[JPL] Airplay Ethics Question

Sun Apr 26 12:35:15 EDT 2009

That's always a dilemma Tom. I didn't play my music the first five years I was hosting my show. Didn't have the guts to...even when listeners kept asking me to. Finally one day my boss at that time... and the one that hired me...said that it would bring an interesting kind of credibility to my show. She was very tuned in to educational presentations and always wanted me to open up more about the music on air. She looked at it as a plus that I was a also a musician. So I started to incorporate some of my music into the program. It turned out being a good thing for my show and I base this on the number of pledges we get for my CD's during the drives. Our new concert DVD was the second highest grossing program for the spring TV fundraiser.  

I'm very careful though in how much I play. Usually if we're doing a concert locally or the release is new or for our fundraisers I'll play more but otherwise very little.

The down side is that it potentially opens you up to criticism and as we all know there are plenty of critics in jazz...even when the criticism makes little sense. There won't be much of it though particularly if the music is good. At the beginning when I played my music some musicians felt it was giving me an unfair advantage in self promotion...completely ignoring the fact that I play their's too and even more than I play mine. And of course if their music isn't selling or folks aren't coming out to see them...it's our fault because we're not playing or promoting their music enough. The reasoning couldn't possibly be because no one wants to buy their music or come to see them play. Right. I've also noticed that most of the critics will listen to you but won't give you a dime when it comes fundraiser time but they want and actually expect things from us. For the most part the criticism comes from places that don't matter anyway and there wasn't much of
 it. Constructive and intelligent criticism is always welcomed though but that too is rare in jazz. HOpe that helps. 

Jae Sinnett     

--- On Sun, 4/26/09, Tom Bingham <mason2042 at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Tom Bingham <mason2042 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [JPL] Airplay Ethics Question
> To: "Jazz Programmers Mailing List" <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
> Date: Sunday, April 26, 2009, 11:18 AM
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> 
> I have a question regarding the ethics of my giving airplay
> to playing a CD
> in which I have some small involvement. Since there are
> DJ's on this list
> who are also musicians with their own CD's and other DJ's
> who are also
> involved in radio promotion, I'm sure some of you have
> encountered this
> dilemma before - if indeed it is dilemma.
> 
> The student-run big band, the Fredonia Jazz Ensemble, is
> about to release a
> new CD. I happen to be one of the Faculty Advisers for the
> band (the other
> being ex-Ferguson, ex-Herman bari saxman Bruce Johnstone,
> who guest solos on
> the CD). This is a voluntary, unpaid position, which
> essentially amounts to
> affixing my signature to purchase orders, rehearsal room
> reservation slips,
> etc. (In other words, I have no creative input into the
> music, personnel
> matters, etc.) I also contributed the liner notes to the
> new CD, for which I
> donated my services. In other hands, I have no monetary
> involvement in this
> project, and do not stand to make any financial gain from
> it.
> 
> Given these circumstances, are there any ethical problems
> involved with my
> spinning a track or two from the CD on "General Eclectic"?
> Or am I creating
> a quandary for myself where none exists? Any responses will
> be very much
> appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> -- 
> Tom Bingham
> "General Eclectic"
> WCVF-FM
> 115 McEwen Hall
> SUNY Fredonia
> Fredonia, NY 14063
> USA
> http://genecdvd.blogspot.com
> http://blog.myspace.com/mason2042 - "General Eclectic"
> playlist archive
> --
> 
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