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[Carlos del Vaca]

I don't know. Maybe I would enjoy it more if I felt like I was doing a good job. But right now I spend a lot of my time worrying about how I am not. This is a general problem, not specific to radio stuff. It is also possible, based on talking to MDs at other stations, that I have an unrealistic expectation for what an MD should do.

I think you are on to something here, because I didn't do many of the things you mentioned.  My MD activities, circa 1990-1992, were as follows:

• Listen to as much new music sent to the station as possible.  We would have "listening parties" in the production room which were often great fun.
• As a result of the above, put CDs/albums "on the rack" and make non-binding recommendations as to what people should play.
• If I knew of new music that we should have, but didn't (from reading CMJ or whatever), call the label in question and ask they send us some shit.
• Compile the weekly chart to send to CMJ.  I did this by going over the playlists of alternative-type shows.  I decided myself what was a "new release" worthy of being reported and what was back catalog; otherwise Nine Inch Nails (specifically "Head Like a Hole") would have been our #1 artist for approximately forever.
• Schmooze with local club owners to do promo crap for each other.  This is where a lot of the free shows came from--I was on the permanent guest list at the one really good rock club in Lancaster.
• Yap with record label reps who were pushing their stuff.  Usually I had "office hours" in which a good ten to twelve of these mofos would call me.  I mostly had a good relationship with people, but I also wasn't afraid to tell someone their crap hadn't caught on.  This is where the rest of the free shows came from, but it often meant going to Philly.
• Spend way too much time policing "the rack" and trying to track down who fuck*ng stole the new Jane's Addiction et. al.

I didn't exploit free CDs quite as thoroughly as I might have, but some labels made a point of sending two copies of everything.

We were blessed with a sizeable library, so I didn't have people bothering me to buy back catalog.  For the most part, DJs were happy to bring their own CDs if they wanted to play stuff we didn't have.

My recommendations were just that--recommendations, and no one was obligated to play anything.  Our station actually had a number of classic rock shows, which always made me furious because there's any number of classic rock stations in central PA.  Why have yet another show playing Led Zep and the Dead?!?  But whatever.  For the most part, the alternative DJs respected my opinion enough to at least check stuff out, and occasionally I'd be at the station, wander in the booth and say "Here, dude, play this."  But I did not take it personally if someone wanted to do their own thing and play whatever the hell they wanted; IMO, that's the beauty of college radio.  Two hours to rock out!!

[theinevitable]

oh man, see. I would have been ALL OVER being MD in that era. When I don't want to listen to new bands, it is because I want to listen to bands from then, instead. Damn.
Back then, and through to the mid 90s, our station was apparently BIG SHIT and we interviewed Nirvana and Neutral Milk Hotel and a lot of other big names who I forget right now.

Yeah, I feel like the big difference here is that instead of direct record label people, I talk to "college radio" representatives from promotional companies. And our understanding has always been that if we piss them off and don't play their stuff, they will stop sending us CDs eventually. Apparently we do a much better job of keeping in touch with these people than a lot of other stations do.
Also, when they sound frustrated that we are not playing their stuff, I feel bad. This is their trick, they make you feel like you are their friend.
This one lady promoter went way overboard on this, and spent an obscene amount of time trying to meet up with me at CMJ, only to sit drinking coffee for 10 minutes and then leave. We're talking... the people there with me were convinced that she wanted to bone me, as there was no other explanation for how much time she was spending trying to meet me.
After meeting her and listening to her talk about music and what she does, our consensus is that she is actually just really bad at her job.

I compile the weekly playlists from our home-made open-source Playlist Tracker software. Each new release stays on the new release shelf for three months before being cycled out and put in the normal stacks. Each new release is assigned a number, so that, for instance, if you play The Vivian Girls you type in 167 along with the name of the artist/song/album/label in the appropriate slots, and so your play is grouped in with people who typed "Vivian Girls" or "The vvian girls" or whatever. I can also click on, say, made-up numbers on the charts, and see that one dickbag sophomore is making up new release numbers for old albums. The worst is people who decide that things they have are "new enough," and put "yes" or something similar in the slot where the number should go. I want to kill those people. Our policy is that you have to play 3 new releases an  hour, taken from any of the hundreds of new releases in a variety of genres. Some genres have fewer because the directors of those genres don't do their jobs, or they don't get a lot of new releases, or whatever.
We also don't put things out on the shelves until they have a review sticker on them. the review sticker will describe the sound of the album, suggest tracks, and label which songs have cusses on them. a lot of the hassle in my job is that no one ever wants to do these reviews, so I have to review things, or coerce people into reviewing things.

The reason we don't have as great of a back catalog as some people would like is that popular stuff disappears over the years. So we have tens of thousands of CDs, but no (insert some kid's favorite popular indie band here.) Thus, this pissed off kid will email us implying that we in the executive staff (who have open meetings which this kid doesn't attend) are blowing our money on "frivolous" stuff. Inevitably the kid cites something which is essential to the operation of the station as an example.

Our rule is that you can't play things that would be heard on other radio stations in the STL area, except KDHX which is another free-form, community run radio station. Different people enforce this rule in different ways. You also are not allowed to repeat the same artist two weeks in a row. That is basically it other than not being on the air (obviously) intoxicated, not cussing on air, and other stuff where the reason the rule exists is "so the FCC or the school won't shut us down."
Theoretically it is also my job to monitor the music-selection aspects of these rules, but for the past few years our Personnel Director has done that.

I do think, though, that reading your post and talking to other MDs has made me think that I am going to try coming at this job with more of a fun attitude, and less of a "this is something I am doing to serve the needs of the station" attitude.

This week is our "Pledge Week." I am pretty sure it is going to be a colossal disappointment, and my roommate, who is the outgoing General Manager, is going to be crushed, as this is his pet project. I just do not imagine that the 15 listeners (personal best!) that listen to KWUR at once are going to call in and donate money. I think our best bet is probably just sticking to selling t-shirts and stuff.
On the bright side, we are going to have a "date auction" which I'm sure will end with all of us bidding on each other to save face.

[lprkn]

Is it just me, or does this thread title just begging to be a movie.

Oh, and it sounds like I would be bad at college radio.

[Carlos del Vaca]

In my humble opinion, some of your rules seem a little draconian.  Can't play the same artist two weeks in a row?  WTF?  I maintain that a GOOD show has a great deal of variety from week to week, but damn. 

As far as playing a certain number of designated "new" tracks and reviewing albums--I don't think you can make people do that.  People have to want to do that.  There's a certain personality type that likes to review music (most of them work for Pitchfork Media).  Not everyone is up for that.  For a while, I did a weekly "top new releases" thing that I'd post in the DJ booth, giving my own little blurbs on what was new and awesome.  Some people took to that.  Some people ignored it and played "Head Like a Hole" again.  So be it.

As far as charting, I'd encourage you to use your own discretion a lot more--it's one of the perks of the job, to be the station's ultimate music snob.  Folks want to put old crap on the chart?  Fine, let them do that, and then purge their stupid stuff.  I compiled all my stuff manually, and while I did my best to go by what people were actually playing, I got to break all ties.  So if I had ten bands with three plays each that were tied for 16-25 on the chart, guess which one of those ten got ranked at #16?  The one I liked the best.  And so on.

How big is your school, anyway?  One thing we realized was that being in a school of less than 2000 students, we weren't going to be able to fill an entire programming schedule with gung-ho new music aficionados.  Hence the existence of classic rock shows, despite the existence of local commercial classic rock stations.

We did have one guy (who in full disclosure was a fraternity brother of mine) who did a show that focused on obscure, deep-track stuff by the Grateful Dead and other artists.  It was classic rock, yes, but it was a hell of a lot more interesting than regular ol' "Get the Led Out" type programming.

[littlefallsmets]

In my college radio days, there'd be shows where I would play Ken Burns documentary soundtracks in one CD player and NIN instrumental tracks in another and mash up on the fly. Where we'd torment the undead corpse of JFK by touching his brains and making him taste ice cream.  Emotionally abusing the talking chimp that was our board-op, Doctor Bologna, by making him betray his intellect and reduce him to a chattering wreck via offers of bananas.

Put on a ten-minute song if the bathroom was required, you know.

Suffice it to say, it was not a very tightly run ship. I had fun.

Like so much of my life, almost no one was paying attention and there's little left to show for it but I had fun.

[theinevitable]

In my humble opinion, some of your rules seem a little draconian.  Can't play the same artist two weeks in a row?  WTF?  I maintain that a GOOD show has a great deal of variety from week to week, but damn.

I mean, considering we how many CDs we have, and that the typical DJ has 1 1-hour show a week, it isn't that onerous. Especially considering how many people just bring in their iPod/laptop and plug it in.

The reason we need people to play a certain number of "new" things a week is that... that is why we get sent CDs. Why would people send us CDs if we didn't ever play them? I don't know, I find it hard to understand how having to pick 3 new songs to play off of a shelf with around 250 CDs on it is draconian or hard, at all.

I mean, I do use my discretion, in that only things that are actually new have numbers. If people put numbers on things that are old, it is because they are lying, and breaking the rules. We do get a lot of ties, and I definitely move things that I like around. Our school is around 3000 I think, we have something like 200 DJs.

I don't know, we try to operate on the idea that having a radio show is not your right, it is a priveledge. If you are willing to put in a tiny, tiny amount of effort you can keep it.

I figure, the student newspaper doesn't just publish any asshole's piece-- they have a certain standard to uphold. We do too, even if it is pretty low sometimes.

It is weird that we seem to be in this weird in-between zone, where half of college radio stations are ridiculously strict (WXYC, KSLU, the radio stations my friends work at at UChicago and Berkeley) and the other half let you do whatever the hell you want.

[pmcd9]

Dan, I think you need to be more honest with the AR guys.  Just tell them if you haven't played their shit it's because no one liked it.  Send us something we like and we'll play it.  There are tons of new releases put out all the time, but most of them suck.  You're job as taste arbiter is to cut through all of that and find the stuff worthy of being on the radio.

[wombat]

Paul is right. You seem to be confused about your role with respect to the free CDs. Just because PR people send you stuff does not obligate you to give it free publicity.

[Carlos del Vaca]

The reason we need people to play a certain number of "new" things a week is that... that is why we get sent CDs. Why would people send us CDs if we didn't ever play them?

Make no mistake:  the labels and promoters need you more than you need them.  Granted, it's nice for a college radio station to have the newest in new, but at the end of the day, you're still a college radio station, a non-profit, for-kicks exercise.

The record label is for profit, it's their job.  They need you to promote their shit so people buy the records and they can get paid.  If you don't play releases 1, 2, and 3 on account of they suck, and they stop sending you product, they will get zero airplay from you on releases 4 through infinity.  Ultimately that's not to their advantage.  So if some promoter mofo threatens to pull the plug on you, call his bluff.  Even if he follows through and cuts you off, in six months he'll probably be gone, and you can call his replacement and ask to get back on the mailing list.

[theinevitable]

yeah, I mean, they do not threaten in that way. that is just our working theory, that on some level we need to keep them semi-happy. But mostly I have an innate desire to keep people from being annoyed with me.

[wombat]

I can't be any clearer about this: your working theory is wrong.

It is not anybody's job to keep PR people happy. And if they are wasting any energy at all being annoyed with you, they are in the wrong field. In fact that's exactly the wrong way around: they are in fact paid to annoy people into paying attention. A thick skin when ignored is a basic job requirement for them.

Can you guess that I have gotten a ton of irritating email lately from PR people? You are correct. But that merely validates my point. Incidentally, if anyone in a vaguely animal related organization is lurking here: NO, I am NOT writing any more stories on Obama's puppy plans that you would be able to hitch your cause to, so BUZZ OFF.

[theinevitable]

Yeah, actually, we have been discussing lately that we are getting that impression more and more. You are right.

[AugustWest]

In my humble opinion, some of your rules seem a little draconian.  Can't play the same artist two weeks in a row?  WTF?  I maintain that a GOOD show has a great deal of variety from week to week, but damn. 

Hell of no shit.

And I was a jock at your station.

In my day (we all wore onions on our belts.  Gimme five bees for a quarter, we'd say...)  Well, it's actually hard to remember something that obscure through the fog of almost 25 years.  But it seems like we had to play one new release an hour.  No restriction on replaying the same artist from week to week.  Our shows were either 2 or 3 hours long.

I was a jazz jock, so some of this might have been different for the other genres, especially as regards New Releases.  Seems like peer pressure was the biggest factor in keeping lame-ass music off the air.  Your fellow jocks would rank on you mercilessly if you played something lame, especially more than once.

Oh, and if the record companies don't like the free advertising you are giving them to an interested and motivated audience of 18 - 25 year olds, screw 'em.

[theinevitable]

I feel like the big issue is that no one seems to give a shit about how good their show is. If we let people, they would just come in an put their iPods on random (i actually caught someone doing this.) There is no pressure to be good, your friends will tell you your show is good no matter what.
Except my roommate, who drunkenly told me that my show blows. But, other than him. Very few people seem to listen to each other's shows at all.

Again, I feel like having incredibly minor requirements for show quality is COMPLETELY REASONABLE. Again, the newspaper doesn't just publish any asshole's piece, they have standards. Same for the literary journal, political rag, whatever. Why should college radio be different?

[littlefallsmets]

See... like... I dunno.

College radio isn't supposed to be about being professional or organized, though, is it?

I mean, if these people wanted to work at commerical radio stations, they could accept the horrible payscale of local radio in small towns and, like, do that.

Play the same fifteen songs over and over again, intern for Buzzsaw and the Woodchuck's morning zoo and throw condom balloons off bridges as WOODCHUCK'S EXTREME MORNING GOTCHA for Tuesday or whatever, hand out bumperstickers at local bars and get hit on by women with three teeth impressed that they "live inside the radio box".

Lord knows I have friends who've rolled down that path. That choice is before people if they want it.

It's like youth soccer... youth soccer ain't ABOUT being good, it's about going out there, getting some exercise, meeting kids from other elementary schools and going to Pizza Hut after games, keeping much more track of who's the best at the Pac-Man table than who won the soccer matches.

College radio's about dick swinging matches over who likes the most obscure music and who likes really popular music in the most ironic fashion and calling your friends while they're hungover and putting them on-air to fuck with them. It's about those two or three dudes who always wanted to be Dr. Demento bringing in their novelty records, that white guy who's way too selfconsciously into hiphop, those two guys with the late night metal show who will someday realize that they are fated to have a lot of sex with each other.

If they really really REALLY wanted to be professionals, like, they'd drop out of school and go do overnights at K-Frog The Heart of Country Music for Boise Idaho for a pittance.

You're... sounding a bit like that one youth soccer coach who keeps trophies for the years his seven-to-ten-year-old team won, you know, and talks about how he's the one dude who "takes it seriously"... when its really supposed to be about orange wedges and learning to not pick your nose in front of all your parents friends.

Or, anyway, that's what it sounds like to me.

Viva unprofessionalism, man. You'll all have to be professionals pretty soon, whether you want to or not.