return void;

When I arrived in Los Angeles just over a year ago, I thought I had escaped terrestrial radio hell. I was no longer subjected to the limited play list of 102.1 “The Edge”, and was exposed to new artists I may have not have had an opportunity to hear (unless they suddenly became trendy like MIA, MGMT, or Death Cab for Cutie). I have to thank Indie 103.1 for constructing a dynamic playlist which included new artists and fresh tracks and played them on air much to my delight.

It was one year ago Rolling Stone magazine named them Best Radio Station.

Much to my dismay, I turned on my radio to hear Tejano music emitting from my speakers… “This can’t be right… no! No! NO!” I yelled into the empty air. I went to their webpage to get answers to find the following message:

“Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option — to play the corporate radio game.
We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the sound, spirit, and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves and take an alternative course. ”

I have to respect their willingness to stick to their values and tell corporate media moguls “Fuck You!”. My understanding is that this has happened before, and they’ve returned after a long hiatus. I hope their return will come sooner rather than later. Well, they haven’t gone away completely, they’re just broadcasting on the internet.

Thankfully I still have an opportunity to listen to Gary Calamar and Morning Becomes Electic on my NPR affiliate kcrw. Never the less, indie you will be missed.