need some opinions about "non-commercial" music

So I've gotten a job as music director for my college radio station, and I deal with a lot of promoters who work specifically in what they call the "non-commercial college radio charts." What I'm interested in is what counts as non-commercial in their eyes. A lot of the promoters keep telling me that charting artists that aren't specifically promoted to college radio stations and are not currently *impacting* college radio is not going to make much difference in the success of the artists I'm trying to support.

Now I know that these promotion companies have a vested interest in getting their artists to the top of the college charts but my station is a non-commercial, free-format station with very eclectic programming and honestly, a lot of DJs who are pretty knowledgable and have good taste when it comes to the stuff they play. So I'm more likely to look through what they spin, what my co-workers like, and what fits my vision of the station.

So basically I think that the promoter's view of what I should be doing is ass-backward. If they think only stuff they promote is "impacting college radio" then in what way am I staying true to my station's ethics of being non-commercial and free-format? I talked to a guy who promotes hip-hop today and I mentioned that if enough college & community radio stations around the country pick up on some hip stuff that is from smaller labels, or self-released, and decide to chart it...then they will impact the NACC charts! I trust the taste of my DJs and don't believe that the stuff I want to rep is that obscure. The insinuation that charting stuff that we like at the station that's outside of their radar is pointless is frankly insulting to me! If I understand the system correctly, if enough college radio stations around the country are into some of the same cool stuff that's coming out in formats (self-released, tape labels, stuff like that) then they'll impact the NACC charts!

~...~

SO...on a different note, what are some of your opinions on how popular / non-commercial the brunt of stuff that some of us listen to is?

I end up listening to and enjoying a good slice of stuff that some of the bigger online music mags report and review.

—I definitely find out about good stuff from Resident Advisor. Even though some people criticize RA for being kind of a gatekeeper, I appreciate the fairly sober and even-handed approach they have to promoting music, and I especially like how they go in depth and do pieces on certain labels and venues. 

—FACT definitely has a much more pulpy feel to it, but if you dig through the hype you can find good stuff there. The against the clock series is a big highlight for me.

—DummyMag is kind of interesting but I feel they've gotten much much more commercial over the years. They still seem to mix a variety of stuff into their features. I've always found it funny how little interaction their posts get...like a lot of their soundcloud links have less than a thousand views and no comments and stuff. Just seems weird for such a trendy looking and glossy web mag.

—igloomag has been a staple for nearly two decades now and I feel they truly represent the authentic source of non-commercial experimental electronic music. I always have found them to be a trustworthy source and of course they work to promote a lot of WATMM artists.

—TinyMixTapes: I know a good portion of people have some hate for certain writers for TMT but at least they are creative and sometimes have some really interesting takes on stuff.

—A Closer Listen: very leftfield. But consistent.

And now Beatport has created a "Leftfield House & Techno" chart that is pretty fuckin' on the money for stuff I love: lots of livity sound, ilian tape, L.I.E.S, Modern Love etc.

Actually I would HIGHLY recommend looking through the many personal charts for that category. A lot of really good techno in there.

MY question is, when it comes to this type of electronic music, I know many of these artists get a ton of support in the european touring circuit, and are generally popular because of the club scene there. So do they need the support of college radio charts? My thought is, if it's in rotation here, why the hell shouldn't I try and push the artists my crew here is into?

SUPER TL:DR post but I'm curious about what you think!

How big is the station...like is it a truly college radio station with no limits on what you can play and likely student DJs like this on occasion OR is it a bigger flagship station or public radio affiliate?

For example UT Austin both has a college radio station that is student run, KVRX and a big "indie and local" music station KUTX which is a sister station to NPR/PRI hosting public radio station KUT.

KVRX is the kind of station where I've heard kids spinning stuff like Opal Tapes discography, vaporwave straight off of bandcamp, YT, and soundcloud, or really bizarre underground or foreign stuff in general. They often geek out when someone actually calls in. KUTX on the other hand plays local and indie artists, mainstream stuff like Beck, along with typical tastemaker stuff (St. Vincent is getting a lot of airplay) and the stuff, well, white middle age NPR listeners would check out...i..e "this reminds me of Nora Jones!"

  On 10/18/2017 at 7:16 AM, Salvatorin said:

 

—I definitely find out about good stuff from Resident Advisor. Even though some people criticize RA for being kind of a gatekeeper, I appreciate the fairly sober and even-handed approach they have to promoting music, and I especially like how they go in depth and do pieces on certain labels and venues. 

—FACT definitely has a much more pulpy feel to it, but if you dig through the hype you can find good stuff there. The against the clock series is a big highlight for me.

—DummyMag is kind of interesting but I feel they've gotten much much more commercial over the years. They still seem to mix a variety of stuff into their features. I've always found it funny how little interaction their posts get...like a lot of their soundcloud links have less than a thousand views and no comments and stuff. Just seems weird for such a trendy looking and glossy web mag.

—igloomag has been a staple for nearly two decades now and I feel they truly represent the authentic source of non-commercial experimental electronic music. I always have found them to be a trustworthy source and of course they work to promote a lot of WATMM artists.

—TinyMixTapes: I know a good portion of people have some hate for certain writers for TMT but at least they are creative and sometimes have some really interesting takes on stuff.

—A Closer Listen: very leftfield. But consistent.

 

And now Beatport has created a "Leftfield House & Techno" chart that is pretty fuckin' on the money for stuff I love: lots of livity sound, ilian tape, L.I.E.S, Modern Love etc.

Actually I would HIGHLY recommend looking through the many personal charts for that category. A lot of really good techno in there.

^ pretty dead on. Dummymag reminds me of Fader now. RBMA is a lot like RA imo - consistent but divisive in terms of gatekeeping BUT very focused, professional, and objectively minded. Quietus is pretty good as well, they cover electronic here and there. I like TMT a lot (Adhoc is similar) - respect them greatly actually - but they seem to almost cover TOO much and still highlight predictable stuff in their EOTY lists. They also have some reviews that remind me of the absurd early 00s era iof pfork, which is admirable but kind of a detriment I guess.

TBH I don't bother with any other ones outside of very niche places: Tabs Out Tape podcast and a handful of cassette blogs, people I follow on instagram or talk to IRL. Otherwise I use spotify or check here.

Also - congrats on the job. Sounds like fun beyond the contradictory promotion bullshit.

I forgot to mention both Rice Radio (Houston area college that is a rather infamous and well known college station) has this "top 35 list"

and KVRX does a "topless 39" list, both weekly. They also promote student reviews and "library picks" from the stations archives.

I had some friends who worked at KVRX back in the mid to late 00s, which seems like ages ago...well before streaming music was an option on air and before the current state of music now. They used to have a stricter non-mainstream policy - like back in 2005/2006 they were already debating at a meeting M.I.A. was too mainstream...and that was before Kala even dropped. Now they seem to not have to make such policies because students inherently pick stuff from bandcamp, soundcloud, spotify, etc. and their own sources.

*dissappointed that wattm's usual torrent of vapid opinions hasn't hit a thread ​literally asking for your opinions --- ​whatever*

Thank you joshuatx for your responses, I actually went ahead and checked out KTRU and KVRX and I really admire both of their approaches, as far as I can tell from tuning in and checking out their sites. I actually will be in Austin for SXSW so perhaps I will be able to meet some of the people who run it. In 2 weeks I'm going to San Antonio for a national college broadcasters conference so I will probably be able to talk to a lot of different people with different experiences running a college radio station.

Want a vapid opinion?

First of all, I'm not sure I understand what you want an opinion about. So that means an instant increase of vapidness. For your pleasure.

My opinion is that you represent a piece of a music eco system. Regardless of it being commercial or non-commercial, that's about fans how buy music, people who go to gigs and on a different level some sort of subculture. And somewhere buried in there, the artists themselves. Your role within this is ironically similar to those promoters. As you're promoting the music you play.

So with that setup, I think you should have a sense of the bigger picture -the community - you're part off and see where you can have a positive influence. In terms of what you yourself think is positive. That's more than just the music you like, but that could still be part of it. My vapid sense of posivity says you're in a position where you can move people towards gigs and you should promote those artists which you think will people might enjoy. More people going to more gigs by artists you feel good about, seems to me what you're after.

Again, vapid opinion from someone who admitted to not understanding what you're after....

SO I got a call today from "Planetary Music" and I guess they were just tracking. The guy listed off album after album until I had to tell him:

"I have not read any emails from Planetary for the last month, sorry, I've been busy with other things."

And he told me that I ought to do my job and he doesn't want to waste planetary's "money" by sending me stuff.

I of course replied that we explicitly stated that we didn't want any more CDs, and if planetary had sent them they were probably less likely to be heard than digitals. At this point he decided it was time to chastise me..."we don't want to waste our time with your station..." to which I replied:

"I honestly don't think it costs you a whole lot to send me a god-damned email, does it? I await your followup. Cheers."

FUCK