WOXY Is On The Move

[alternachild]

Originally Posted by Unrequited

I think the number of people who do is miniscule relative to the total population. WOXY has a devoted, cult base in Cincinnati. But, it's a city loaded with more people who listen to WLW and WEBN.

I understand why Cincinnati listeners might be a little bitter at first, but let's be realistic.

Talking about the total population is irrelevant. We're talkinga bout a cult base attending select shows in the area. That's like saying people who shop at Park + Vine are relatively few compared to the city population. Yet if they abandoned their longstanding commitment to the city (yes, THIS CITY) to go where more money is (perhaps it would be locating closer to a producer or key distribution center), that would also be a slap in the face to their long devoted base here in the city.

We can search for silly "look on the bright side" anecdotes or stupid comparisons but it's pointless. "Oh, look on the bright side, they'll be one number off from our area code here"....seriously? Sometimes I wonder if WOXY fans will ever change their opinion, as the station is ever-changing and never the same as when you fell in love with it.

Long-distance relationships aren't healthy anyway...

[shivvy]

Originally Posted by alternachild

Sometimes I wonder if WOXY fans will ever change their opinion, as the station is ever-changing and never the same as when you fell in love with it.

If I may continue to play devil's advocate, I can GUARANTEE that there were people who started listening to the station in 1983 who felt the same way by the time you started listening and fell in love with it. It has always evolved and will always continue to adapt. That's part of being the FUTURE of rock and roll.

[jesse]

Originally Posted by shivvy

If I may continue to play devil's advocate, I can GUARANTEE that there were people who started listening to the station in 1983 who felt the same way by the time you started listening and fell in love with it. It has always evolved and will always continue to adapt. That's part of being the FUTURE of rock and roll.

Blunt but true.

As long as you're pumping out the good music, and don't forget your roots (er, "lose your soul"), I'm happy. There's a reason I listen to WOXY and not KEXP, yknow?

[slopechz]

Originally Posted by alternachild

Long-distance relationships aren't healthy anyway...

Seriously? I've had a long distance relationship with the station since late 2000. I know your disappointed but I think a deep cleansing breath is in order.

[falconer]

Originally Posted by alternachild

We can search for silly "look on the bright side" anecdotes or stupid comparisons but it's pointless. "Oh, look on the bright side, they'll be one number off from our area code here"....seriously? Sometimes I wonder if WOXY fans will ever change their opinion, as the station is ever-changing and never the same as when you fell in love with it.

Before you assume I'm all frivolity and smiles, I suggest you check out my first post from earlier this morning, in which I described my initial reactions -- primarily that this move is terrible for Cincinnati.

Like it or not, though, I maintain that it's a good move for WOXY.com itself; particularly, its own survival. The station is ever-changing, and I realize they can't run their whole operation with only the "cult base" a.k.a. nostalgic local listeners in mind, and no surprise, I say this as a nostalgic local listener myself. In this move, Cincinnati loses, but I think WOXY wins.

[Unrequited]

Originally Posted by alternachild

Talking about the total population is irrelevant. We're talkinga bout a cult base attending select shows in the area. That's like saying people who shop at Park + Vine are relatively few compared to the city population. Yet if they abandoned their longstanding commitment to the city (yes, THIS CITY) to go where more money is (perhaps it would be locating closer to a producer or key distribution center), that would also be a slap in the face to their long devoted base here in the city.

A cult base ain't going to pay the bills in a rapidly changing music business.

And the comparison to Park+Vine is not apt. They serve a specific geographic area. WOXY is worldwide.

[drworm8]

Originally Posted by alternachild

Long-distance relationships aren't healthy anyway...

Wouldn't say that. I've had a pretty good one with WOXY for almost a decade. So have a lot of people. Never been to Ohio in my life.

Cincy had 97X. The world has WOXY.COM. That's the way it's been for a while.

There's nothing else like it out there, no matter where it's located; if you like the music, you'll stick around.

[tormenter]

Originally Posted by shivvy

If I may continue to play devil's advocate, I can GUARANTEE that there were people who started listening to the station in 1983 who felt the same way by the time you started listening and fell in love with it. It has always evolved and will always continue to adapt. That's part of being the FUTURE of rock and roll.

BAM!

I, for one, am psyched you're coming down. Austin actually does need another quality music station. Any plans for an air broadcast as well?

[alternachild]

Originally Posted by falconer

Before you assume I'm all frivolity and smiles, I suggest you check out my first post from earlier this morning, in which I described my initial reactions -- mainly, that this move is terrible for Cincinnati.

Like it or not, though, it seems to be a good move for WOXY.com itself and its own survival. The station is ever-changing, and I realize they can't run their whole operation with only the nostalgic local listeners in mind -- and, no surprise, I say this as a nostalgic local listener. In this move, Cincinnati loses, but I think WOXY wins.

Oh, believe me, I do think this is a great business move for WOXY.com. But yes, Cincinnati loses. I'm a nostalgic local listener as well. I've heard the station change subtle direction many times. It's morphed into something that just isn't for me, but I still have supported the station and spread the word. Without the roots in place here, I don't know how much I'll be listening in the future, since that personal local connection will no longer be present.

Yes, I *am* being selfish because, for me as a listeners, it's personal while WOXY.com *needs* to be more concerned with its survival. Can't really push aside how it affects me as a single listener though.

[Predot listener]

Ok, I've been giving this a lot of thought all day, and I'll try to explain why this is such disheartening news to me.

I grew up in New York, but have lived the last 20 years in Indiana. The vast majority of that time was spent at the very edge of the 97X terrestrial reach, in a rather rural town. As is common to most small Indiana cities, it didn't have a lot to offer, culturally or geographically. But it had one thing the coastal cities didn't. It was a place where you could listen to the country's best radio station. It was a source of pride for me. A bragging right in conversations with the coastal types who looked upon the Midwest disdainfully.

And even with the move online, and even online only, it remained that source of pride. That the best online station wasn't located in New York or Los Angeles or, fuck it, Austin, but in the traditional Midwest. Now it isn't, and that genuinely saddens me.

I understand the reasons behind the move. And I will continue to listen. But it will have an effect on me, and I suspect many others. Is it irrational? Sure. But if everything proceded in a rational manner, the station would have gone under for good a long time ago. It's been the passionate, but irrational, dedication, rather than a cold, rational inspection of the bottom line, to this little station that has allowed it to defy certain death several times. Irrationality has its place.

[alternachild]

I'm also wondering if this rumored dispute between MPMF and WOXY.com has anything to do with this move...even in the slightest.

[nemonster]

I've been really heads down all day, so I haven't even been listening much less following this.

But let's get a handle on this people. It's not exactly like everyone congregates down at Longworth every night to hang out. It's an internet radio station. There's always been the recognition that in order to stay in business they were going to need to stop being a local/regional entity and expand out globally. My only question here is kind of why it took so long.

Austin is a music town, with a national presence. Given the business they are in, it makes perfect sense. And if it enhances their chance for survival I say make tracks.

The times they almost went off the air, it was not the loss of a local institution that pained me the most. It was the potential loss of the station and programming. All that local love didn't generate enough subscriptions. Finally took Bill as an investor to give them a breather. Figured they'd move to SF or thereabouts then.

In a way some of the commentary shows you how rooted in vintage some of the older listeners are. Look, it's a global world now. I currently work in a virtual online environment. My group co-workers are in California, Colorado, Romania, and Australia. Company-wise it's even more spread out. My clients are all over the world. My life would be significantly less rich if rooted completely here in town.

The idea that broadcasting from a different location changes the message and the product is SOOO twentieth century.

I'm in it for the music. They can broadcast it from Tierra del Fuego for all I care.

Best of luck to the whole bunch.

[justa bill]

i wonder if Bryan remembers talking at Kaldi's the last time they went off the 'air'.

hopefully, that was the last time they go off air. :]

[shivvy]

Originally Posted by nemonster

I've been really heads down all day, so I haven't even been listening much less following this.

But let's get a handle on this people. It's not exactly like everyone congregates down at Longworth every night to hang out. It's an internet radio station. There's always been the recognition that in order to stay in business they were going to need to stop being a local/regional entity and expand out globally. My only question here is kind of why it took so long.

Austin is a music town, with a national presence. Given the business they are in, it makes perfect sense. And if it enhances their chance for survival I say make tracks.

The times they almost went off the air, it was not the loss of a local institution that pained me the most. It was the potential loss of the station and programming. All that local love didn't generate enough subscriptions. Finally took Bill as an investor to give them a breather. Figured they'd move to SF or thereabouts then.

In a way some of the commentary shows you how rooted in vintage some of the older listeners are. Look, it's a global world now. I currently work in a virtual online environment. My group co-workers are in California, Colorado, Romania, and Australia. Company-wise it's even more spread out. My clients are all over the world. My life would be significantly less rich if rooted completely here in town.

The idea that broadcasting from a different location changes the message and the product is SOOO twentieth century.

I'm in it for the music. They can broadcast it from Tierra del Fuego for all I care.

Best of luck to the whole bunch.

I've had a couple of favorite posts today, but you might have just taken the cake (along with silentpaul much earlier this AM)!

[bluewilco]

You are all silly if you think Austin has a happening scene. WOXY would be better served moving to Denton if they're eyeing Texas as far as happening scenes are concerned. I love Austin as a city--it's beautiful, it's an oasis in Texas, and there's plenty to do that has absolutely nothing to do with the supposed music scene. However, the magical music scene Austin has held near and dear for the past decade is dying. SXSW isn't the make or break platform it once was--it's as industrious and self-indulgent as CMJ. It's about making poor indie reviewers go broke while allowing their bureaucracy to 'control' the scene. It's not Clear Channel/RIAA levels of evil but it's about controlling the scene.

I'm not proselytizing against indie music and WOXY nor am I stating the underground, DIY, small-run scene is the future--neither of that is true. I'm just of the mind that it seems WOXY is cutting and running from Ohio when all the big corporations are doing the same, not to mention they're running to a place that isn't hip, on the cutting edge, or on the cusp. I know Austin is a stalwart of the touring circuit--the modern indie chitlin tour stop mecca--but if WOXY wanted to move somewhere with a scene that's in its infancy and would be a place where they could cultivate their own scene and be regarded as a welcomed visage rather than just another tooth on the cog, they'd move to San Francisco, Portland, or even Chicago.

Again, I hope this works out for the best and I am eating my words in 5-10 years but this isn't a move for growth and I can't figure out how a move this size and scope is going to make the station any more profitable considering wherever they broadcast is guaranteed to have much higher and more sizable renting/leasing fee. I wish nothing but the best for WOXY and its staff because music NEEDS a station with the passion and desire of WOXY (and its few like-minded siblings). It's not the move I [completely] object, it's where WOXY is headed.

[falconer]

Originally Posted by alternachild

Without the roots in place here, I don't know how much I'll be listening in the future, since that personal local connection will no longer be present.

I do agree with you there. I've long been an ardent local supporter of the station, proudly displaying my 97X/WOXY.com stickers wherever I can, always willing to strike up a conversation with someone who wasn't aware 97X was alive and well. For whatever reason, there are still lots of people who think 97X went off the FM airwaves and died forever. I always like seeing their reactions, like, "Wow! I didn't know they were still around, and still in Cincinnati. That's awesome." On the flipside, it also made me realize how few people there actually were still making up that local cult base of listeners.

So, now that WOXY.com is literally moving away, I think it'll force me to "move on" in a way that I've simply refused to do since 2004. I'll always be nostalgic about 97X, but I clearly can't keep trying to fool myself into thinking everything's the same as it used to be. As of September, WOXY.com will still be a great Internet radio station, and that's all it will be.

Of course, it's a sensible move for the station, and I can't criticize them at all. It's just a difficult transition to come to terms with the fact that the last piece of what we knew as "97X" -- our local connection -- is finally history.

It's a moment of truth for us nostalgic types, but nonetheless a good thing for the future of rock and roll.

[cockney rebel]

Originally Posted by alternachild

It's morphed into something that just isn't for me

Originally Posted by alternachild

I don't know how much I'll be listening in the future

Allow me to make a suggestion....

[silentpaul]

Originally Posted by shivvy

I've had a couple of favorite posts today, but you might have just taken the cake (along with silentpaul much earlier this AM)!

Originally Posted by nemonster

Thanks, shivvy. I'm behind you guys 100% for the haul. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'd be crushed if you guys exited the waves again. As long as you're there, I'm OK no matter where you're sitting.

And hey, I've always wanted to visit Austin. Now I've got an excuse!

Indeed, thank you shivvy.

My cousin's moving back to Austin. I may have to pay her a visit!

[juggles]

This move seems like a really bad idea to me because as I understand it, all radio and TV stations west of the Mississippi start their call letters with a "K" so "woxy," which was already perilously close to being "poxy," would become "koxy" which sounds kind of obscene.

OK, while I can certainly understand why woxy wants to move to an area that's much more of a hub for what they do, it is a bit disappointing for those of us who still live in the region. It's always been nice to have this little oasis of hipness in a part of the country that's not known for it. Mostly, I fear that losing the lounge act and in-studio interviews and such will make this a less attractive area for touring acts. Hopefully, something will come along to fill the void. Woxy has also been a great supporter of a area bands so I hope they'll still be able to find an outlet.

I'll keep listening of course and wish woxy (or koxy or 97x or whatever) the best of luck with this move. Don't forget where your roots. Come back and visit sometime.

[X-Ray]

Has anyone looked to see who's gonna be coming into town around the time WOXY is leaving?

Has a Going Away BASH been organized yet? I'm pretty sure Hofbrauhaus misses us. I think the last time I was there was for the "WOXY Being Bought by Bill Nguyen Announcement Thing".