IAIB vs. All Access

[offtheairlive]

I have to say, from the little time I've been on the iaib board, I've already noticed a huge difference from this community, and the community of traditional radio people posting on the all access board.

To sum it up, most everyone there is negative and sour about the industry which is completely understandable with the constant downsizing, but nobody is doing anything to be proactive about changing the game. They complain about crap wages, voice tracking, and awful PD's, yet the second they see a job opening for some Afternoon Drive in Tulsa, they're begging like dogs for the chance to continue to be unhappy.

Now take the world of internet broadcasting. Everyone that I've had interactions with have been really positive about it even though there's little money in it yet. We're taking the initiative to make radio fun again, even though it's an uphill battle to convince people that it's just as legitimate as terrestrial.

That being said. There's been an opening for a morning show co-host position at the radio cluster I work at. It's a pretty sweet gig too and I'd have a pretty decent chance getting the job if I really wanted it.

But I don't. I don't want to be a part of the problem. I don't want to sell myself out and be able to talk but not really speak my mind.

I realized that my unpaid podcasting venture is my baby and my first priority.

That's the kind of person I am, and I think a lot of you are too. That's why internet radio will win. It'll be a battle, no doubt, but we'll win it.

[Spencer Kobren]

Great post Cody! We do what we do because we love it. If someone is simply looking for a “job” in radio then Internet Broadcasting is NOT for them. It takes passion and commitment and a real love for the game to succeed in this field and I think this community, while new, illustrates the drive that IAIB members have to evolve this industry.

[mcphillips]

Good post, Cody. Regarding radio, it beats working for a living. However, the passion is gone from the industry, just as you said. It's too bad, too.

[brianmonroe]

Cody,

Great post! As a listener, I can totally tell that the industry has lost it's passon a long time ago. Now it is all about jamming as many ads in people ears as possible and being as annoying as possible. Not about providing good content and being entertaining. Internet Broadcasting or IB as I like to call it, is the exact opposite. You have some really passionate people doing it along with some really resourceful people looking to maximize every last $ or £ they can to put on the best broadcast they can.

Not only that but they are years ahead of the traditional media when it coms to interactivity with their listeners and building communities. Most traditional media just churns out shows and really does not interact with their listeners. If they do it normally is with just some call in type of show. Many of them are not using Twitter, Facebook, Message Forums, Chat Rooms and twitcams. If they are, they still are just using them as an announce only medium.

[Jadori]

I would like to disagree to a certain exception. For example, I know some people in the radio industry who have tired to be innovative and are nice as well but because of the people in control they want all of their personalities to fit into a certain stereotype. There are some indie stations who play different genres of music and care about the community but I will have to agree that community radio is greatly dissolving.

I would like to be able to balance in both worlds because I love being on the radio as well as a being a podcaster. The more that I learn the longer career I will be able to have.

[brianmonroe]

Jadori,

Just to be clear, my issue with the traditional media is NOT with the front line techs and talent as I know many of them are hard working people, it is with the people that run the stations and make the decisions as they are getting greedy in pushing for more Ad's. Also, many of them really do not get the new social and interactive world that us Internet Broadcasters are using to build loyal followers.

At this time, for many traditional broadcasters, it does make sense to be in both camps so that they do not need to give up their paychecks that they are getting from the traditional media, but they can start to build their own independent brand in the Internet Broadcasters space along with do shows that they really do want to do but would not be allowed to do on the old media. As an example of how this can work, there is obviously Leo Laporte, He does his weekend radio show and then he has other shows he does on his own TWiT network that may not have enough of an audience for the radio. I am sure that the money he gets from doing the radio show lets him have the freedom to try things in the Internet Broadcasting space.