According to claymoresound.com, in the 1990s, a Texas-based media company slowly and meticulously began snatching up radio stations to add to its collection. Managing a mere 10 stations in the early ’80s, they grew to own 40 stations by 1995. Over the next eight years, they absorbed more than 1,100 stations, and essentially homogenized them all. This was the beginning of Clear Channel’s reign. Today, it’s almost impossible to find stations that aren’t owned and operated by Clear Channel, now called iHeartRadio. Monopolizing has consequences, and in radio, this includes loss of connection between stations and the communities they serve and represent.
Luckily for Islanders, there is MVY Radio. Since 1983, MVY has operated as an independent and eclectic station dedicated to being a Voice for the Vineyard. The station is run by staffers who’ve been at the station anywhere from 15 to 30 years. MVY’s stream reaches far and wide. As a matter of fact, more than half of the station’s donors are from outside the 88.7 FM broadcast area.
“The feedback I’ve gotten is that our listeners like the way our music flows together, and they also enjoy a musical surprise now and again — something they haven’t heard in eons, or a deep track they just aren’t going to hear on the radio anywhere else,” Amy Vanneman, who has been a DJ at MVY since 1997, said.
I have often wondered how much freedom DJs have in choosing the music they play, and how they make those choices. “P.J. [Finn] is the program director, so he’s responsible for much of the playlist, but on the morning show you may have to cut songs for timing, or move songs around,” Vanneman said. “I might also add a song that is pertinent to the local or state or national news at the time. When you listen to the playlist, if you don’t listen carefully, it’s just cool music, but P.J. and I, and the rest of the DJs, are very connected to the music we play. Songs are carefully chosen and curated.”
Vanneman also noted that as an independent radio station, they can play a nine-minute Allman Brothers song because there isn’t anyone telling them they can’t: “We’re not corporate. You can hear song after song after song on a commercially-owned radio station, and if the DJ comes on at all, there’s often no context to the songs being played.”
On the day I was there, one of the songs Vanneman played was, “Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)’ by Quincy Jones, in part because, sadly, he had just passed away. In between our interview, Vanneman shared a segment called “Musical Notes” with listeners, which airs Monday through Friday at 9:20 am. “Musical Notes” is a little history focusing on musicians or music that occurred “on this date in 1965, or 1977,” etc., and covers musicians — where they were born, or died, or if there was a controversy related to them. Vanneman touched on the Beatles, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Boston, and Prince, and that on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Stevie Nicks would be performing that evening.
“You’ll hear songs peppered in that are very particular to the moment. The weather or local events,” Vanneman said. “We also look at cultural events. You also won’t hear one-hit wonders, unless we’re doing a piece on one-hit wonders. We choose artists who we think will continue to create music of worth — music our listeners will enjoy.”
DJ and executive director P.J. Finn, who has been at the station since 2000, said independent radio stations are becoming rarer and rarer: “As stations get bought out, control often goes away from localities. We are very lucky that we are a completely independent entity, not affiliated with anything else. Some stations are connected to a university, or other radio stations and TV stations. We are us and us alone. It makes it easy for us to make our own choices, and serve the community in the way they want us to.”
Though community radio is a wonderful portal for new music, it also connects community members in innumerable ways. “It’s important to note that since we’re a public radio station, we cover dozens of people here. People who run nonprofits, events, and who are doing community-related things that we can give a platform to. When you have a radio station with a local presence, you stand a good chance of hearing your neighbors on the radio, which you don’t have on a larger platform.”
Finn also pointed out that it’s getting more and more rare that people’s experience with media is simultaneous: “When we were young and there was a show on TV, you and your friends would be watching it at the same time. You could talk about it together. Now people’s timelines are different. You’re not necessarily listening to the same song, or watching the same program at the same time.” This isn’t necessarily a negative thing, but there is something pretty cool about listening to a song on MVY, knowing that thousands of others are sharing the experience with you.
MVY is able to connect with the Island community because those who work at the station have been part of the community for years. “Part of the way we’re built is to continually evolve musically, and keep playing the songs we traditionally play,” Finn said. “For example, we have listeners who love the Band. And Amy Helm, daughter of Levon Helm [the Band’s drummer], has a new record out, and it has a familiar sound and feeling that they [Band lovers] know and have heard. We want to help people connect the past and the present.”
I asked Finn if becoming a nonprofit had any drawbacks. “We became a nonprofit 11 years ago, and I, and a lot of the staff, were uncomfortable asking for money. But I’ve learned that when people see the value of something, they don’t mind giving money. Listener donations account for 75 to 80 percent of how we pay our bills. And for the most part, people are happy and excited to be a part of something that brings value to their lives and the community.”
In terms of future goals for MVY, Finn said they’re trying to rededicate themselves to giving more presence to local music on the air. “This year we added “Woodstove Studios Presents” with Peter Halperin. Peter has a recording studio on his property, and hosts free monthly shows, featuring exclusively Vineyard artists, and those shows are being recorded, and we play them on the last Sunday of the month.”
Aside from Halperin’s broadcast, there are many other community-focused opportunities for listeners to hear performances and interviews, as well as replays of some of MVY’s specialty programs and features.
I couldn’t end the interview without asking Vanneman and Finn what they love about their work and about being at MVY Radio. “I love sharing the music,” Finn said. “I love when I can help someone discover their new favorite band. When someone says they heard this song on the radio, then they bought the album, then they went out and heard the band. When they say to me, ‘Thank you for introducing me to that band.’”
“I’ve always used music to give me energy and lift my spirits.” Vanneman said. “And I feel like a lot of the reason people listen to MVY Radio, and listen on a regular basis, is for that reason too. The music lifts their energy and gives them hope. It also gives people a feeling that the artists they’re listening to are writing about their own hopes, dreams, and neuroses. If you’re listening carefully to the music you think, ‘Ooh, I’m not alone. I’m not the only one.’ The live DJs are connected to the community. We make mistakes, we’re goofy, we’re live human beings, and you can’t find that just anywhere anymore.”
To learn more about MVY Radio, visit mvyradio.org. Friends of MVY Radio is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Learn about its mission, vision, and values at mvyradio.org/board.
