Music Director Notes 5-7-12: What is a New Release?

Greetings!

I don't know about you, but I am totally groovin' on the rain we're getting--let's hear it for precipitation!

So, let me tell you a little bit about the path that new CDs take after they come through the doors of KRZA and  land in my inbox.

1. KRZA usually receives at least five new CDs every single day.  Most of these CDs come from one of two sources:
     a.  New releases from the music promoters: These are brand new, hot-off-the-press recordings.
     b.  Donations from listeners, musical organizations, bands, etc.

2. Every CD that comes in gets previewed for quality and FCC compliance by yours truly.

3. CDs that pass the preview process get entered into the Music Database, receive a label and some colored library tape, and are put on the New Release shelf.  Everything else goes into "The Morgue" and are given away as premiums, volunteer thank-you's, etc.

4. CDs that make it through the preview process get sorted into two piles:

• Recordings that are NEWER THAN SIX MONTHS are classified as New Releases. Right now, any recording that were released after October 2011 are considered New Releases.  
• New Releases are assigned a Tracking Number (that little five-digit number I'm always bugging you about for your playlists) and go on the New Release shelves behind the DJ chair in the on-air studio.  
• Once a week, I compile a report of the number of new release tracks you all air on your shows and submit it to CMJ, the College Music Journal.  Music promoters can then log into CMJ, look at this report, decide what new recordings would fit with what we air here, and send us more music along those lines. 

• Recordings that are OLDER THAN SIX MONTHS but are still new to KRZA are NOT New Releases, and are therefore NOT assigned a Tracking Number.  
• KRZA doesn't have an elegant solution yet for what to do with these CDs.  However, we want YOU to know about them, so what we're doing right now is putting them on the New Release shelves, for lack of a better option. 
• "Stay tuned" for further developments on this front.  

The upshot of all of this information is:

If the CD in your hands is a New Release -- i.e., if it has a Tracking Number on it--please: 

• Check the "NEW" box in Spinitron
• Enter the Tracking Number in the "Song Note" field

If the CD in your hands is NOT a New Release:

• Leave the "NEW" box in Spinitron unchecked
• Leave the "Song Note" field blank

As always, if you're totally confused, don't hesitate to give me a jingle: 719-589-8844 or 1-800-290-0887 or shoot me an email at music@krza.org.  

Now, on to the fun stuff: 

CLASSICAL: Pertinent to the above ramblings, KRZA is a proud recipient of several CDs of classical music from Taos and Santa Fe!  Keep your eyes peeled in the Classical closet for recordings from Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Taos School of Music!

Thanks, everybody!  Until next week...