Pay for play?

[ghost of miles]

Saw this in a jazz-radio thread over at AAJ:

Pay for play

Somebody (new member with this as the sole post to his/her credit) was trying to get a Virginia-area jazz musician to use this service. Am I alone in finding this reprehensible in all kinds of ways?

I guess it's somewhat akin to vanity publishing... but for some reason, it strikes me as even worse.

[DukeCity]

So, is this a broadcast radio station, or is it online only? Either way, it seems like it's just payola.

[ghost of miles]

So, is this a broadcast radio station, or is it online only? Either way, it seems like it's just payola.

Not sure about its status. Maybe it irks me so much because I think jazz programmers (present company included) should do all they can to support their local scenes. (I'm lucky; Bloomington has a very good one, thanks to the IU School of Music and the jazz studies department. It's a genuine pleasure to put the folks around here on the air.) In any event, I think it's a lousy business concept, in addition to being a reprehensible one; screw 'em and put up MP3s on your own site.

[Jim Alfredson]

So its not even an actual station, just an online station? Lame. Go to Live365 and you can find a ton of jazz stations and DJs who will play your stuff for free. We're still heavily featured on the Hammond Leslie Overdrive station and sold a lot of CDs because of that.