Can you still get BM EZ Music??

[bmfan101]

Hello Folks
I need some direction. I am an avid fan of the BM/EZ format that was popular on radio stations from days gone by.
Strangely I am 26 years old and I missed a lot of this music because most of the BM stations were on the way out by the time I really started listening to radio. I have fell in love with this music over the past few years.

I listen to the few remaining stations over the net... but i cant take the internet with me everywhere and I am wanting to start my own personal collection of music. However, I don't know exactly where to buy this music from? How can I purchase this music? Would most of the stuff even be available these days? I know there use to be syndicators that would deliver the music to stations on reel to reel and what not. I would love to start my own personal collection. If anyone has some advice on how you got started with your collection of beautiful music I would love to hear your story.
Thanks

 

[Nick Gerard]

Sign up for a Yahoo account, go to groups.yahoo.com and join the group called beautifulinstrumentals (one word without a space). You'll meet dozens of people who share your interest and can answer your questions.

Nick Summers

 

[Nashsound]

they actually changed the name to beautifulInstrumentalsandVocals a while back..I'm in the group, and there are many great folks there, including some programmers and composers ( Stu Phillips, composer for the Hollyridge Strings albums as well as original Battlestar Galactica soundtrack is a member); there actually is alot of music you can download, and check out Starborne productions, who has compilation CDs of some od the custom music recorded by the syndicators. the group appreciate new members, especially younger folks...
as for me, I worked at a Bm/ez station in high school in the 70's, and following a few format changes, I was able to salvage about 1/2 the library from the dumpster. Have fun.

 

[Bongwater]

It even exists on the radio. Though you'll have to go someplace with a high concentration of senior citizens to get this over the air.

Such as Jacksonville, Florida (WKTZ 90.9 FM)

http://wktz.jones.edu/

...or Prescott, Arizona (KAHM 102.1 FM)

http://www.kahm.info

But you can listen online too......

 

[ddsparxx]

Another B/EZ station I know of is WMUU in Greenville, SC, though it switches to religious programming at nights.

 

[passtheword]

I've been compiling a list of streaming beautiful music stations for a while now. Here is the list thus far:


Airstream FM (128k)
http://www.airstreamfm.com

AOL Radio: Beautiful Music (128k)
http://player.radio.com/player/AOLPlayer.php?

Beautiful Instrumentals (32k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/bofbm

Beautiful Music Memories (96k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/lightandeasy

Beautiful Music Radio - 100+ (56k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/beautiful100

Beautiful Music Stereo - Live365 VIP Only (96k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/beautifulstereo

CrystalRadio.ca (192k)
http://www.crystalradio.ca

DreamRadio.ca (128k)
http://dreamradio.ca/custom/players/orpanc

Easy Listening Stereo (56k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/ryanmary

Easy Living Radio (16k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/ryanjames

Gaslight Revue (24k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/gaslight_revue

HometownRadio.us: Smooth & Easy (128k)
http://www.hometownradio.us/modules.php?name=ShoutCast_Module_Smooth_Easy

Instrumental Breezes (64k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/vgroove

KAHM: Prescott, AZ "Calm" (32k)
http://www.kahm.info/kahm.php

KHOY: Laredo, TX (24k)
http://www.khoy.org

KLUX: Robstown (Corpus Christi), TX (64k)
http://www.klux.org

KNCT: Killeen, TX (64k)
http://www.knct.org/knctfm.htm

KWXY: Cathedral City (Palm Springs), CA (32k)
http://player.streamtheworld.com/liveplayer.php?CALLSIGN=KWXYAM

Radio X T Z: Indianapolis, IN (96k MP3/64k OGG)
http://www.radioxtz.com

Sunny Instrumentals - Live365 VIP Only (32k)
http://www.live365.com/stations/talento_regio

The Breeze (32k)
http://www.thebreez.com

WGCY: Gibson City, IL (32k)
http://www.wgcyradio.com

WHLC: Highlands, NC (32k)
http://streamer3.securenetsystems.net/whlc

WKTZ: Jacksonville, FL (32k)
http://wktz.jones.edu

 

[vchimpanzee]

Another B/EZ station I know of is WMUU in Greenville, SC, though it switches to religious programming at nights.

Also, a lot of what they play that isn't religious sounds like classical. Though the highbrow types who say every symphony should be played in its entirety would likely turn up their noses at it.

Oh, and they still quote scripture and otherwise remind you why they do what they do even when the music isn't religious.

 

[ronald54321]

Terrestrial radio is through as far as I'm concerned. With all the good BM stations, and other good formats, on the internet, AM and FM are beneath contempt. If it has call letters, it's evil!

 

[passtheword]

Hello Folks
I need some direction. I am an avid fan of the BM/EZ format that was popular on radio stations from days gone by.
Strangely I am 26 years old and I missed a lot of this music because most of the BM stations were on the way out by the time I really started listening to radio. I have fell in love with this music over the past few years.

I listen to the few remaining stations over the net... but i cant take the internet with me everywhere and I am wanting to start my own personal collection of music. However, I don't know exactly where to buy this music from? How can I purchase this music? Would most of the stuff even be available these days? I know there use to be syndicators that would deliver the music to stations on reel to reel and what not. I would love to start my own personal collection. If anyone has some advice on how you got started with your collection of beautiful music I would love to hear your story.
Thanks

Here is my updated list of beautiful music stations streaming online. With internet radio being mobile, we have the ability to take this music with us "on the go". I listen to internet-based beautiful music stations every day on my smartphone while I'm driving and/or away from a wifi connection.

http://ezradio.info/stations.html

 

[kevtronics]

Many of the easy listening instrumentals that Bonneville Radio commissioned back in the '80s have in the past few years been released online for streaming and download. Those were done when most of the big-name easy-listening artists had retired, and in order to keep the format alive with new instrumental versions of then-current pop hits, radio station owners had to start arranging and recording it on their own, usually done in Europe by pickup orchestras.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Many of the easy listening instrumentals that Bonneville Radio commissioned back in the '80s have in the past few years been released online for streaming and download. Those were done when most of the big-name easy-listening artists had retired, and in order to keep the format alive with new instrumental versions of then-current pop hits, radio station owners had to start arranging and recording it on their own, usually done in Europe by pickup orchestras.

That is incorrect.

Bonneville, Shulke and the Independent Beautiful Music Alliance (EZ Communications, Kala-Music, WDVR, etc.) did custom productions in Europe in order to be able to get familiar titles from US pop music in instrumental form. Either they found that no orchestra had recorded a particular hit song, or they found the version that was available was, for one reason or another (too "hard" or a jarring change of tempo during the tune, etc) unusable.

The main idea was to have "exclusive" cuts of familiar American hit songs. There was plenty of Beautiful Music recording well into the 80's, yet those syndicators had been doing exclusive cuts since the mid-70's. I joined the Alliance for my Musica en Flor Latin American syndicated service in the early 80's and found it very useful in convincing subscribers that they could not get that music anywhere else.

Each syndicator in the Alliance as well as Shulke (SRP) and Bonneville put a generic name on the orchestras. But they were mostly highly recognizable permanent orchestras that did work for the BBC, motion picture soundtracks, commercials and the like all over Europe as well as releasing albums for that part of the world. They were hardly "pickup" orchestras, unless you consider Norrie Paramour, Syd Dayle, Anthony Ventura, Roberto Delgado, Alan Tew and the like to be in that category.

But, at the same time, orchestras like Caravelli, Pourcel, James Last and Muriat were still churning out albums and new artists like Clayderman, Goya and Borelly were selling as much as pop artists in Europe... but they did songs that were unfamiliar to Americans even if they were huge hits in Europe.