Why Is a Seattle Radio Station Sponsoring Rock Concerts in New York City?
By Martin Edlund, The New York Sun – February 3, 2004 Just before the headliner Sea Ray went on at Sin-e last week, a young woman got on stage to thank the capacity crowd for coming on behalf of a local radio station. This in itself is not unusual: Local radio stations sponsor shows all the time. What is unusual is that the sponsor of this particular show, KEXP, is located almost 3,000 miles away, in Seattle, Wash. In an age of multinational media companies like Clear Channel programming local stations from centralized playlists, and satellite and Internet radio stations available everywhere but rooted nowhere, KEXP represents a different model: a listener-supported, truly local station with a national presence. KEXP DJs make no effort to disguise their localness. They complain about the weather outside their windows (usually dreary), and run down the concert calendar of local Seattle clubs. Yet in the last few years, this tiny station has won a substantial national (and increasingly i
