College Radio Getting Exported to Taiwan via Oh! Zone

When I wrote my recent profile of Carleton College radio station KRLX, I was made aware of a new service coming to Taiwan on September 1st called Oh! Zone. KRLX will be one of the many English-language college radio stations being featured on this online radio station oriented towards students in Taiwan who are interested in studying abroad.

I'm always very interested in any sort of concerted effort to celebrate college radio culture and this seems like a very ambitious project. On their website you can take a look at some of the sample programs from participating stations, including some from the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Their website lists approximately 25 U.S. stations including WXPN (University of Pennsylvania), KEXP (University of Washington), KBCS (Bellevue College), WVUD (University of Delaware), KVCU Radio 1190 (University of Colorado, Boulder), KLPI (Louisiana Tech), KLCZ (Lewis-Clark State College), WWSU (Wright State), KUSC (University of Southern California), WGWG (Gardner-Webb University), WLNZ (Lansing Community College), WNCW (Isothermal Community College), KUCI (University of California, Irvine), KUNM (University of New Mexico), KPLU (Pacific Lutheran University), KUT (University of Texas, Austin), KTBG (University of Central Missouri), Radio K (University of Minnesota), WLRA (Lewis University), KBVR (Oregon State), WUOG (University of Georgia), WODU (Old Dominion), KTUH (University of Hawaii, Manoa), and WXJM (James Madison University).

According to a letter sent by OhZone Program Director Jon Roberts to participating schools, "The OhZone is a collection of English-language campus and Community radio stations from around the world. We are a free English-language tool for Taiwanese listeners. Our target audience is Taiwanese students wanting to study overseas. We provide them a choice of music and accents to listen to while researching universities."

I've heard some buzz recently from schools who were contacted by OhZone and there seems to be some confusion among the U.S. radio stations about whether or not their radio programs can be re-broadcast by other entities online or oversees and what the ensuing licensing implications may be. According to OhZone, "We have obtained a certificate from the music licensing authority here MUST - meaning we can legally rebroadcast programs - and we pay the royalty fee." I was told by OhZone that participating stations are required to provide playlist information to them so that they can fulfill licensing and royalty requirements.

In any event, it's a cool idea to set up a 24/7 schedule that is peppered with specific content from radio stations from all over the globe and it's the first time that I've heard of college radio being highlighted in such a way. Other similar attempts have included XM Radio's "Student Exchange Program" (where different college radio stations curated 2 hours of programming on satellite radio station XMU) and the "College Radio Tuner" for the iPhone (featuring streams from IBS member stations); but I haven't seen something like Oh! Zone before, where specific programs are hand-picked for the schedule.

[By the way, there isn't much in the way of student radio in Taiwan itself. The first station run completely by students, VNNCU, began in 1963 at National Chengchi University. Unfortunately I get scary warning messages about potential hacker attacks when I try to visit their website, so much of their programming remains a mystery to me.]

To learn a bit more about Oh! Zone I conducted email interviews with a few of the folks responsible for developing it, including Brian Hockertz, the Director of the Oh! Study Education center, and Program Director Jon Roberts. I was surprised to find out that college radio is just one part of a whole promotional program for study abroad. Who knew!


Spinning Indie: I'm curious about how came up with the idea for Oh! Zone?

Brian Hockertz: I started developing the concept of the Oh! Zone almost two years ago in response to a need to create a medium to promote overseas schools, study abroad and also a way to promote learning English and create a better understanding of western culture in Taiwan. We wanted to create a community of listeners that will stick with us over time and we could provide them with high quality programming coming from campus radio stations to give a taste of life on an overseas campus. FYI, the Oh! Study Education center is the largest overseas education promotion and student travel center in Taiwan.

Spinning Indie: Why do you find college radio to be a compelling way to share the experience of campus life?

Brian: We promote overseas campuses in many ways, such as publications, web content, exhibitions, local campus outreach, etc. We also have extensive experience running promotions on several local radio stations and were aware of the effectiveness of this medium. The Oh! Zone seemed like the a logical step for us to take in the development of our activities in Taiwan. Additionally, establishing a radio station allows us to provide a greater variety and diversity of content from around the world to our audience in Taiwan, and give them a better feel for life on an overseas campus.

Spinning Indie: Do you have a background in radio? college radio?

Brian: Personally, no, with the exception of conducting many promotional activities and being a regular interviewee on local radio stations. However, both Jon and a new addition to our team, Rick Monday have extensive experience in the radio industry. Rick will be taking over as our Program Director and Jon will remain with us in a consulting role. Rick has close to 40 years in the radio industry and he is the only foreign DJ in Taiwan to have won a Golden Bell Award (sort of like an Emmy).

Spinning Indie: How are you determining the program schedule?

Brian: I provide a little direction in terms of general themes and direction of the programming, but Jon and Rick are the ones crafting the final schedule. We are trying to create a program schedule with a broad variety of different programs reflecting overseas campus culture. At the same time, we have to create appropriate content for different days (i.e., week day vs. weekend) and times during the day to match the audience that will be listening. As we are a non-commercial station, we have a lot of leeway in terms of being able to create a program schedule that suits the needs of our audience and station rather than advertisers.

Spinning Indie: Are you focusing on music programming only or will you also include talk shows, sports, etc?

Brian: Most of the programs will have a mix of DJ talk and music, but we already have several talk shows, such as a vegan cooking show, a tech show, movie review show, etc. A bit of an eclectic mix.

Spinning Indie: How are you selecting stations and who has joined up?

Brian: Usually it has been based on two different criterion: first, we have approached schools that are working with our student counseling/travel center to see if they would be interested in participating in the Oh! Zone, and second, we have been searching for high quality programming from all campus radio stations that would fit into our schedule.

Spinning Indie: Tell me more about "Women Rule Night."

Brian: Jon and Rick could probably tell you more about this, but we thought it would be a good way to show diversity on campuses and reach out to a female audience. Sometimes, female issues/performers take a bit of a backseat in Taiwan, and we wanted to be able to spotlight them on the Oh! Zone.

Jon Roberts: Both Rick Monday and I had strong willed mothers and sisters. The rule in our homes was "if men would listen to what we women say you won't go wrong so often." Plus, female announcers have always been well received in Taiwan. The first shows submitted to us were from CHLY (the voice of the VIU campus): In the Red and Pandemic Pulse. Both have female announcers and both received great comments when we tested the OhZone on Taiwanese. Rick and I wanted to create a format that ensured those CHLY announcers would always be on the OhZone as well as a format that reached out to other female announcers. We're expecting big things from Women Rule.

Spinning Indie: Is there college radio in Taiwan? How does it compare to U.S./Canada/European campus radio?

Brian: It exists, but it is not very well developed. Usually, the stations would be directly attached to a university journalism/mass comm department and programming is a part of the curriculum.


Thanks to the Oh! Zone folks for talking to me about their venture. It will be cool to see how all the programming shapes up as of September 1st.

College Radio DJ Tribute to Famed Baltimore DJ K-Swift

There's a really nice tribute to renowned hip hop DJ K-Swift in the Baltimore Sun this week. What's cool is that it's written by a female college radio DJ who was inspired to get into radio and club DJing by the talented "Club Queen of Baltimore" DJ K-Swift. K-Swift (Khia Edgerton), who was an on-air DJ at WERQ-FM (92Q) died this week in a pool accident at her home at the age of 29. According to the article:

"When I heard a live K-Swift set for the first time at age 13, I knew there was no one else on the radio like her. Her mixes, on-air commentary and obvious love for music inspired me and my interest in music and radio. Of course, I had no idea what Baltimore Club music was then - I just knew that whatever she dropped was infectious.

I was certainly not alone in my love for K-Swift's radio show. An avid listener throughout high school and into college, I got a show at my school's radio station and, following her example, got into live DJing. Each time I drop a Baltimore Club track, I think of her and remember which of her many mix tapes put me on to the song."

The author, Alexandra Douglas-Barrera is a DJ at college radio station WMUC (University of Maryland). She continues:

"Dynamic and jovial on the air, K-Swift showcased her talent during her 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. radio spot, Off the Hook Radio, with co-host Squirrel Wyde. Her live mixes always opened with an enthusiastic introduction that would make any listener excited about what she had in store. In venues ranging from the massive Paradox to the cramped Talking Head, she would glow with appreciation, love and an unmatched passion for her crowd and music when she spun...

To see a young female DJ achieve so much in such a short life showed me - and other young female DJs - that it was possible to gain recognition and acceptance in the male-dominated worlds of DJing and hip-hop. To watch her perform was to witness a talented young woman, still perhaps a bit in disbelief of the magnitude of her success, prove exactly how she got there in the first place."

She sounds like an incredibly talented lady.

How about you? Were you inspired to go into radio by one particular DJ?

Women at CU-Boulder's Radio 1190

At most of the stations where I've DJed I've felt like there weren't as many female DJs and staff members as there should be. But, recently, I'm noticing more and more gals getting involved with college radio, which is awesome. An article yesterday in the Denver Women's Examiner profiles a whole bunch of female DJs from University of Colorado-Boulder's radio station Radio 1190 (KVCU-AM Boulder). It's an excellent article covering some interesting and thoughtful women and their perspectives about radio and the state of women in the music biz. On the whole the women seem very optimistic about the industry and don't seem to be as concerned about sexism as some of their predecessors may have been. One DJ states:

"I think that in the independent music industry women are on the same level as men. There's none of the sexism/objectification that seems to occur in the mainstream music industry. When I dealt with the business side of the music industry as the promo assistant, there were just as many females as males that I worked with and they were equally empowered. I guess when I used to think of the classic image of a music snob it was usually a guy with lots of records, and when I first came to the station, the staff really was dominated by males. Now there are lots of female managers around and my image of someone who's really into music doesn't depend on their gender."

Another says:

"I think women in the music industry are great. I was inspired to learn bass after watching Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth totally rock out. I also wanted to start a band when I saw Sleater-Kinney. Although I didn't stick with the bass, and I'm therefore very far from starting a band, I think powerful women musicians are essential in music."

Do you agree that the "indie" scene is more respectful of women and more egalitarian than "corporate" music and radio? Are there many women at your college radio station? Are you a woman involved with college radio? If so, have you ever encountered sexist attitudes towards women at your station?

By the way, Radio 1190 is doing an all-vinyl weekend THIS weekend. According to their website:

"Radio 1190 will be spinning all Memorial Day weekend with three consecutive Vinyl Days. If you've never heard one, that's when we play all our music off records and on turntables. Purists say you can hear the difference between vinyl and digital, we just know it sounds great. The glory of vinyl music, new and old, complete with skips and pops! Starting Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with Chunk of Funk and continuing through Sunday and Monday, Memorial Day, it's a Vinyl Memorial Day Weekend!"

Wow. Any station that plays LOTS of vinyl is a hero in my book. They also have a renowned underground hip hop show called Basementalism.

Strippers, Retro Divas and Yoko Ono - EMP Conference Highlights Part Two

Some of the highpoints for me at the EMP Pop Conference last week in Seattle (April 10-13th at Experience Music Project) were presentations about talented and powerful female musicians, from Yoko Ono to Candye Kane to a little-known (these days) vaudeville performer Eva Tanguay (pictured above).

Slate.com music critic Jody Rosen presented his paper "Girl Gone Wild: Eva Tanguay's Madcap Feminism," which was probably my favorite paper of the entire conference since it brought to my attention a very interesting musician from the turn of the last century who was entirely unknown to me. Jody noted that even though Eva Tanguay was a huge vaudeville star (attracting more than 15,000 fans to one of her solo shows), publicity seeker (she was the first popular singer with publicists on her payroll and staged publicity events), and dramatic presence (she wore of dress made of 4000 pennies, assaulted someone with a hat pin, and had high profile feuds); she is still all but forgotten today, barely mentioned in music biographies. At least after this presentation a few more people became aware of this artist, myself included.

One of my all-time favorite music writers, Ann Powers (seated in the center of the photo above), chief pop critic for the L.A. Times also brought a feminist slant to the conference, presenting her work "In Love with a Strippa: Sex and Power in the So-Called Post-Feminist Age," in which she outlined the origin of exotic dancers (look to the Algerian Village's "Little Egypt" performers at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair) and discussed their presence in music videos of today. She talked about the "good-time girl" strippers in '80s videos by Motley Crue and David Lee Roth and contrasted those images with the sadder "tarnished fantasy" portrayed in hip hop's take on stripper culture as exemplified by Juvenile in the video "Rodeo", in which strippers are shown not as fantasies, but as peers in the same underground economy as the musicians/protagonists in the video.

Kara Attrep gave a great paper "She Yoko-ed the Band," which outlined the demonization of female musicians, like Yoko Ono, Courtney Love, Clara Schumann, and Mary Parks, who have been criticized for allegedly leading to the downfall and death of their more famous male partners. Most interesting to me was hearing more of the back story on Yoko Ono and her successful career prior to meeting John Lennon. She was an early member of Fluxus, staged her own Carnegie Hall performance to a packed hall, and was very much seen as an up and coming artist in the 1960s. She claims to have not known John Lennon's music, definitely not an awe-struck groupie-type.

I also heard about lady blues performers in Maria V. Johnson's (she missed the conference, so her paper was read by the moderator) "Who's Gonna Be the Vessel? Blues Women Performing Alternative Community." She gave shout-outs to the work of former sex worker/musician Candye Kane, Delta diva Denise LaSalle, and Nedra Johnson (who asks her audience to "envision God as a fierce gay man or a granola dyke").

In upcoming posts I'll talk about some of the papers related to war, the military, elections, festivals, and indie/punk culture.

Beauty and the Beatbox - College Radio Show Celebrates Women in Hip Hop

Females on the FM is a piece published on Diamondback Online today about college radio station WMUC-88.1FM (University of Maryland) and its female-oriented hip hop show. According to the article:

"From 12 to 2 a.m. Sundays, junior early education major Danielle Armstrong and junior African American studies major Cybille St. Aude host the 'Beauty & the Beatbox' radio show, the first all-female, all-hip-hop radio show on the campus. For the two friends, the show has one clear goal: getting women excited about hip-hop by playing music that they can listen to without being offended."

The show features female hip hop artists, along with music from a variety of genres. According to the article:

"The show appeals to its listeners by playing songs from lesser-known female artists; underground and independent male artists; oldies tracks; and old-school hip-hop, most of whose messages focus on the lyrical and narrative aspects of rapping as opposed to the bling-out and pimped-out messages often splashed across mainstream radio and MTV. On the duo's playlist now? Jean Grae, a South African-born artist who is 'just all about the music,' according to St. Aude; Run DMC, who Armstrong describes as an example of 'definitely the foundation of what we're trying to bring back;' and other varied artists such as Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, A Tribe Called Quest, Nina Simone and Earth Wind & Fire."

Sounds like a great concept!

Music World (College Radio Too) Still a Boys Club

It's pretty sad that in 2008 we're still hearing women who are bashing other women for being less intellectual about music. Jezebel covers the backlash after a female radio big wig described women's reactions to music as emotional vs. men's intellectual take on music. Wow.

A BBC female executive was speaking about programming changes at a radio station when she said, “For women, there tends to be a more emotional reaction to music. Men tend to be more interested in the intellectual side of the music, the tracks, where albums have been made, that sort of thing.” (Quoted from The Times)

Of course this is a huge generalization and being personally involved with scenes full of music fans and intellectuals, I can find counter examples for each of her assertions.

However, as the BBC exec's quote highlights, there is institutionalized sexism in the music industry, in part because women are often in the minority in radio, college radio, and record labels. In the music biz women still don't often hold positions of power.

The "boys club" vibe within the music industry and college radio was covered in Ellen Riordan's PhD dissertation (2000) "Negotiating Commodified Culture: Feminist Responses to College Radio." She provides a lengthy overview of institutionalized sexism in the music industry, including reactions from some female label owners who talk about their struggle to be taken seriously when talking about music on a critical level.

She also covers the Riot Grrrl scene and how female DJs with riot grrrl sensibilities worked to resist sexist practices in the music industry. Summarizing her interviews with female college DJs she writes, "A re-occurring theme...is that college radio stations represent a very androcentric or male-centered environment...this was referred to in several interviews as a 'juvenile boy' culture." (Riordan, 235-6).

She points out, however, that not all female DJs consider themselves to be feminist or program their shows with a specifically female or feminist sensibility. Even those who do maintain feminist leanings aren't often willing to make those known. She argues that, "...several women interviewed who produce explicitly feminist shows did not identify their shows accordingly because they thought it would be too political and cause a reaction from some people at the stations." (Riordan, 262).

I'd have to agree. Based on my college radio experience, resistance among women (and other station minorities) is often subversive, versus explicit. I consider myself a feminist and that informs the way I program my radio show in a subtle way, but it isn't necessarily obvious to listeners or station staff.

The author, like many of the female radio scholars I've encountered (perhaps I'll cover some of them in future posts), was also heavily involved with the radio scene and even now as a professor at University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), she's the advisor to the campus cablecast radio station KUST. It's inspiring to me to find radio scholars who are also radio participants, especially in college radio.