Won’t Somebody Think of the Hipsters?

 

Last Thursday, Indie 103.1 FM, the famed L.A. radio station went off the air. Well, sort of. It’s still a radio station. It’s just not on the air anymore. Well, I guess that sort of depends on what your definition of “the air” is.

With commercial radio slowly wrapping its dirty, money-grubbing hands around the throat of everything broadcast on the terrestrial airwaves, stations like Indie 103.1 were always in danger. For all the “independent” talk, was no different. It was owned by Sheinhardt Wig Co. subsidiary Entravision Communications Corporation, which made it, by definition, “corporate radio.” And as such, concessions had to be made over time. Behind the scenes, management of Indie struggled with compromising the spirit of Indie (they mentioned being forced to play more corporate music among other things), and they ultimately decided to cut their losses and shut down terrestrial airwaves broadcasting. A cryptic message posted on indie1031.com (it was also repeated on 103.1 FM for two days in between bootleg(?) live recordings of classic punk songs by the Sex Pistols, The Clash, etc.) tried its best to explain.

So that’s it, right? We’ve lost Indie forever. Well, not exactly. The radio version we’ve come to enjoy over the past 6 years is gone. We’ll no longer be able to tune our radio dials to 103.1 FM to hear Indie. But, we’ll still be able to hear Indie thanks to the magic of cyberspace. Indie has always broadcast its programming online, but now the online version is the only version, and as such, it will reap the benefits of the new and exciting online-only format. Cursing? Maybe. Commercials? Probably not. Playing the music the DJs actually want to play and not what the Sheinhardt Wig goons demand? Definitely. So all it not lost. Most of the DJs are returning to do their specialty shows, and Barely Legal is still on every Friday morning. Jonsie’s Jukebox will be missing for a while until they can figure out how to pay him.

They’ve also discussed “on-air” their plans for an official iPhone app to stream Indie to your phone, allowing you to listen to it anywhere in the world with cell phone reception or WiFi. And, with the aid of a little stereo adapter, it’d almost be like listening to Indie on the radio. So all it not lost. Indie is still floating around somewhere out there. Their hope is to usher in a new age of independent internet radio that is accessible outside of your home or office, so more power to them.