A fond farewell to 94.1 The Edge…
You might have heard. Maybe not. On Monday, when you’re in the Lansing area, and you flip to 94.1 on your FM dial, you’ll be listening to the sweet sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, and other “classic country” on “94.1 Duke FM”.
Truth be told, I’m really bummed. Some of our best friends in this “business” are our buddies over at 94.1. I’m going to keep referring to it as “94.1 The Edge” instead of “94.1 Alternative Radio” or “94.1 WVIC”, because while they changed branding quite a few times, they’re always going to be The Edge to me. I can remember when I was a teenager, in the late 90s (shit, I’m old), growing up on alternative and grunge like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I had three options. 89X played some of that stuff, WRIF mixed it in with AC/DC and whatever, and then I was in the western end of Livingston County, I could barely get in this cool station called “The Edge” that played every single song that I wanted to hear. Those were different times, when radio (and MTV) was how you discovered new music. There was no Spotify. Napster wasn’t a thing yet. It’s probably how the big corporations liked it. The major labels had control, and the major radio conglomerates were in on it too, and both made lots and lots of money.
Fast forward to 2015, and most of us with an internet connection can listen to whatever we want, whenever we want. Spotify gives us just about every record we’ve ever wanted, at our fingertips. No more waiting for the radio stations to serve us what we like.
So because of that, radio has changed. Terrestrial radio has struggled to stay relevant, and as such, I believe that they’re circling the wagons, trying to keep their way of life intact. It’s hard to work in an industry that’s behind the times, on the verge of being extinct. While the younger generations flock to Spotify and XM and iTunes, there’s still a generation that’s listening to the radio. My parents don’t have Spotify. They don’t own an iPod. I’m not saying that all of their generation is doing the same, but I’m sure the demographics on radio would play this out.
Not only are listeners trending older, but I’m sure advertisers are as well. We spent a decent amount of money on radio advertising over the past five years, but ONLY on shows that featured acts that were played on radio. Otherwise, we spend our advertising dollars on Facebook, Twitter, and other online outlets. And we, the younger generation, are the ones that are listening to alternative radio. It’s like newspapers. We’re not spending advertising money in print publications. But the older generations still are, so those publications (and successful radio stations) need to tailor their content to that demographic.
This is not a Lansing thing. You guys supported the station, and they put out a great product. We all probably could have done better, but across the nation, alternative stations are disappearing. It’s only a matter of time before it disappears as an FM format almost entirely. We used to know who Matt Pinfield was. We used to listen to the alternative station for what the next hot rock band was. Now, we turn to Twitter, to our Facebook feed, to Spotify playlists and YouTube and everything BUT radio.
So we say goodbye. It’s incredibly sad to announce, but last weekend’s show with J Roddy Walston and the Business at the Loft was our last with 94.1. We might find a way to work with the country station at some point, but in its current format, this weekend will be the end.
We want to very publicly show our appreciation for our friends Scott, Melik, Span, Jay, Sandra, Clark, Parker, and of course, Fusion’s favorite hug artist, Mars. Through the ups and downs, the folks over at that station were among my favorite people to work with, and we have an awful lot of memories. So instead of lamenting the fact that we’re not going to be able to do that anymore (at least not in the same way), let’s celebrate what we’ve done together in Lansing. And besides, we’ll still have their support from Q106, from the new country station, and from them as friends and part our little family.
I thought it might be fun to post all the shows we’ve done with 94.1 over the years, as a little trip down memory lane. Reblog and tell your own stories! 2011 11/13 AWOLNATION 12/17 The Parlor Mob / IAMDYNAMITE
2012 5/22 Neon Trees 6/15 Anberlin 7/17 Electric Guest 9/8 Wombats 9/22 Mutemath 9/24 Foxy Shazam 10/8 Henry Rollins 10/12 IAMDYNAMITE 10/27 Flobots 11/10 Matisyahu 12/2 Youngblood Hawke 12/3 Walk The Moon 2013 2/2 Frontier Ruckus 2/12 Twenty One Pilots 4/8 The Joy Formidable 4/11 Family of the Year / The Mowgli’s 4/20 Anberlin 4/24 New Politics 7/2 Middle Class Rut 7/15 Youngblood Hawke 7/22 Fastball 9/5 Robert DeLong 9/15 IAMDYNAMITE 9/16 Airborne Toxic Event 10/17 Electric Six 10/22 Needtobreathe 11/7 Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers 11/13 J Roddy Walston and the Business 11/22 X Ambassadors 2014 1/22 Man Man 2/7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 3/1 The Unlikely Candidates 4/8 Sleeper Agent 4/11 Skaters 4/13 Dan Croll 5/13 Morning Parade 6/23 Kongos 7/15 New Politics 9/3 The Griswolds 9/16 Young Rising Sons 9/30 Bear Hands 10/12 Airborne Toxic Event 10/18 Local H 11/8 Knox Hamilton 2015 3/1 Catfish and the Bottlemen 3/7 J Roddy Walston and the Business
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
