KEXP Loses New Studio Funding, Gets Half of It Back

Wow. $15,000,000.....Them's gonna be some SWEET digs....

http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/sl...adds-it-back-in-at-only-half-the-money-needed

They're also going to have on-site showering and laundry facilities for touring bands. Which is actually a pretty good idea, those vans can smell pretty rank after a week.

https://newhome.kexp.org/kexps-new-home/

The state funding is a small percentage, and I doubt it will be used for the luxuries. Just the basics. The more luxurious facilities will be sponsored with donors getting naming rights. NPR has a similar studio in Washington, Minnesota Public Radio has a similar studio in St. Paul, and several other non-commercial ventures have performance rooms. Most major market Clear Channel stations have performance studios at their stations. Sirius has about a half dozen of them around the country, including a very large facility at Lincoln Center in New York. To me, it's a throwback to the way radio was done in the 30s.

A waste of taxpayers' money, and we should consider this when the elections come. How can this be justified? Even $1,000,000?? Give me a million and I'll totally rebuild my six-station digs with change left over. If private donors are silly enough to spend their money on such extravagance, okay, but don't take my hard-earned money!

bossbill said:

Give me a million and I'll totally rebuild my six-station digs with change left over.

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Change your station from commercial to non-commercial, operate as a charity, go through the application process, and you'll qualify. Otherwise, you don't.

This station is providing a service that you'd never do because your advertisers would drop you.

bossbill said:

A waste of taxpayers' money, and we should consider this when the elections come. How can this be justified? Even $1,000,000?? Give me a million and I'll totally rebuild my six-station digs with change left over. If private donors are silly enough to spend their money on such extravagance, okay, but don't take my hard-earned money!

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Exactly what I was thinking. Why do they even get a dime of taxpayer funding?

landtuna said:

How can a radio station, any radio station non-com or not, be considered a "charity"?

Non-commercial I get. Charity I don't.

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I don't understand your issue. They operate mostly on donations, right? They provide services that most commercial operations don't or won't, right?

If you look into this particular radio station, it operates mostly as an art institution, like a museum, and co-operates with other area arts and cultural institutions. Their new studios will be in Seattle's arts center. They may use radio as their medium, but they operate like a charity.

I have no quarrel with non-comms, I just don't understand why any single station would need $15 million funding for new studios, and why I should have to foot part of the bill. And the non-comms do take money for advertising, err... "underwriting" announcements. They get special rates from the music licensing organizations as well.

bossbill said:

A waste of taxpayers' money, and we should consider this when the elections come. How can this be justified? Even $1,000,000?? Give me a million and I'll totally rebuild my six-station digs with change left over. If private donors are silly enough to spend their money on such extravagance, okay, but don't take my hard-earned money!

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Gotta agree with you Bill. It's interesting how taxpayers all around the state are funding a tunnel that the majority of Washingtonians wont use, and a radio station that the majority could care less about.

It seems like KEXP could easily broadcast out of a much cheaper warehouse somewhere and still provide the same quality of programming. Does a state of the art facility make it better to their listeners?

TheBigA said:

I don't understand your issue. They operate mostly on donations, right? They provide services that most commercial operations don't or won't, right?

If you look into this particular radio station, it operates mostly as an art institution, like a museum, and co-operates with other area arts and cultural institutions. Their new studios will be in Seattle's arts center. They may use radio as their medium, but they operate like a charity.

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Have you seen the television program "KEXP live"? It looks like they've got some real "art" going on there. Its sort of like walking into an art museum to view a wheelbarrow full of plastic water bottles.

Perhaps this will help explain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e96lbFiG_k8

bossbill said:

I just don't understand why any single station would need $15 million funding for new studios, and why I should have to foot part of the bill.

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I don't have any kids going through school, yet I foot the bill for everyone else's kids. That doesn't seem fair either. But that's just how it goes. We live in a country where "we the people" fund a lot of things. One of those things is public broadcasting. It may seem silly to you, but these public stations do a lot of things for the state and its people that you'd never even think of doing. That's what your money funds. They applied for the money, and got it. But they've already raised almost $9 million of the $15 million. They really don't need your money. Obviously they have a very special relationship with their community.

Since you live in the state, you might sniff around and try to find their grant application. Maybe you'll find out specifically what your tax dollar will fund. My guess is it's for a community center or educational facility within the station. And I'm sure there are strings attached, as there usually are with government funds.

fordranger797 said:

Does a state of the art facility make it better to their listeners?

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If the listeners didn't want it, they wouldn't have already contributed almost $9 million. So obviously the listeners want it.

landtuna said:

How does a radio station (or art center) provide essential services to anyone?

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You've heard of "public interest, convenience, and necessity?" Seems like every radio station is supposed to provide essential services.

But maybe the problem is my choice of words. I used charity because they beg for money. That's what charities do. They live off donations. But if you don't like the word, find another one.

landtuna said:

How does a radio station (or art center) provide essential services to anyone?

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Earth without art is just "eh".

The arts ARE an essential service. Just like education. And it's tax money well spent. Keeps the imagination alive. Otherwise, an artless place looks like a supermax prison. Or a highway full of billboards.

KEXP and their ilk specializes in the audio arts. And some of the music is pretty far out (culture jamming groups like Negativland and The Evolution Control Committee to acts just bubbling under the mainstream like Courtney Barnett and Sufjan Stevens to old and obscure music and recordings of all sorts.) And stations like KEXP have their place on the dial.

But every now and then, I still miss punky little KCMU.....

fordranger797 said:

Gotta agree with you Bill. It's interesting how taxpayers all around the state are funding a tunnel that the majority of Washingtonians wont use, and a radio station that the majority could care less about.

It seems like KEXP could easily broadcast out of a much cheaper warehouse somewhere and still provide the same quality of programming. Does a state of the art facility make it better to their listeners?

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I think they were a better station when they were KCMU and were operating out of a converted classroom in one of the buildings in the UW.

fordranger797 said:

It seems like KEXP could easily broadcast out of a much cheaper warehouse somewhere and still provide the same quality of programming. Does a state of the art facility make it better to their listeners?

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That's actually a good point. My experience has been that stations who's facilities and location are make-do, seem to be hungrier and more eager than after they move into a nicer, more expensive location. Something about losing the edge.

As a wise-GM once told me; "Remember, this is radio. No listeners care about what the station looks like inside, only that it functions properly to their expectations." That being said, I don't think one needs to spend 9+Million to meet that particular expectation.

Kelly A said:

That being said, I don't think one needs to spend 9+Million to meet that particular expectation.

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On the other hand, if one intends to be a public institution, why not aim higher? We're not talking about a traditional radio station here.

Consider our arts institutions. Carnegie Hall. Lincoln Center. National Gallery of Art. No need to be in beautiful marble edifice.

Once again, their members have raised this money, so obviously they see the difference, even if you don't.

landtuna said:

bwa haaaaa haaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

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To you, it's a big joke. Some radio stations don't share your sense of humor.

And what's important to note is they've built a community that is willing to support them financially. Not many other radio stations can make that claim.

This might be an indication of what happens when you take your listeners seriously, and not just as something to sell to advertisers.

I would think that you of all people would have an appreciation for what they're doing in Seattle. Wouldn't it be nice if someone in Phoenix did the same thing? Just a thought....