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Notes Existential ramblings (of sorts) of a temporary new music directorI’ve always considered new music director to be the most glamorous position on staff at WBCR, or any radio station for that matter. They hold in their hands, the power and luxury to play new music first—before the common mass of programmers. To choose what gets played on the radio. Whether or not a band gets played on the air, is completely up to them and their mood that day. At bigger stations, whether or not a band gets discovered is partially in their hands. Talk about responsibility and playing musical God.
As one of the station managers this summer, I’ve been able to try my hand at reviewing music. It’s a lot harder than it seems. A band sounds like some other band I know, but I can’t put my finger on it. If something’s described as indie lo-fi by the label, how can I convince a programmer to pick it up and play it? Lots of bands today, and a lot of our stock, can be described as that. If I really like an album, how can I make it stand out? Think of the exact words that an album makes me feel. See my dilemma?
And the reviews of past new music directors hold a lot of power years later. Currently, we’re cleaning out our library and we’ve had to throw out a lot of shit. I mean, a lot. Like, we have about 12 shit bins of new music alone right now. We’re not even going through metal, world etc. A big determining factor in deciding whether or not an album stays is based on the reviews left behind. If an cd case is graffited with PLAY THIS!!!! SO AWESOME!!!! and has ++! by almost every track, it stays—even if I’ve never heard of the band. However, if it just has “this is decent, sounds like (obscure band that has fallen by the wayside)” and only a couple of songs marked with +, unfortunately, due to space constraints it goes to the shit bin (of course if its a well known band, we keep it, no worries).
Sorting through the library has made me more conscientious of my power as temporary new music director. Not only does it influence current programmers, but, to some extent, the future of WBCR’s archives. Whoa. Talk about responsibility.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to my job of making posters and getting people excited about the station.
—Karin
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