I particularity liked Q mention of how music is coming back. I think we are at the end of 2 decades of crap. I have hope.

I agree... hearing him say that gave me a glimmer of hope. I.m not familiar with Nikki Yanofsky but after watching that clip I intend to check her out!
As always, thanks for posting, Chris.
Jeff

Hey Jeff, have you been noticing a new movement in talent?
Check out CBC 2014 best artists of the year award. Its pretty obvious where the spin is going.

Over the last 38 years in the business, I've have made a good living ( in everything I do) because I study trends and the correlation between fashion and necessity and youth movement or, baby boomers needs.

The music industry is so far from real and off from what is really happening on the planet, its finally reached the wall of embarrassing. Everyone is sick of the BS and lack of enjoyment and being forced to eat all this crap.
We are starving for real.
Music is a reflection of the times. The planet and people in charge are all heading towards preservation and healthier living and the search to bypass the corporate BS is soon to expose everywhere. We all want peace and to live healthy and this will surely reflect in the music. . The internet is exposing the BS. This is going to reflect in the music.

My children are laughing at how goofy pop music is today. Dubstep is about as bad as it gets. They hear the editing and will pay nothing for it. They like the idea of being pop stars but its nothing about music. When they actually play and enjoy music, they are listening for truth and doing it all because they love music and the message. How can anyone with that in their heart, not infect the next guy looking for the same message.

I have hope.

I agree... the internet is giving independent artists a world stage, breaking away from the corporate shackles which had a stranglehold on the industry since its inception. It's similar to what happened with the movie industry breaking from the old studio paradigm which used to dominate as independents gained more momentum and market place.
And the break from the corporate grip means the public will be less and less spoon-fed the pablum that the greedy labels can so easily and cheaply produce, and will discover both greater choice and greater quality as a result.
It can't happen quickly enough as far as I'm concerned!
Jeff

well said!
Jimmy Pattison owns the radio stations here. It sounds like everything repeats 50 songs every 3 hours. Over and over for months. Unbelievable spoon feed brain washing.

I can't remember the exact numbers, but in the U.S. a HUGE majority of radio stations are owned by a SMALL handful (like 4 or 5) corporations. These corporate owners generate their playlists at national headquarters and distribute them to all of their stations. My understanding is that the DJs MUST adhere strictly to the songs on the playlist, and ONLY those songs. So these stations are not SERVING their markets... they are CREATING their markets! No wonder there is so much crap around!
On the original topic, Chris thanks so much for posting about Nikki Yanofsky. I searched her on YouTube and I have to say I am completely blown away by what I heard. INSTANT FAN! Her fusion of pop & jazz, especially the way Quincy produced it, is one of the freshest, most enjoyable sounds I have heard in a long, long time. I'm excited at the discovery. BIG THANKS!
Jeff

On the topic of radio stations. Media conglomerates are definitely a factor (multiple stations / one owner), but many of your locally owned radio stations are fed from a single centralized location via satellite (not to be confused with XM or Sirius satellite radio). This is one playlist being played over multiple locally owned 'terrestrial' stations. That means there only is one Program Director, one Music Director, and one DJ broadcasting the same playlist (like it or not) simultaneously over hundreds of stations coast to coast. And despite being illegal, 'payola' is alive and well, so this arrangement makes it a convenient one-stop-shop for the crooked promoter.

On sat-feed radio, the DJ banter is always non-geographical. They may acknowledge the Super-Bowl, but never express any allegiance to one team for fear of offending listeners in the opponent's market. If there's breaking local news, they cut to the local news guy. They never give the specific hour. The DJ pre-records all the localized call-letter bumpers coming in and out of commercials and little tag-lines. There are slots for national commercials coming from their end, and specific slots for the local ads. It works a lot like network TV with national and local ads, but it's much easier to blur the lines when it's audio only. It's all computerized and pretty slickly done to maintain the illusion that the big-time sounding super-slick DJ is sitting in a small-market studio somewhere in the piddliest little town, talking to Aerosmith (who just happened to be driving by). I've talked to a couple of the local stations that occasionally receive flowers sent to the sultry-voiced female DJs - who in reality are thousands of miles away. That call-in trivia contest might be you against the local market, or you against a million others musicologists across the country.

As a tolerable alternative, many stations combine the two formats and have local programming during certain hours of the day, and then switch it over to the satellite feed at a designated hour. That way they have local on-air personalities that can go out and promote local events, and supermarket openings.

Deck stacked against indies? Of course it is, and getting worse all the time, as locally programmed stations become more and more rare. College radio is still the indie's best shot at airplay on 'terrestrial' radio stations, and commercial stations with some sort of 'Homegrown Show" to showcase local talent.

Throughout the 90's I was in two different bands that got played on a couple dozen regional stations, probably 50/50 between commercial stations and college stations - some just the "homegrown shows" and some regular rotation. We sold a ton of product in the regional record stores as a result (remember chain-record stores? mom & pop record stores? we were in both.) We also managed to get played on a nationally syndicated radio show and export CDs to places we never played in Europe and Japan. After all that, I don't know if any access to commercial radio is even possible in this day and age.