WHFS is now......a salsa channel?

my friend in Minneapolis told me this station just started there

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/thecurrent/

and artists played so far include:
Son Volt
Wilco
Death Cab for Cutie
The Jam
Hank Williams
Luna
Iron and Wine
Frou Frou
Depeche Mode
Bob Dylan
Low
Matt Pond PA
Radiohead

Easy Listening
By ROB WALKER

KCRW.com

As part of the CMJ Music Marathon this past October, a New York band called Brazilian Girls performed a danceable set of songs in multiple languages before a crowd at the Hiro Ballroom in Manhattan. The sponsor of this particular event was KCRW.com, which presents live music on a regular basis in New York these days, at venues like Joe's Pub and the Mercury Lounge. But residents of the tri-state area who look for the station on their FM dial will be frustrated. KCRW is based in Santa Monica, Calif.

Why is a Southern California public radio station promoting events on the other side of the country? Because while new media and old media are supposed to be enemies, KCRW.com is trying to make them allies, by building an online listener base – and in the process trying to create what amounts to a national brand. For the past few years, KCRW.com has broadcast three ''streams,'' including a 24-hour music option.

It's hard to come up with a solid figure for the number of online listeners, since the station's Netcasts travel not just from its own site but also through AOL and Apple's iTunes software. But one gauge of popularity that seems relevant to a public radio station is the number of people well outside the traditional broadcast range who become ''members'' – that is, who donate money. With each KCRW pledge drive in recent years come scores of comments from contributors who listen online. ''I adore your station and listen to it every day here in beautiful Brooklyn, U.S.A.!'' one donor wrote recently. More than 1,000 New Yorkers have become members since 2000; similar comments come from all over the country.

KCRW has long had a certain tastemaker status, centered on the weekday show ''Morning Becomes Eclectic,'' which lives up to its name by giving time to artists across a swath of genres, from Eleni Mandell, the Los Angeles singer-songwriter, to club favorites like the Scissor Sisters and indie-rock bands like Franz Ferdinand. That has continued with that show's current D.J., Nic Harcourt, who has been the station's music director since 1998. He says KCRW was the first radio station to play Norah Jones, and the first in the U.S. to play Dido and Coldplay. (He is also host of a weekly sister program, ''Sounds Eclectic,'' now syndicated on more than 30 public radio stations in cities across the country.) Evening shows like Jason Bentley's dance-and-electronica-oriented Metropolis, and Tom Schnabel's and Chris Douridas's wide-ranging weekend programs, all combine to give the station a playlist that's full of surprises. Along the way, these D.J.'s and others at the station have become music supervisors (basically song pickers) for film and television soundtracks and commercials.

Harcourt has been a particular champion of raising KCRW's profile. The station has sponsored and held more and more music events in Los Angeles, and in the last year or so, has done the same in San Francisco and New York. The idea is that as commercial radio has become increasingly timid, canned and predictable, there is an opportunity for a station like KCRW to leverage its tastemaker status. And while satellite radio is providing one alternative, it's built on the idea of restricting your tastes one genre at a time. So stations like KCRW (along with Philadelphia's WXPN and its syndicated ''World Cafe'' show, and a few others, like WFUV in the Bronx) are now crucial to idiosyncratic bands like Brazilian Girls, the smaller record labels that promote them and the music consumers who want to be surprised.

The Brazilian Girls, a kind of house band for the East Village club Nublu, made an EP last year that found its way to Harcourt. Their music got a lot of KCRW airplay and even earned them a live set on ''Morning Becomes Eclectic.'' They have an album coming out on Verve. According to Jill Weindorf at the label, early promotional posters include a blurb from Harcourt. ''Because of the dot-com following, and some of the music supervision he's done, he's actually becoming a name that even a consumer would recognize,'' she says, noting that she has seen Harcourt quotations on CD stickers as well. ''KCRW is starting to be a brand that means cool.''


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/23/magazine/23CONSUMED.html?oref=login

That Minnestota station looks amazing. In Pittsburgh there is an NPR music station, but it mostly plays standard AAA - liberal doses of Sting and Sheryl Crow between the decent songs. But this is a great, crap-free playlist - and they even carry Morning Becomes Eclectic!

Originally posted by pollard:
my friend in Minneapolis told me this station just started there

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/thecurrent/

and artists played so far include:
Son Volt
Wilco
Death Cab for Cutie
The Jam
Hank Williams
Luna
Iron and Wine
Frou Frou
Depeche Mode
Bob Dylan
Low
Matt Pond PA
Radiohead

Not much better than HFS I see.

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
KCRW.com

Always the leader. It's encouraging to see others follow. They are the reason for Indie 103 in LA, not KROQ.

Originally posted by pollard:
my friend in Minneapolis told me this station just started there

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/thecurrent/

last 6 hours of what they have played

some fine music'n

Originally posted by pollard:
last 6 hours of what they have played

some fine music'n

Curse you for getting me to tune in for Tegan & Sara. I can't stand those two.

Originally posted by vansmack:
Curse you for getting me to tune in for Tegan & Sara. I can't stand those two.

I dont think I have ever actually heard them, for some reason I cant get the stream to work for me from home

Originally posted by pollard:
I dont think I have ever actually heard them, for some reason I cant get the stream to work for me from home

I had to use a preinstalled Winamp 5.1 (of all things) for the AACPlus because I don't have iTunes on my office machine and the WMA stream did not work on my WMP 9 in my office.

I'll test others when I get home.

iTunes won't play the stream for me at home either, but Winamp does with no problem.

And WMA 10 plays the Win stream just fine.

Originally posted by vansmack:
iTunes won't play the stream for me at home either, but Winamp does with no problem.

And WMA 10 plays the Win stream just fine.

ok, i will try it out, thanks

Originally posted by pollard:

Originally posted by vansmack:
Curse you for getting me to tune in for Tegan & Sara. I can't stand those two.

I dont think I have ever actually heard them,…

Count your blessings!

Originally posted by Jaguär:

Originally posted by pollard:

Originally posted by vansmack:
Curse you for getting me to tune in for Tegan & Sara. I can't stand those two.

I dont think I have ever actually heard them,…

Count your blessings!

i definitely agree. i saw them on muchmusic once, eh?

My lackey comes through for me. Thanks Pollard, this station seems right up my alley. And it's not blocked by my work censors, like KEXP is.

Originally posted by pollard:

Originally posted by pollard:
my friend in Minneapolis told me this station just started there

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/thecurrent/

last 6 hours of what they have played

some fine music'n

Great just what we need, all those people who signed the petition thinking they had anything to do with HFS coming back on the air. :roll:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-to.whfs25jan25,1,7758779.story
Protests were heard, WHFS rocks online
It also can be heard on Live 105.7 FM


By Rob Hiaasen
Sun Staff

January 25, 2005

WHFS is back, in an alternative way.

The much-mourned and lowly rated rock station - which switched to Spanish pop only this month - has been revived and refitted for an online audience. On Friday, Infinity Broadcasting and America Online launched WHFS.com - a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week online radio station featuring new music, old music from WHFS, and performances from past HFStivals.

If listeners aren't interested in an audio stream of the former rock station, WHFS can also be heard weeknights and all day Saturdays and Sundays on Baltimore's Live 105.7, with host Tim Virgin, who had worked at the former station. The Baltimore FM radio talk station is also owned by Infinity, which brought back WHFS after listeners protested through online petitions and public rallies.

"We heard loud and clear how important WHFS and its programming are to the Washington, D.C./Baltimore community," Infinity spokesman David Goodman said in a released statement. "The legacy of WHFS as a pioneering music station will continue to live on for millions of listeners around the world."

There's also good news for festival fans. On "Live 105.7" yesterday, WHFS program director Lisa Worden announced there will be an HFStival probably in May. On Friday night, Dave Grohl - former Nirvana member and lead singer of The Foo Fighters - called in to congratulate the station and offered to play at any HFStival this year.

What a difference two weeks make in the radio business.

On Jan. 12, rock fans were stunned to turn on 99.1 FM and hear a Spanish-language station called El Zol. Salsa had replaced Slipknot. A revolt was born.

With no prior announcement, Infinity had dropped the "homegrown progressive" rock station that had introduced such bands as Good Charlotte and had produced the popular music festivals.

New York-based Infinity noted poor ratings and a burgeoning Hispanic listening audience as reasons for the format change. In the fall quarter, WHFS attracted an average of 1.3 percent of listeners - or 20th place among stations in the Washington metropolitan area. The station faired a bit better in the Baltimore metro area, with 2.5 percent of listeners or 13th place among stations, according to Arbitron figures released this month.

But diehard rock fans don't tend to flinch at low ratings; they tend to get angry, sign a WHFS online petition (more than 30,000 signatures) and stage rallies - such as the WHFS rally in Washington on Jan. 15, where listeners carried "Honk 4 HFS!" signs.

"We figure if we have enough of an outcry, we can cause some rumblings at Infinity," said Rusty Rowley, a protest organizer from Hyattsville. "At least we're being noticed," said the 26-year-old engineer.

He and other organizers had planned a Baltimore rally for next month - that is, until they heard WHFS on 105.7 FM over the weekend. Their online prayers had been answered. They can hear Korn, Slipknot and Crossfade again - just not on 99.1 FM. (The station El Zol expects to change its call letters to WZLL-FM.)

On WHFS.com yesterday, listeners could take heart in the Web site's message: "You demanded WHFS come back. And here it is. Rock on." As for Rowley and the legion of WHFS loyalists, "You asked if we thought we could make a difference," he said yesterday.

The Foo Fighters at HFSestival, not a bad start.

Rock Format Dies But HFStival Lives
New Venue Likely for Station's Concert
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 26, 2005; Page C01


The radio format that made it famous is gone, but the show will go on. The annual rock bacchanalia known as the HFStival will be held this year, officials said, despite the uncertainty caused by this month's sudden move away from rock by its sponsoring radio station, WHFS-FM.

The multiact extravaganza has been a Washington springtime ritual for more than a decade. Last year's show, with 36 performers, attracted 60,000 fans to an all-day marathon at RFK Stadium.

But the festival's existence was placed in doubt by Infinity Broadcasting's decision to do away with WHFS's alternative-rock format in favor of Spanish-language pop music on Jan. 12. Before the format flip, WHFS gave the concert hours of publicity and played the music of many of the featured bands.

Infinity spokeswoman Karen Mateo said yesterday that plans for this year's concert remain sketchy, but the company was committed to another go-round. Although no date, bands or venue have been chosen yet, "for all intents and purposes, yes, we plan to continue," she said. "We're working on it."

The rock show is a big moneymaker for Infinity, in contrast to the financially struggling WHFS – a situation that prompted one local radio executive to describe WHFS as "a concert with a radio station."

Even with Infinity's commitment, several problems stand in the way of mounting an outdoor concert on the same scale as recent HFStivals.

For one, RFK Stadium most likely won't be available for another show this spring, given that the facility will be the home of the new Washington Nationals baseball team. Seth Hurwitz, owner of Washington's 9:30 club and producer of last year's HFStival, said he was working with Infinity on selecting a site but that it was "way too premature" to discuss it. "We're looking at our options. The people want [the show], the bands want it, and so does the company," said Hurwitz, who also heads I.M.P. Inc., the company that will operate Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia this season.

Further, the loss of WHFS as a rock station complicates Infinity's promotion of the event. The company late last week began airing WHFS-style alternative rock – some of it hosted by former WHFS DJs – on weekday nights starting at 7 and round the clock on weekends on Live 105.7, a station Infinity owns in Baltimore. In addition, Infinity and America Online have launched WHFS.com, a streaming-audio version of the defunct radio format.

But neither of these moves provides the same degree of promotional muscle in the Washington area that WHFS, based in Lanham, once provided. The signal of Live 105.7 can't be heard clearly in Washington or its immediate suburbs. And streaming-audio stations rarely capture more than a fraction of a broadcast station's local audience because they can't be heard in cars.

Mateo, the Infinity spokesman, said the majority of HFStival fans come from the Baltimore area. But as an alternative, she said the company is considering using one of its Washington area stations, WJFK-FM, to promote the concert.

It was unlikely, she said, that the new WHFS, nicknamed "El Zol" and soon to change its call letters to WZLL-FM, would be a very effective promoter of the show.

I was out-of-town when the "switch" happened. So when I finally got back into my car last night and tuned to preset #2, I just started cracking up laughing. I knew the change happened but it still surprised me when I finally heard it. I kind of like the new format!

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Great just what we need, all those people who signed the petition thinking they had anything to do with HFS coming back on the air.

The true test will be 2006 after the intial shock and people stop paying attention. Again.

Originally posted by helicon1:
I just started cracking up laughing. I knew the change happened but it still surprised me when I finally heard it. I kind of like the new format!

It is pretty funny. I'm thinking I'll listen to the new 99.1 now. A personal act to express the frustration from the HFS lost and what the station became. Not that it will cause any ripple, my one person stand.