jamescuarterodotcom

the station that introduced me to pavement, tsunami, treepeople, rodan, velocity girl and countless other bands during my college years (and still doing so today) - WPRB princeton - has changed its business model to that of member-supported radio:

103.3 WPRB Princeton, the 14,000 watt non-profit radio station located on Princeton University’s campus, is holding its first-ever on-air membership drive from the 7th through the 14th of October 2007. Founded in 1940, WPRB is the oldest college FM radio station and can be heard throughout New Jersey and much of the Philadelphia area. After evaluating WPRB’s business model in early 2007, the student senior board and the station’s Board of Trustees decided that a community-based solution centering on a membership drive was needed to strengthen the station’s future. While the station is located on Princeton’s campus, it receives no direct funding from the University. Listener donations pledged during this drive will be directed towards the station’s operating budget.

WPRB’s first-ever membership drive began on sunday and goes on all week until the 14th. Donate at pledge.wprb.com. they are doing a bunch of giveaways with each type of donation, from WPRB magnets to shirts to totebags and more. also, there are a ton of cool gifts you can only get if you pledge $103.3 and call into the station. i know tonight, jon solomon is having jennifer o’ connor on the program and she will play a cover of your request in exchange for that donation. for the same pledge amount during tomorrow night’s special edition of her jazz, you will get a totally customized mixtape. and these are just a few of the cool gifts that you can only get by listening this week.

there are always arguments about the relevancy of college radio in today’s age of mp3 blogs, satellite and rapidshare but the fact is when you’re listening to her jazz, jon solomon or any number of WPRB’s programs, you’re getting hours of entertainment filtered through the lens of people who simply know music. not just from their computers or the studio, but from what they do outside of their respective shows, that no one in their right mind would do if they weren’t extremely passionate about it. i still get turned onto bands from this station on a weekly basis and i know i’m not the only one, so get on this now. it’s even tax deductible!