Our purpose is to present contemporary music so as to engender more appreciation of what it is, where it came from, how it works today and how it connects us and, in the end, how it can make life a more fruitful and satisfying experience for all — the listener, the creators and the re-creators/curators/hosts.
We do not recognize categories of music except to help the listener to easily identify where they will hear a style they want to hear now. Categories should not be prisons, but only convenient identifying markers. You can pick what you want to hear first, but we also want you to hear where it came from and what else is out there.
We will play music on UMR based only on its qualities while faithfully being 100% blind to gender, race, religion, politics, type, category, age of the creator, nor when it was created or if it was popular or not. If it is good, we will play it. We recognize we are not infallible, TIME tells us what is good. Most certainly no radio consultant working for a commission, nor music director who has never played a concert, no musician who has an internal agenda and most importantly no company nor corporation who is only interested in its survival. Precisely, American corporate radio is the enemy. That being said, there are good unfettered radio hosts/djs, curators, guides and good music directors and they are most crucial to helping us see the best.
We actively see many commercial radio conglomerates as the enemy of all that is good, not just because they thrust their narrow demographic driven views on the public but just as much because they deprive the public of the “real deal”….that is, good music. They blind us, make us deaf and they make our children deaf.
We also honor the connection of the derivative nature between all kinds of music…minstrel music, ragtime, blues, jazz, folk, old timey, blue grass, rock, funk, punk, rap, troubadour, prison-music, music of those who struggle with emotional illness, indeed.
WE will also unveil the underbelly of the real music business as it is for real musicians…their struggles, the absurdities and exuberant triumphs they experience. We will probably, inevitably, unfortunately reveal some political biases as politics reflects society.
We will have a podcasts/shows which informs musicians about the large music business deals which effect every one and we will have a beat reporter, an ethnomusicologist and hopefully some factual help on how to navigate promotion. We will have classified advertising and other gritty needs to which real musicians must attend.
And we will most surely tell some amusing stories about what happens around the bandstand, getting to the bandstand, getting from the bandstand and on the bandstand.
As we start out we will need about 6 months to get our programming right, so please be patient as we search out the very best in American music- past, present and maybe, even, the future for you, the listeners and musicians.
What we can tell you, is that we are here and we are starting.
