Some unfortunate news...

James Howlett · #1 29th December '09, 08:35 AM

Register Here For The Advert Above to Disappear

Just as I am gearing up for exciting projects going forward into 2010 that will add another dimension to the way in which people are introduced to the underground 'Grime' sound, there has been a spanner thrown in the works.

We, as specialist DJs at Kiss, were recently made aware that as of January 4th there will be sweeping changes to the Kiss fm evening schedule.

The long and the short of it is that every show in the 11-1 timeslot will now start at midnight and finish at 1. All shows will only be 1 hour long. Several DJs have been let go as you may have heard if you listened to Jay Cunning's Breakbeat show after mine last night.

As you can imagine this has come as a bit of a shock to all of the Kiss DJs. The shift of focus away from upfront specialist music to more playlisted hours is one which the management feel will enable the station to compete with the likes of Capital and Galaxy fm and with Swerve's show now starting an hour later at 10pm all of the genre specific late night shows took the brunt of the hit.

The main effect this will have on my show is that it will reduce the number of records I can physically play in half. As it is an already difficult task juggling the established names with the exciting new talent coming through, this will prove a big hindrance. However, hopefully it will cause artists to rediscover the many other platforms we have for promotion, namely regular pirate radio appearances which I personally believe is something which has been lost on the current generation of acts who have grown up in a recording booth, not in a radio studio or rave.

This puts even more focus for me on the new live video format show I spoke with you guys about previously. My plan was to take a weekly 3-4 hour show online and allow the space for not only established acts to do some 'proper sets' free of cutting time off for adverts or forcing language restrictions, but also use it as a platform to give more time to talent from outside the top 20 pool of artists. This was my plan before and it is DOUBLY my focus now, as the Kiss show will be forced to become a streamlined version of what it currently is only showcasing the top tier of acts to a commercial radio audience.

I want to be doing my part to ensure the survival of a thriving underground where people can continue to make this hard Grime sound and you guys can continue to enjoy it.

I just want to stress that this is in no part a reflection on Kiss' or the media's attitude towards Grime as a genre. It is not my show getting cut shorter, it is EVERY show getting cut down. And as I said, several DJs were let go.

You are welcome to share your feedback with Kiss by contacting them at http://www.totalkiss.com/info/contact-us/

I look forward to the new challenges ahead in 2010 and am excited about doing more to give you, the dedicated fans more of what you want.

Keep it Grimy.

Mazer Rackham · #2 29th December '09, 08:38 AM

fuck

daspecimen · #3 29th December '09, 08:41 AM

shitty news.

that said, as you stated, it will shift some of the focus back on to artists to:

a) up the workrate
b) make more use of the other avenues available to them that you are working on

Hij · #4 29th December '09, 08:44 AM

Shame. Although I have every faith in Logan Sama making a success of any plans he has for the new year.

Is it a case where you can promote your side projects on the show or is this strictly forbidden? Kiss is great because of the listening figures, but surely if you can try and build an established, loyal, allbeit possibly smaller following in the short term and interim, it puts more power in your hands in the long run.

Not sure how we can help, but surely there can be some sort of mutual effort from the likes of SB.TV and Grime Daily, plus other big artists online to draw attention to the new format when it is ready to go.

Good luck!

Cinematik · #5 29th December '09, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Howlett

The long and the short of it is that every show in the 11-1 timeslot will now start at midnight and finish at 1. All shows will only be 1 hour long. Several DJs have been let go as you may have heard if you listened to Jay Cunning's Breakbeat show after mine last night.

This puts even more focus for me on the new live video format show I spoke with you guys about previously. My plan was to take a weekly 3-4 hour show online and allow the space for not only established acts to do some 'proper sets' free of cutting time off for adverts or forcing language restrictions, but also use it as a platform to give more time to talent from outside the top 20 pool of artists. This was my plan before and it is DOUBLY my focus now, as the Kiss show will be forced to become a streamlined version of what it currently is only showcasing the top tier of acts to a commercial radio audience.

Keep it Grimy.

@ the 1hour show

@ the 3-4 hour video show