KCDX: commercial free radio

May 1, 2006 11:44 AM

KCDX: Five years of non-stop rock. "There is no discipline at KCDX, where the song choices are as chaotic as a schoolyard at recess... The signal, which started broadcasting throughout central Arizona and much of Phoenix in 2002, played an eclectic mix that included hits by Huey Lewis and the News and an obscure 1971 tune about cannibalism by the Buoys. There were no commercials, no DJs, no way the station made money."
posted by rkent (29 comments total)

Long story short, from the L.A. Times story: guy makes millions buying and selling radio stations. Uploads all of his CDs to a massive digital server out in the desert, presses "shuffle," and uses an old license to broadcast it to anyone and everyone at the cost of about $200,000 per year. Fans, wanting to know what the deal is, take progressively invasive steps to the point where he's considering quitting.
posted by rkent at 11:44 AM on May 1, 2006

So the guy basically killed radio and now he's erected a memorial to it?
posted by Artw at 11:54 AM on May 1, 2006

There is no way to make people feel more entitled, and to encourage the bad behavior that accompanies that feeling, than to give something away for free. Which is too bad, because it discourages the whole 'giving things away for free' thing.
posted by tiamat at 11:55 AM on May 1, 2006

"Timothy" was hardly obscure; I believe it charted in the top 20. (And there's some speculation that the Timothy in question was a mule or other work animal.)
posted by evilcolonel at 12:05 PM on May 1, 2006

The fans aren't malicious and I think it's disingeious to consider quitting simply because it's getting a positive response from the public. If he can afford to spend 200k a year on the station, he could hire someone to run interference for him. Or alternately, he could post a FAQ on the website asking to leave him alone. I think most of the fans who want to respect him and KCDX would follow that. He just needs to address them once.
posted by clockworkjoe at 12:08 PM on May 1, 2006

thanks for the link i've enjoyed this story.
posted by zenzizi at 12:10 PM on May 1, 2006

So basically, you CAN become a millionaire from those correspondance courses, but it'll probably complicate things for you.

Riiiiight.
posted by jsavimbi at 12:13 PM on May 1, 2006

MP3 stream
WMP stream

I'm diggin' it.
posted by emelenjr at 12:14 PM on May 1, 2006

clockworkjoe, I don't know how not having published contact info isn't explicit enough already.

When you have an unlisted phone number, it doesn't mean they list you name with 'please do not call' beside it. Your privacy should not be solely determined by how hard you act to protect it.

"I think it's disingeious to consider quitting simply because it's getting a positive response from the public"

A positive response is part of it, but it goes way beyond that. People are talking about his marital status online as if it matters to them, and sometimes knocking on his door in the evening. I have a public blog and I'd hate that type of attention! I didn't get the impression he was upset about the bumper stickers and kudos, just the stalking.
posted by tiamat at 12:14 PM on May 1, 2006

I listened for about an hour. If I was driving in my car, I would have popped in a disc instead. I don't get it, other than he can.
posted by sluglicker at 12:26 PM on May 1, 2006

I seem to remember Andy Travis having nightmares about this.
posted by dreamsign at 12:34 PM on May 1, 2006

This wouldn't be necessary if 99.999999% of DJs weren't so horrible.

The website says they listen to "real listener's opinion" but I bet you ten bucks that it's just an ipod plugged into a broadcast antenna. Or whatever the professional equivalent of an ipod is.
posted by blacklite at 12:41 PM on May 1, 2006

I am enjoying the stream (so far).
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 12:45 PM on May 1, 2006

Uh, as of right now it's playing eight days a week. This is a missing piece of rock history?
posted by phrontist at 12:47 PM on May 1, 2006

I have a large CD collection (2000+) and even more mp3s, and nothing is more dull than hitting shuffle when playing them. I'd much rather play something that matches my mood. when it comes to listening to a radio station, I'd rather listen to something where some thought has been put into why certain songs are played. The effect of hitting shuffle in a significantly large collection is generally quite jarring and interesting in a "hey, I never thought of hearing those songs back to back" novelty sort of way.

There's plenty of decent DJs, or at least there used to be, before the stations became completely programmed in advance. He could hire a single DJ or programmer from a college for a lot less than he's spending on the license. He could even set it up like KFAI as a community station.

He's probably only doing it to keep the license viable until he can offload it.
posted by inthe80s at 12:49 PM on May 1, 2006

I remember seeing a story about this a few years ago.

It was much more remarkable before stuff like iPods and "JACK FM" started happening.
posted by First Post at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2006

This is a good post, thanks for letting us know.

If KCDX doesn't float your boat, another alternative is Radio Paradise. They're extremely eclectic, playing everything from Johnny Cash to Jesus and Mary Chain to Peter Gabriel, often inside two hours. But somehow, the transitions are never jarring. It's not just an iPod on 'shuffle'.

Their front-page link has been troublesome for me in the past, but if you look at the "Listening Choices and Help" page (the link is under the clickable list of formats on the left) they have firewall-friendly links buried in there. And I see they just added 192Kbit MP3 on that page, which kicks ass... that'd probably sound better than FM.

They live on donations, so if you like them, please chip in. Webcasting RIAA music is _extremely_ expensive on a per-listener basis. I don't listen that heavily, so I kick in 25 bucks once a quarter or so. (And I'm not affiliated with them, beyond listening and liking them enough to send money.)

I've heard about another good stream with Tokyo in the name, but I can't think of it right now. Maybe someone else remembers?
posted by Malor at 1:11 PM on May 1, 2006

It's better than Jack FM, though (at least the Jack FM-type station in Richmond, VA) The playlist on Liberty 98.9 may be larger, but it still repeats songs within a day or two. And I don't the answer to "what's wrong with radio?" involves more hair bands from the 80s.
posted by emelenjr at 1:17 PM on May 1, 2006

I dunno, inthe80s, my favorite way of playing music is the "shuffle across all tracks" mode.
posted by Bugbread at 1:47 PM on May 1, 2006

I've been listening on the mp3 link, and it's not terrible. I suppose that were I in the broadcast area it would rate one of my presets.
Listening on-line, however, it pales in comparison to the mighty WFMU. http://www.wfmu.org
There you will find startling eclecticism, with a point. The DJs are given free reign to play whatever strikes their fancy and, because they are all volunteers, they are driven by nothing but the love of their music (from the latest as yet unnamed genre of club music to one-of-a-kind wax cylinders from the dawn of the last century) and the desire to share it with any and all who will listen.
One of the most important aspects of WFMU is their incredible archives. Once you find a DJ whose sensibility aligns with your own there are often two to three years of archived broadcasts available on demand. With many of the shows offering playlists (some even with clickable links to every song played) it is an astounding musical resource. There is a search engine that allows you to look up a song by title and/or artist(s) with links to shows on which it/they were played.
There are multiple streams (Realplayer, Windows Media Player, OggVorbis) and a great blog as well.
Plus, they don't take money from The Man. They are entirely listener supported.
Well worth checking out.
Keep 'em Flyin'!
Listener # 2174
posted by Listener_T at 2:01 PM on May 1, 2006

I don't think there would have been any stalking if he provided some outlet for the public to show their appreciation. When presented with such an enigma, it is extremely probable that a few people will try to solve it, even if it results in knocking on someone's front door. How many times have we puzzled or tried to track down the story behind some elusive web site or mystery?
posted by clockworkjoe at 2:03 PM on May 1, 2006

Hey, I resemble that callsign.
posted by kcds at 2:58 PM on May 1, 2006

I don't know what y'all are bitching about. When I listen to my ipod I almost always have it on shuffle.

And I like this station because it's a lot of the old classic rock, which I sort of like, but don't have any cd's of. Mostly because if I've got a choice between a Wet Wille album and Bjork I'm usually going to pick up the second.

I mean, I may be sick of "Radar Love" after hearing it for 30 years, but it's still damn good rock.
posted by nyxxxx at 3:09 PM on May 1, 2006

I'm enjoying the stream—thanks, emelenjr!
posted by languagehat at 3:36 PM on May 1, 2006

I'd love to be able to take credit for it, languagehat, but I got the links off the web site. Just thought it would be helpful to post them here.
posted by emelenjr at 5:23 PM on May 1, 2006

That station is a strange phenomenon that I've always wondered about. I'm looking forward to reading the article in a sec, because it really has been mystery to us here in PHX.
posted by ph00dz at 7:44 PM on May 1, 2006

the coverage of KCDX
posted by zenzizi at 8:35 PM on May 1, 2006

I second Malor's Radio Paradise suggestion. I probably listen to that an average of 30 hours a week, if not more. And because it's so easy to find out what I'm listening to, I buy a lot more music because of it.

I should go give them some more money. I'd be extremely sad if it went away.
posted by flaterik at 11:39 PM on May 1, 2006

It's not that bad, but seriously:

10:02 am - Marshall Tucker Band - Take The Highway
10:08 am - Steve Miller Band - Space Intro-Fly Like An Eagle
10:13 am - Steve Winwood - Split Decision
10:19 am - Creedence Clearwater Revival - Sweet Hitch-Hiker
10:22 am - Loggins & Messina - My Music
10:25 am - Billy Squier - My Kinda Lover

It is kinda hard to call that playlist "those missing pieces of Rock and Roll history." Although I admit I'm enjoying Billy Idol - Hot In The City, currently playing.
posted by illovich at 10:31 AM on May 2, 2006