Garage/Soul '66 - A Social Network Experiment

This is something of an experiment. Just as studios run movies past test audiences before officially releasing them, we're going to pre-test our new podcast before it launches.

One of the things I do at DCD Records is produce it's podcast. The "DCD Classical 'Cast" is classical, and I had a clear idea of what I wanted the show to be, and, since I also host a classical music radio program, what it should sound like.

DCD Records also carries some compilations of vintage 1960's music from Arcania International and Psych of the South. Both labels were agreeable to an anthology podcast, but wanted something that would ensure the music couldn't be lifted out of the podcast (thereby decreasing sales). My solution was to present the music like 60's AM radio, with cross-fades and DJ chatter running straight up to the vocals.

Early in my career, I actually worked for a station that still used 45's, so I was familiar with the mechanics of the sound. But does it make for a good show?

That's where the experiment starts. I'm going through all of my new media outlets, inviting people to go to the Garage/Soul '66 site. Once there, they can read about the proposed show, listen to the sample program -- and leave feedback.

I'll take all the comments and use them to craft the final version of the program.

So if you're at all interested in vintage rock'n'roll or soul music, head on over to Garage/Soul '66 and give it a listen.

We'll see if the wisdom of the masses can help make this podcast a success!

- Ralph


Day 116 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Arcania International on WVTF -- Part 4 (tape delay)

Here's an excellent example of the value of a radio station's website.

As the distributor of Arcania International releases, I've been very interested in a series public radio station WVTF has been running. Reporter Connie Stevens has been profiling various artists featured in Arcania's "Ol' Virginia Soul" and "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things" compilation CDs of Virginia soul groups and garage bands of the 1960's. These "Captive Audio" news segments have made for interesting listening -- even for those not interested in these musical genres.

I missed the broadcast of the latest installment -- it aired back in July. But because WVTF archives their news features, I could access it, listen to it -- and now share it with others by linking to it.

In that episode, Stevens tells the story of the Phantoms from Abingdon, Virginia (found on "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things, Volume 2"). Brent Hosier of Arcania International and guitarist Herb Proffitt talk about the Phantom's only recording, and how it was saved by modern technology. But there's more to the story...

And thanks to WVTF's website, that story can be heard again and again.

- Ralph

Day 102 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WJMA, WVTF, and the weakest link

While it seems obvious to most readers of this blog (being the Internet-savvy lot that you are), the basic concepts of the web still elude many. I've written often about the website of our local radio station, WJMA. I do so primarily because it's a real-world example of the kind of mistakes businesses can make when the decision-makers don't really understand what this new medium is all about.

And what it's about are two basic things: quality content and connectivity. To make money from website traffic (either through ads or just raising brand awareness) you need something to bring the eyeballs to your site. And you need easy ways for folks to access the content once they arrive.

It's not that different from traditional retail: keep the shelves stocked with attractive merchandise, and lay out the store to encourage shopping. Yet many don't make the connection (as anyone who's tried to get any kind of online innovation approved by higher-ups baffled by e-mail can attest).

Let's take my recent flurry of posts that linked to the news pages of two radio station websites: WJMA and WVTF. Now a case can be made that this could be an unfair comparison: WJMA's a commercial station, and WVTF's public radio. WJMA has a single news reporter, and WVTF has a staff of them. Yet in both cases one news reporter was responsible for the creation and posting of the content I linked to. So let's see what happened to the folks I sent their way -- and the impact on the stations.

WJMA news site (I've also taken a screen shot of the page).
Is there anything here that invites us to stay? The local headlines still do little more than tease for stories that aren't there.

"A retired D-C police detective is running for the Culpeper Town Council."

Really? Who? What's his background? No details -- and no links. We have nowhere to go to get additional information about this cryptic piece of information. And notice the D.C. abbreviation. That's the spelling used for on-air reading to ensure the initials are pronounced correctly. Whoever posted this didn't even bother to change it to the correct form for written text.

Well, the news page is a dead end. How about the home page? From there, we can either go to the Weather Underground, or the Virginia Department of Health, but that's about it (and I'm not really sure why that's on the radio station's homepage anyway). I'm posting this in April and the scrolling banner at the top of the page is still advising me to click on Closings for the latest winter closing and cancellations.

Any traffic I send to this website is basically wasted. A visitor coming from CE Conversations sees neither quality content or relevant links, and the station derives no benefit from the visit. If the news page was a store, it would be an ill-lit dingy one with a few dusty items on mostly-empty shelves.

WVTF Captive Audio (I've taken a screen shot of this page as well)
Once again, we have a headline -- "Catching up with a member of Ol' Virginia Soul." It's just as cryptic as WJMA's, but this time there's additional information.

The stories behind the story of the Arcania record label continue. Arcania founder Brent Hosier put out a series of compact discs focusing on soul, psychedelic and garage bands that recorded around Virginia in the 1960s. WVTF's Connie Stevens has the story of Junious Bugs Hughes, featured on the Ol' Virginia Soul collection.

So now we know what Ol' Virginia Soul is, we know who's being interviewed, and we know the background of the series. Oh -- and we also know who did the story and when. Notice that the WJMA posting is anonymous (I don't think I'd want to put my name to it either), and the only clue we have about the date is a 2006 copyright notice!

Connie Stevens also provides us with a picture of Mr. Hughes, and a link so we can listen to the story. This is valuable content, with intuitive connectivity. Even though I didn't hear the segment when it was broadcast, I can still listen to it now.

The visitor who followed my link gets some useful information. And the station derives some benefit as well. The page has plenty of links to WVTF's other locally produced programs, as well as their national feeds. It also has a link so the visitor can listen online. And just reading the links gives the visitor a good overview of the station and its services (and of course ways to contribute).

Folks who click through to WJMA reach a dead end. Those who follow the links to WVTF have an entirely different experience.

And here's the other part of the equation. By linking to WVTF's Captive Audio page, we've benefited ourselves. I'm linking to this page because we're selling the CDs that are the focus of the Captive Audio series. And the Arcania International segments on WVTF started airing, sales of the discs have risen dramatically over the past month (and causing us to quickly re-press two titles). And some of those sales have come from outside WVTF's coverage area, which suggests online listening via their website.

When it's done right, the connectivity of the web can help both the linker and the object of the link. Obvious to some, but many are oblivious to it all.

- Ralph

Arcania International on WVTF -- Part 3!

This week Connie Stevens continued her series profiling Arcania International artists on public radio station WVTF. The segment, "Captive Audio" uses Arcania's "Ol' Virginia Soul" and "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things" compilation CDs of Virginia soul groups and garage bands of the 1960's as its starting point.

Junius Bug Hughes, who recorded "I'm Just What the Doctor Ordered" in the sixties is this week's subject. While his record didn't take him to the big time, he still managed to have a successful music career before moving back to Virginia and becoming an ordained minister.

It's an interesting story, well-told by Stevens through judicious editing and the use of background sounds.

And of course, it throws some attention to "Ol' Virginia Soul: Encore!" where Hughes' track can be found. So both as a public radio listener and the distributor of Arcania International releases, I enjoyed the segment very much!

- Ralph

The Soul Masters and WVTF

Connie Stevens continues her series spotlighting forgotten Virginia bands in her "Captive Audio" segment on public radio station WVTF. This morning she profiled the Soul Masters, a 1960's racially mixed band from Danville Virginia.

Of course I like the series for professional reasons -- we carry Arcania International's reissue CDs which provided the framework for the stories on our DCD Records website. But I'm also excited personally. I've discovered some great tracks on Arcania International's releases that I would have never have found otherwise. And the "Captive Audio" reports are helping a wider audience discover them as well.

The segment this morning was particularly well done. Stevens not only had interviews from the band members, but also supporting commentary by a member of Gene and Teen/Team Beats (who were featured the previous week) and the head and chief bottle-washer of Arcania International, Brent Hosier.

I don't know how long the series is going to run, but I'm very much looking forward to the next installment -- for all the right reasons.

- Ralph

Arcania International On the Air Again (sort of)

Another installment of "Captive Audio" ran on WVTF's "Morning Edition," featuring music from the Arcania International label. Reporter Connie Stevens is using Arcania's CD reissues of 1960's soul and garage band records as a starting point for a series about forgotten Virginia artists.

The latest installment is an interview with Gene Brumley of Gene & the Teen Beats from Martinsville, Virginia. Stevens did an excellent job, and Brumley shares some great stories.

Gene & the Teen Beats (later the Team Beats when the band started aging) have tracks on Arcania International's "Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 1." And although Brent Hosier's liner notes are pretty extensive, there's not a lot of overlap between his entry for Gene & the Teen/Team Beats and what Connie Stevens presents.

Which is great.

I admit that I have a vested interest in this series (we carry Arcania International's releases), but just as a listener, I'm really excited about this oral history chronical "Captive Audio's" creating.

Can't wait for the next installment!

- Ralph

BTW - The other band mentioned in the segment, Captain Darby and The Buccaneers, can be found on "Aliens, Psychos & Wild Things, Volume Fore (sic)."

Arcania International On The Air!

Brent Hosier, owner of the Arcania International record label was featured on WVTF during "Morning Edition" today.

It was a pretty exciting time for all of us. My business partner and I at DCD Records have been working with Brent for some time, trying to get some well-deserved attention to his releases.

Brent's a knowledgeable record collector, and his compilations of 1960's garage band and soul records are pretty remarkable. Brent insists only using tracks that haven't been previously released on CD, which keeps the selections fresh-sounding. Further, he's pretty much limited his compilations to Virginia artists (with a few side trips).

Arcania International has two series running. The four volumes of "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things" focuses on garage and psych bands of the mid- to late-1960s. "Ol' Virginia Soul" collects soul and R&B tracks from (mostly) the Old Dominion on three CDs.

Some of the discs have fallen out of print, and that's where we've come in. DCD Records has reissued "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things, Vol. 1" and we're working on the others.

Check out the "Captive Audio" series at WVTF. You can even listen to the segment. And then -- if you're so inclined -- you can toodle on over to DCDRecords.com and buy a CD or two. We'll all be glad you did.

- Ralph