbrella focus for the station, but what sort of local music? Local pop, local jazz, local rock? Surely there must be some delineation of the broader term? Otherwise, why would listeners of particular music tastes bother to tune in?

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

If I may understand correctly, the pertinent points raised are :

Sustainability (survivalibilty) ..also means funding.
Programmes, whether it should be a niche channel or a rojak channel
Target listeners... musicians or otherwise, teenagers & young adults
Alternative format..Internet radio

If the company is offering us free and independent use of the channel, our cost will only be that of producing the contents, not that it's going to be a small sum. Why is the co be willing to give free? There must be some form of return on investments.

The funding party, whether it's the govt, a commercial entity, an arts group or a religious group, will want to get ROI on the investments, not necessary in monetary terms, and the ROI must be substantial. This will dictate how the programme mix is going to be, and one has to accept that dissemination of information by the funding party will interject the programme, much like the advertisements over TV & FM radio.

Another point to consider is, listeners now have more choices to music than they can digest by using MP3, so why radio? Is there still relevance to radio in today's world? Maybe yes, insofar as time sensitive information is concern, like traffic conditions, civil or military mobilisation, and strategic advertising.

The target listeners, obviously a radio station won't just be happy with a small group of listeners. They have to enlarge, with new comers as well as poach from other stations. So, while this station missions itself to broadcasting local music (focused genre or otherwise), it has to bend backwards to pull in more listeners by tailoring programmes other than purely local music. Well, it need not have to resort to playing imported music to damage the mission statement. Or why not do away with that label of standing up for local music to avoid embarassment. Just broadcast local music without announcing it to the world. Simply follow your heart.

An easy way out is probably call it a Youth station and devote or divide segments according to age group, interest group, and so forth. Will this sell????

 

[DoubleBlade]

hey heartrock i did not know u were at CDC yesterday

i walked passed the meeting room and saw u and calvin

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

Aey Doubleblade, ya we had a great time exchanging notes. Why didn't you come in?

 

[Vanderlow]

Well said!

HeartRock my man, well said! And should it come down to a mere 3-4hrs a day of local music (regardless of genre) i'll be sure to try n tune in!

Cheers n all the best!

 

[DoubleBlade]

Aey Doubleblade, ya we had a great time exchanging notes. Why didn't you come in?

actually initially i did not know it was u...i just saw calvin and some guy engaged in a meeting...

until 5 mins ago when i having a piss wif calvin in the loo and den he told me all about it :lol:

 

[Cavett]

A local only radio channel is a great idea IMO and its abt time that we have one, be it on our airwaves or internet radio.. It will certainly provied a nice alternative to local music enthusiasts or those seeking another station that just the normal Pefect 10, Yes 93.3 or Ria..

I feel that all type of genre should be allowed to be showcase and one way to cope this problem is to have some sort of dedicated time slots for a particular genre.. Ala Rock Ria Rock on 89.7 on Sundays whioh basically plays 1 hr of metal/rock and the occassional tunes from local rock/metal bands. It was definately one of my fav radio shows but too bad nowadays I have band commitments on Sunday which makes me miss that show.. But it was nice to hear some of my fav bans being played out... :twisted:

Anyway back to topic, so yes as I was saying, with dedicated timings to diff genres its one way to make this local radio channel work and everyone will be happy.. I dont know why some ppl have this conception that if u wanna make music and playin it on air, its to sell their music.. As for me, the main reason I am in a band and playin/writing music is because I love doing it and its my fav way to express myself.. Plus its a real bonus if I can share my music to others to listen to.. Performing is one thing but to hear ur own tune being played on a radio or somebody else's Discman/MP3 Player/PC, its one hell of a feeling...

Another thing that might be a concern is the "quality" of recording.. Well from what I hear of clips of our fellow softies as well as recent demos/eps/lps of our local lads I dare say its gd enough to be played. Its definately better than the stuff that came out back in late 80s and 90s.

So lets try to support this and make this local radio channel thing a success cause I think its a great thing for the local scene.. Let our local talent be better than our neighbouring countries.. Plus instead of bands only looking for gigs, now if there is a channel for local music, bands will definately be brushing up and saving up money to do some recordings.. A plus for local recording studios and win-win situation for all...

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

excellent input...Cavett

 

[gordonzz]

So is a local music radio/internet radio gonna be setup? paiseh abit blur from so many pages ...

it would be real damn good... i would turn in everytime =)