Who Owns Our Music Shows?

A Note From the Management

Well, technically, the FCC and the American people own our music shows.

The FCC grants permission to KRZA to use the airwaves to broadcast as a "public" radio station. We could also get permission to be a TV station, or an AM radio station. Bottom line: everyone must ask permission to broadcast.

Once we receive that permission, in the form of a license, then we make a schedule of programs we want to air, and we invite community members to host some of those programs.

It so happens that on KRZA most of our program is music shows, and almost all of these are hosted by local, community folks, such as yourself. We air many genres of music: bluegrass, jazz, classical, classic rock n roll, Spanish, Celtic, blues, and accoustic -- to name just a few!

When a volunteer hosts one of our music shows, they are doing so with our permission, based on our program schedule. Over time, we've learned that bluegrass music is great for Saturday mornings, and that blues is great on late Sundays. So we recruit volunteer DJs to host those shows at that time.

Sometimes volunteer hosts break out of the genre of the show they're hosting. This can be upsetting to listeners, the people to whom we are providing this public radio service. It's also a violation of the permission we granted to the volunteer in order for them to be on the air.

Also, volunteers tend to feel a sense of ownership of their show -- especially after being on the air for awhile. They feel that they must recruit and train new hosts, and sometimes even bring in substitutes who have never been trained by our staff.

While we appreciate the commitment of  our on-air hosts, the truth is that you don't own your music show. You have permission to host it, and we have permission to air it.

Ownership lies with the FCC and the American people.

Any questions?