Cities 97… who are you

Cities 97... who are you

As a young child, Cities 97 was my go-to FM radio station.  I looked forward to car rides – I listened to my man Jason Nagel spin Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Counting Crows.  Luckily for me, I had the privilege of being exposed to what (I would later learn) was some quality music at an early age.  However, since its new contract in 2012, Cities 97’s identity has experienced a dramatic shift in the wrong direction.

Unfortunately, like many other pop stations, Cities 97 was forced to implement a standard rotational system to air pools of (sales-declared) “hot” songs.  If you are unfamiliar with what this means, allow me to explain… Firstly, record labels make deals with a Clear Channel Communications, the mass media conglomerate that owns 97.1 KTCZ and over 1,200 other stations, agreeing to promote their signed artists’ music to the stations’ audiences.  Their crafted playlists are then handed over to the stations to play.  Universal, Sony, and Warner are the biggest labels that have essentially created a joint monopoly with radio corporations, slowly destroying the diversity of America’s multimedia empire and music industry.

Now, what irritates me the most is how Cities 97 tries to distinguish itself by claiming to air constant “new” music.  After altering their longtime “Quality Music from Then and Now” motto (which fit them perfectly) to “Discover New Music”, Cities 97 has publically specified its identity as a unique “modern adult contemporary” channel.  But wait, isn’t this is just a fancy term for “pop”?  Clear Channel clearly has it locked into a contract that forces the station to air a certain number of songs from big record label artists such as Katy Perry, Pink, Fun, and Train.

Although I’m currently an outspoken critic of Cities 97, I do owe the station a lot of credit for spurring my original interests in music.  It is very sad to see it sell out to record labels and fall victim to the Top 40 machine.

Instead of the money and power of record labels governing stations’ playlists, it should be the raw, honest appeal behind the one product that the industry surrounds: the music.  In the end, Cities 97 may not be the one to blame for airing bad music.  Hopefully, mass media empires like Clear Channel will realize that individual stations have the ability to shape their own audience organically through unique playlists, further contributing to a healthier music industry.