I’ve always loved music and when I discovered Contemporary Jazz and what was referred to as New Age music in the middle 70’s it changed my life! The genre of New Age is now referred to as Ambient and it has crossovers that link with Contemporary Jazz referred to as Lounge and Downtempo. I had noticed a dramatic decline in record stores of albums that I could purchase to add to my already large music collection in this area until one day a brother of mine turned me on to some of this music that had found a home on the Internet. I now am back in contact with the music I so dearly love thanks to many fine Internet radio websites all over the world! It resulted in my computer being connected to my main stereo system for the ultimate in sound reproduction. I cannot thank these broadcasters enough; I am now able to hear the music of many electronic music composers I could never have experienced in the narrowcasting world of FM Stereo radio!

Many of you may remember the radio revolution that occurred in the late 60’s and early 70’s. It was driven by a reaction to the poor programming quality of radio stations of that period. It spawned the Album Oriented Rock revolution that changed the very face of FM Stereo broadcasting back then. It is sad to see that the first revolution fizzled, but it was forced out by greed of the RIAA and the NAB whose sole interest has been to produce and broadcast the cheapest possible music and rake in the highest possible profit! They have supported the biggest record companies in their effort to shut down smaller more creative labels, such as Private Music (originally created by Tangerine Dream’s Peter Bauman), by cutting off their ability to distribute albums to record stores.

Well, a second broadcasting revolution is occurring and it is Internet Radio! The Internet provides an opportunity once again for these creative and experimental electronic music composers to get their music heard by audiences all over the world on the modern digital computer which is rapidly becoming an important part of the modern stereo system. These broadcasters know it is only a matter of time before this music spills onto the conventional airwaves with the same dramatic effect that the last revolution had in the ‘70s! They will do anything to prevent it!

The fact of the matter is that over the air broadcasting has become a wasteland! Duplicitous formats, more attention to advertising and promotions than music and extreme compression and overmodulation are more and more turning off listeners who are fleeing to the Internet and staying there…I am one of those! Therefore I will not stand idly by and watch these greedy, money-hungry record companies backed by the RIAA take away the radio I love. All of us who love Internet radio must now stand and fight! We must not let these greedy people increase the rates for broadcasting music. These rates don’t get to the musicians themselves but line the pockets of middlemen whose time has passed! It’s time for a change and Internet radio is leading the way!

Allen C. Morse III
San Diego, California