UCLA Radio has had its share of troubles this year due to a
tight budget and a scare about Internet radio station royalties.
The changes they made in their broadcasting schedule as a result of
those constraints have had an impact on everything from staff unity
to listenership.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Internet
radio stations were supposed to pay royalties beginning September
2002 for playing songs over the Web.
“We didn’t know if we would be able to stay in
business at all,” Benavente said. “(The Library of
Congress) proposed 7 cents per song per 100 listeners, and they
didn’t tell us what that meant. We had a scare. We really did
not think we were going to be on air.”
During fall quarter, the station cut back to playing music six
hours a day and filled its daytime broadcasting schedule with talk
shows that didn’t involve music. However, as the station
received no word on how it was supposed to keep track of listeners
or to whom it was supposed to send the check for royalties, the
station decided to go back to their normal broadcasting routine in
the winter quarter.
Although the station appears to be running smoothly now, the
effects of the royalty proposal can still be felt by the staff. The
radio station had a high number of freshmen quit in the middle of
the year, as the decreased air time left many new staffers with
little to do.
“I think we’re still recovering,” said
Veronica Rathbourn, assistant general manager of UCLA Radio.
“I think we’ve done a good job of recovering, but I
still feel like the station was stronger last year. Because we
started the year at half programming, we didn’t have that
unity at the very beginning.”
In addition, with less air time for playing music, the radio
station wasn’t able to take full advantage of the ranging
music tastes of its staff, a characteristic on which college radio
stations tend to pride themselves.
“Listening to other kinds of music and hearing other
viewpoints is so important for the college experience, and (UCLA
Radio) is just another method of exposing yourself to new
things,” Benavente said.
Because the staff of UCLA Radio find the station as a beneficial
program for both staff and listeners, they want to do everything
they can to keep the station afloat.
Although staff members don’t necessarily pursue a career
in radio, they often use the experiences and contacts they make at
the station to enter the music industry in areas like marketing and
promotions after graduation.
The station has come a long way over the past four years. What
used to be a station composed of a small staff of indie rock fans
has grown into a staff of 70 people with diverse musical tastes.
Shows range from classical to electronic to hip- hop. The staff
attributes much of their success to this diversity.
“I think there’s maybe two or three people on staff
right now who agree on musical choices, and I think that’s
really healthy,” said Alissa Kloner, a fourth-year
communications studies student and former general manager.
“Because we have so many types of people and music styles,
everything balances. And I think that it’s really important
to be diverse — I think that’s the only way we can
function.”
Learning to overcome the various dilemmas encountered in radio
can be as important to the experience as airing shows. The
struggles faced in the past year by the staff of UCLA Radio have
not been without benefit.
“The more problems we have, the more we know how to deal
with them when they come to us in real life. I think that’s
one of the ways I’ve grown. (I’ve) learned the ups and
downs, and I think (I’m) definitely prepared to go out and do
anything in the music business after college,” Rathbourn
said.