This is so depressing.  Where FM radio used to be a place for renegades and rebels it is now owned by huge corporations that control what music is played, what the DJs say.  As if we aren't taxed to the hilt for everything else.

Tom Petty has a great album called The Last DJ.

The US govt views the FM, AM, UHF, and VHF bands as "public airwaves." It's not possible to tax someone for listening to something on airwaves that are viewed as being "free?" You can't control who gets access to public airwaves, unlike satellite and cable.

What the govt wants to do is "tax" (I disagree with the word tax here but everyone is using it so I'll stick with it) RADIO STATIONS (not the people). And you can probably blame some singers for this too (see USA Today article). It's called The Performance Rights Act. Here's some links:

USA TODAY

NATIONAL JOURNAL

BIZ JOURNAL

Govt is trying to make sure that the performers get their fair share (LOL!). Satellite, Internet Radio, and cable already pay this performance "tax."

Jordan .

Fantastic album. Sad to listen to and think about, but a fantastic album nonetheless.

I mostly listen to a radio station that I love that is out on the Mendocino coast. They're fully owned and operated by the staff, and they play an incredible variety of good music. I'm thankful that they had the foresight to start streaming themselves a number of years back because they're one of the only non-corporate radio stations I have access to where I'm at. Everything else is corporate shit like ClearChannel.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

I always listen to the college radio station from the University of Iowa.  The broadcast range is small though so if I get 15 miles out of town it won't come in anymore.  Clearchannel owns about everything here too.

On the Tom Petty doc Running Down a Dream he talks about how corporate radio has become for a minute.  He was saying that after 9/11 there was a banned song list put out and John Lennon's Imagine was on it.  Guess Bush isn't down for peace and unity.

http://www.freemuse.org/sw21095.asp

Jordan .