Happy 2009!
We can now see this as a notable 'Golden Anniversary Year' for some. Milestones can be measured in all arenas of either how old you are to remember, or, how old it makes you feel when you consider that 50 years ago:
-Alaska and Hawaii gained statehood.
-Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution embedded communism in the Western Hemisphere.
-Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the "Big Bopper" died in a wintry plane crash.
-The American Football League was founded. Creating a fresh new approach to pro football which would later spawn the Super Bowl.
-Top Movies were Ben Hur, Some Like It Hot, Anatomy of a Murder and North by Northwest.
-Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments supervises the creation of the first integrated circuit.
-USSR probe Lunik II reaches the moon. Lunik III photographs the dark side of the moon for the first time.
-Tibet's Dalai Lama escapes to India.
Guess I'm still young. Though alive at the time, I'm still too young to remember.
Hope we continue impressive times!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Internet Radio: The New Pirate Ship for Conservative Talk Radio?
Now that Democrats have won across the board in the elections, initially it's very likely that conservative talk radio will be in jeopardy.
This is no big secret. For quite awhile, icons Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck have voiced that very concern as to what the effect the reinstatement of the "Fairness Doctrine" would have on the industry.
The resulting facts of the broadcast industry are quite evident. Conservative talk is huge. Liberal talk is obscure. Conservative talk is profitable. Liberal talk is anemic. The EIB Network is a monilith. Air America is bankrupt.
Presented as entertainment value to it's audience and with it's growth and staying ability, luring top advertising revenue with impressive demographics, conservative talk radio has for the past 25 years, bell-weathered it's influence (some may say political upheaval) much to the shegrin of liberals who've made a go of it but fall flat every time.
What the picture truly is here, is that if the liberal market can't sway to the dictates of the audience, then the Fairness Doctrine's goal will be to dictate to the market. Therefore, the audience will hear the opposing view whether they like it or not. Regardless of gains by liberal Democrats in recent elections, the goal overall is to squelch any opposition and first amendment rights once and for all.
Beside ethnic genres, it's said that conservative radio, for the most part is what saved and continues to rule the AM dial. That very result is what has angered and notched into the ultra-sensitive craw of the liberal defense. Hence, it's need to wield it's revived political power and silence the voices that stand in the way of government expansion.
Should this happen, the initial drawing board will first create not only over re-regulation by the FCC, but include a break down of local markets to be relentlessly evaluated and scrutinized by politburo styled agencies. On the regional/local level, the force of these mini-agencies would have the ability to gnash teeth and create the resulting fear of progress by commercially-based stations. The final result could be the abandonment of the very programming that fueled the profitabilities versus the government breathing down their respective necks.
Enter, at least for now, a sanctuary of hope to voice opposition to liberal power. Internet radio, may very well be that pirate vessel. Free of government regulation, it offers an extensive escape that branches away from the terrestrial backbone of talk radio as we know it today. Those who want an unwavering voice should milk it for everything that it's worth.
It's worth a try. And definitely worth my investment in that arena.
This is no big secret. For quite awhile, icons Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck have voiced that very concern as to what the effect the reinstatement of the "Fairness Doctrine" would have on the industry.
The resulting facts of the broadcast industry are quite evident. Conservative talk is huge. Liberal talk is obscure. Conservative talk is profitable. Liberal talk is anemic. The EIB Network is a monilith. Air America is bankrupt.
Presented as entertainment value to it's audience and with it's growth and staying ability, luring top advertising revenue with impressive demographics, conservative talk radio has for the past 25 years, bell-weathered it's influence (some may say political upheaval) much to the shegrin of liberals who've made a go of it but fall flat every time.
What the picture truly is here, is that if the liberal market can't sway to the dictates of the audience, then the Fairness Doctrine's goal will be to dictate to the market. Therefore, the audience will hear the opposing view whether they like it or not. Regardless of gains by liberal Democrats in recent elections, the goal overall is to squelch any opposition and first amendment rights once and for all.
Beside ethnic genres, it's said that conservative radio, for the most part is what saved and continues to rule the AM dial. That very result is what has angered and notched into the ultra-sensitive craw of the liberal defense. Hence, it's need to wield it's revived political power and silence the voices that stand in the way of government expansion.
Should this happen, the initial drawing board will first create not only over re-regulation by the FCC, but include a break down of local markets to be relentlessly evaluated and scrutinized by politburo styled agencies. On the regional/local level, the force of these mini-agencies would have the ability to gnash teeth and create the resulting fear of progress by commercially-based stations. The final result could be the abandonment of the very programming that fueled the profitabilities versus the government breathing down their respective necks.
Enter, at least for now, a sanctuary of hope to voice opposition to liberal power. Internet radio, may very well be that pirate vessel. Free of government regulation, it offers an extensive escape that branches away from the terrestrial backbone of talk radio as we know it today. Those who want an unwavering voice should milk it for everything that it's worth.
It's worth a try. And definitely worth my investment in that arena.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Like Our Country, Internet Radio Is In Crisis
Looks like we will have to give up any hope for the "Internet Radio Equality Act".
If you're a regular listener to internet radio, you may have heard aired on ours, as well as pier stations, a request for your support of Bills H.R. 2060 AND S. 1353, otherwise known as the "Internet Radio Equality Act".
To date, this has become a stagnant issue in Washington. The effort is to equalize the higher royalty fees determined by the Copyright Royalty Board to be paid to record companies, artists, and composers for the songs that you hear on internet radio. These are paid through the recording industry's sanctioned agency SoundExchange. Compared to the exact same royalties paid to satellite and eventually terrestrial radio for the same music, this was obviously un-fair and a stealth attempt to slowly bleed internet radio music stations to death.
Already crawling at a snail's pace to begin with, the effort has now hit a brick wall.
Needless to say, the financial debacle by government is now the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room. And because of the exposure of blunders by a majority of representatives, senators and the White House, before and after, the financial bailout action, makes it quite obvious by many that the pending upheaval of the upcoming elections will spell the doom of many incumbents. Perhaps the majority of those who co-sponsor the IREA.
Thus, what would be considered a moral act of establishing fair play of all entities that play music across the board, will take a further back seat, (more like taking a place in the upper pigeon hole in the furthest corner of the guest room closet) when compared to more pressing issues that have had to pause because of the 700 billion dollar mortgage crisis.
Realistically and comparatively to priorities, it's more for the reason that American's could care less about anything else at this point.
With all these delays, life couldn't be sweeter for the recording industry and Sound Exchange, who have had all the opportunities in the world to strategize and re-strategize it's efforts of holding together, the unbelievable large royalty percentage imposed on internet radio. This more than likely puts the internet radio industry at the mercy of a totally new line up in Washington.
The whole story began in Washington and ends in Washington. Who do you currently have faith in there to proceed with anything?
If you're a regular listener to internet radio, you may have heard aired on ours, as well as pier stations, a request for your support of Bills H.R. 2060 AND S. 1353, otherwise known as the "Internet Radio Equality Act".
To date, this has become a stagnant issue in Washington. The effort is to equalize the higher royalty fees determined by the Copyright Royalty Board to be paid to record companies, artists, and composers for the songs that you hear on internet radio. These are paid through the recording industry's sanctioned agency SoundExchange. Compared to the exact same royalties paid to satellite and eventually terrestrial radio for the same music, this was obviously un-fair and a stealth attempt to slowly bleed internet radio music stations to death.
Already crawling at a snail's pace to begin with, the effort has now hit a brick wall.
Needless to say, the financial debacle by government is now the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room. And because of the exposure of blunders by a majority of representatives, senators and the White House, before and after, the financial bailout action, makes it quite obvious by many that the pending upheaval of the upcoming elections will spell the doom of many incumbents. Perhaps the majority of those who co-sponsor the IREA.
Thus, what would be considered a moral act of establishing fair play of all entities that play music across the board, will take a further back seat, (more like taking a place in the upper pigeon hole in the furthest corner of the guest room closet) when compared to more pressing issues that have had to pause because of the 700 billion dollar mortgage crisis.
Realistically and comparatively to priorities, it's more for the reason that American's could care less about anything else at this point.
With all these delays, life couldn't be sweeter for the recording industry and Sound Exchange, who have had all the opportunities in the world to strategize and re-strategize it's efforts of holding together, the unbelievable large royalty percentage imposed on internet radio. This more than likely puts the internet radio industry at the mercy of a totally new line up in Washington.
The whole story began in Washington and ends in Washington. Who do you currently have faith in there to proceed with anything?
Friday, September 12, 2008
Why Should It Matter If McCain Sends Emails?
The latest Barack Obama attack ad is trying to focus on John McCain being a "computer illiterate" and how important that in this day and age that a leader should have thorough knowledge of the internet from blogging, emails, OS and IM to be effective. Am I to be so impressed that a candidate that can master "geek-speak" can harness the massive affairs of the free world? (I don't believe I've seen Mark Cuban on the ticket.)
My instant response to that is, if that's the case Sen.Obama, do you have thorough knowledge of the operation of military aircraft?...Or for that matter, an aircraft carrier?..Or for that matter, an entire naval fleet? How about staring the enemy in the eye? That means more to me in a commander-in-chief than for someone who can just set up a MySpace page.
My instant response to that is, if that's the case Sen.Obama, do you have thorough knowledge of the operation of military aircraft?...Or for that matter, an aircraft carrier?..Or for that matter, an entire naval fleet? How about staring the enemy in the eye? That means more to me in a commander-in-chief than for someone who can just set up a MySpace page.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Phoenix, AZ You're IT!
It's back! After a summer hiatus the featured city/state of the week has returned to to The Nation page on our GUS.FM website. We're proud to roll the new version out with eyes on Phoenix, AZ!
If you're a regular and you've tracked the week to week focus, what you will find is that it's not much different, but we wanted to remain a bit more relevant to the music. That's the general reason why you visit, right? Among other things what you will find is an embedded video that we can manage to dig up to feature either a song to a namesake, or what would really be great is if you are artist with original material that not only can get the recognition that you're looking for as well as a suggestion to what should be the next featured area.
This is also a way for you to keep up to what Wikipedia has published online about your respective zone. Since you're free to edit, you may be able to pinpoint and correct mistakes or add your own adjustment to their article. Just click on the name of the town and/or the state flag on the site.
If you're a regular and you've tracked the week to week focus, what you will find is that it's not much different, but we wanted to remain a bit more relevant to the music. That's the general reason why you visit, right? Among other things what you will find is an embedded video that we can manage to dig up to feature either a song to a namesake, or what would really be great is if you are artist with original material that not only can get the recognition that you're looking for as well as a suggestion to what should be the next featured area.
This is also a way for you to keep up to what Wikipedia has published online about your respective zone. Since you're free to edit, you may be able to pinpoint and correct mistakes or add your own adjustment to their article. Just click on the name of the town and/or the state flag on the site.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
GUS.FM 128kbs Server Changed
If you have the GUS.FM 128kbs Shoutcast stream bookmarked to your media player, make note that we have transitioned to a new server which is online now. You may simply go to the GUS.FM website and click on the listen link in the current song playing window which will open to the new stream address and refresh your bookmark. Or you can enter this url into your media browser:
http://67.159.44.161:8108/listen.pls
We will pull the plug on the original Shoutcast 128kbs stream on 9/1/08.
Though we have diligently made changes to all known portals, we're aware that in time there are many relays that have voluntarily, and unknown to us, picked up our webcast.
If you know of such a situation, please contact that individual service and link them back to this message, or email us at contact@gus.fm.
http://67.159.44.161:8108/listen.pls
We will pull the plug on the original Shoutcast 128kbs stream on 9/1/08.
Though we have diligently made changes to all known portals, we're aware that in time there are many relays that have voluntarily, and unknown to us, picked up our webcast.
If you know of such a situation, please contact that individual service and link them back to this message, or email us at contact@gus.fm.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Time For My Opinion on Internet Radio Royalty Rates
I'm ocassionally asked, or am forwarded news articles about the plight of the
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