Mike Janssen Welcome to the Sweating in a Brazilian “Winter”, Too Many Tabs Open in Firefox Link-dump Edition of Scanning the Dial. Freshness of items may vary.
Mark Ramsey on the future of music radio: “The ‘next big thing’ in radio is the gradual disappearance of music stations to be replaced by non-music stations, whether they are Talk, Sports, or new formulas yet to be devised.”
Greetings from Brazil, all, where I’m sojourning for several weeks in the company of my daughter. It’s my first time here and it’s quite an adventure. I’m in Barra de São Francisco, a town of 40,000 in the state of Espírito Santo. As I write this I’m being ceiling-fanned and mosquito-bitten in my modest hotel room. Which might not sound like much fun, but in general I am having a great time — even without a passing ability to speak Portuguese.
I’ve been told that of the four radio stations here, none play any classical music. Not that I even have a radio for verifying this. But I’ve been trying to keep up on happenings in our beat here at Scanning the Dial, and there’s lots going on. The impending changes at WUFT-FM in Gainesville, Fla., for one.
In the last few days more has surfaced online about the format switch at WUFT in Gainesville, Fla., which I wrote about Monday. The Gainesville Sun ran two collections of letters from readers, most of whom wrote to oppose the change. Their comments echo some of the critical comments on my previous post and in e-mails sent or forwarded to me. One Sun correspondent in particular wrote movingly about the importance of music:
On July 2, my mother passed away. Her final illness was sudden and brief, but she lingered for several hours before making a peaceful departure. During those hours, I was so glad that I could turn on the radio and fill her room with beautiful classical music. I believe that both she and I benefited from the peace and serenity that the music brought with it. I didn’t have to search the internet or look for CDs to give her that final gift of beauty; Classic 89 was right there at my fingertips.
Dayton Public Radio in Ohio, a full-time classical public radio station, is looking for a music director. The job description paints a picture of an appealing workplace: Can you fill some big shoes? Better yet, do you have even bigger ones? Do you value a workplace where your ideas are not only encouraged, but fostered in a supportive and non-bureaucratic environment limited only by your imagination and dedication, a place where your sleeves had better be rolled up by the end of the day? Here’s the full job description. You can also … Continue Reading