Do you care about music?! Do you care about individuality?! Do you want to support radio that is programmed based on goodness and love, and not just big business?
Once upon a time there was a radio station in the Los Angeles area called Indie 103.1. It had amazing DJs who spoke freely, informatively and oh-so-entertainingly; it sponsored live shows with awesome bands; it played a lot of music no other commercial station would ever touch; and it supported independent music in an unprecedented, hands-on, totally tangible way. And most importantly, it was an oasis of caring, inspiring, super-cool people pushing through, against the odds, with their belief in and love of music, and succeeding in a capitalist arena.
And none of us really knew how important, ground-breaking, and essential it was until one dark day a couple weeks ago when they pulled it off the air.
To add insult to injury, the people in charge went on the air in the final moments and made a speech full of LIES. They pretended to be the voice of the staff and claimed that they were shutting themselves down willingly because they were being pressured to play commercial music. This was a statement written by the corporate entity whose reasons for shutting down had nothing to do with so-called punk rock ethics and much to do with an ignorance of the fact that Indie, as it was, was actually a viable financial endeavor. The people actually running the station DID NOT want to shut down. They were forced to.
It is not an unusual story, for a giant corporation to not understand the money-making potential of a product that also happens to be excellent. Unfortunately, due to the narrow and erroneous methods of determining their audience, and a short period of financial loss due to the current economic crisis, a hasty choice was made to change the format, and it appears that bringing Indie back to 103.1 on the dial is no longer an option. The decision to keep El Gato (the new station at 103.1) is clearly a firm one, and so now we must focus our efforts elsewhere.
BUT!!! DO NOT BE DISMAYED! THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF BRINGING THE HEART OF THE STATION (the music programmer and several of the DJs, including JONESY and SHOVEL) TO ANOTHER STATION! There are forces at work trying to make this a reality, and so we still have hope.
Appealing to Entravision or signing the petition are no longer useful, but signing up to this group, posting your heartfelt comments, and inviting all your friends to join IS!!!!!!! We can gather here and increase our numbers (hundreds of people are signing up every day!), and when the time comes (hopefully very soon) to speak up, we will be ready! We also might organize a concert (or series of concerts), or some other fundraising activity to encourage prospective buyers to see the light, to understand that Indie had a giant, faithful listenership who want MORE MORE MORE! We can show them that there IS a market for this kind of station, and it's a HUGE AND LOYAL ONE!
Yes, it's true, some of the DJs have signed back up to do their shows on the "Indie 103.1" website, and that's all fine and good. We have something to tide us over in the meantime. But don't be fooled. The heart of Indie has been ripped out and chucked in the garbage. And internet radio isn't going to do us much good while we drive around LA, which is what most of us spend hours upon hours every week doing.
IN SHORT, please invite all your friends who loved the station to join this group, and tell them to invite their friends, and I will update you when we have an opportunity to take action and make our voices heard. We CAN get the goodness back, some way or other!
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