Now it’s really Indie
I’ve talked here before about my love of the radio station Indie 103.1 FM. It’s the sort of radio station that you hear used to exist, one where deejays play what they like. In this particular case, that means shows run by people like Steve Jones, guitarist for the Sex Pistols. That alone says “indie.”
Indie was founded probably five years ago at this point, and sure enough, it was too good to last. They’re not dead, but they’ve moved online. Why? Because the powers-that-be wanted them to play Britney Spears or somesuch.
Here’s the station’s new internet URL, and here’s their farewell-to-broadcasting message.
Indie Activist:
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.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
By god that Trey fellow does read the blog from time to time…
I’ll miss Indie 103 while driving in my car but look forward to it while sitting at my desk. Which is sort of like not really looking forward to it at all cuz I’m grown accustomed to listening to other stuff while at my desk (Pandora, KCRW, podcasts from earlier in the week) which I’ll have to cram into other parts of my day. I wonder if Jonesy’s Jukebox has a podcast?
Thanks for being my source for News!
January 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hey, what’re you doing here?
Re Indie, I’ll miss it too.
I just don’t think there’s a future for terrestrial radio. I also don’t think the current satellite model is going to work. No, it’s all going to be internet radio — in cars, work places, everywhere.
So in a way, Indie 103 hasn’t gone anywhere.
Except I doubt they’re going to be able to monetize it quickly enough. Internet radio running out of someone’s bedroom costs nothing. Indie has actual hard costs. (Like paying people.) That’s a problem, for now.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
[…] and even one very upset text message from friends apoplectic over the loss of Indie 103.1, which I wrote about here. I’ve been suffering the loss of great radio stations my whole life; what makes this […]