KEXP has eye on Center as place to 'champion music'
KEXP's proposal, competing with one advanced by Dale Chihuly and the Space Needle, wouldn't offer a lot of immediate revenue to Seattle Center. The focus for the station would be spreading music into people's lives.
City of Seattle
At least that's what KEXP general manager Tom Mara says, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. "We would love to play Dale Chihuly's music if one of our DJs decides that it has merit."
KEXP and Chihuly are among nine local concerns who recently submitted formal proposals to create new attractions at the Seattle Center in what's now the Fun Forest, which is scheduled to shut down permanently after Labor Day.
The process of replacing the beleaguered amusement park at Seattle Center was hastily opened up to all comers earlier this year. Public outcry over details that emerged about what was perceived as a backroom deal between Center management and the owners of the Space Needle necessitated a do-over, this time with a more deliberately transparent process. Space Needle LLC, the private company that owns and operates the Needle, has partnered with Chihuly to propose a ticketed, revenue-generating attraction based on the art glass he has come to personify.
Less a traditional attraction than Chihuly glass and more a musical mecca of sorts, KEXP has proposed a $8 to $14 million dollar relocation of station operations and broadcast studios to the old Fun Forest arcade building.
Live performances and live broadcasts from the proposed KEXP facility would be free and open to the public, with indoor seating as well as “picture windows” for casual passersby. The proposal also includes increased programming of free live performances at the adjacent Mural Amphitheatre (KEXP already partners with Seattle Center on a summer concert series there).
What KEXP has in mind is not unlike early radio facilities of the 1920s and 1930s, when nearly all radio music was played live, and many sophisticated stations broadcast from department stores with a live audience on hand (including Seattle's KFOA, which broadcast from the old Rhodes Department Store at Second and Union).
Mara says KEXP's current digs are cramped, and that the station has been planning a move from its Dexter Avenue building for some time. “We have people working in the halls," he says. Mara also says KEXP had already been in conversation with officials about other possible locations at Seattle Center when the Fun Forest option opened up.
With roots on the UW campus as student-run KCMU, the station began to add paid staff in the late 1980s, including Mara, who began as a fundraiser (after volunteering for several years). In the past decade, after changing call letters and moving off campus to the old KMPS studios at Dexter and Denny (while remaining tied to the UW, since they still hold the broadcast license issued by the FCC), KEXP has become an increasingly ambitious global media force and main progenitor of that part of the "Seattle brand" that includes love of indie and other eclectic music. The not-for-profit station's annual operating budget is now about $4 million.
A move to a very public place like the old Fun Forest, according to Mara, would be consistent with KEXP's mission to spread the gospel of new music as far and wide as possible. Mara sees the proposed facility as a "musical Venus flytrap."
"The essence of the vision orbits around this discovery-based mission ... to champion music and to champion discovery. Our job is to get music into people's lives," Mara says.
KEXP was one of the first radio stations in the country to make its radio signal also available online, and nowadays, according to Mara, 30 percent of KEXP's 13,500 donors listen online from outside the area.
With the addition of podcasts, videos of many of the hundreds of live in-studio performances that take place each year, week-long excursions highlighting musical scenes in cities around the U.S. (and, last year, in Reykjavik, Iceland) and a joint-programming deal with New York City station WNYE that puts KEXP morning host John Richards on the air in Seattle and the Big Apple, there's little that KEXP hasn’t explored in its efforts to expose a potentially worldwide audience to new music.
Mara says that through these various channels, the station has a weekly audience (or "cume," in radio industry jargon) of 200,000, with only about half of that listening occurring via the "terrestrial" or traditional radio signal in the Puget Sound area.
Music-focused radio (and now online) programs have served to attract live audiences and promote the cities where the programs originate for decades, from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (originating at commercial station WSM since the 1920s) to Charleston, West Virginia’s Mountain Stage (produced by the not-for-profit West Virginia Public Broadcasting since the 1980s).
Officials associated with both of these programs who were contacted by Crosscut shared anecdotal evidence that the respective live broadcasts generate serious economic impact for the neighborhoods surrounding each venue, and help portray a positive image to millions of listeners nationwide.
Perhaps a better example of what KEXP is proposing is WXPN in Philadelphia (where KEXP's Mara briefly worked in the 1980s) and its syndicated eclectic live music program World Café.
World Café began first as a radio program 20 years ago, and is now heard on some 200 stations around the US. But WXPN saw potential in making it more, and a little over five years ago, the station partnered with for-profit production company Real Entertainment Group to create a live music venue called World Café Live.
WXPN and Real built a new shared facility that houses the radio station and the club. Ticketed performances are held at World Café Live nearly every day, with sales of food and beverages and related merchandise rounding out a robust commercial operation that generates revenue for Real and for WXPN.
While grateful for the revenue, WXPN general manager Roger LaMay also sees the non-virtual experience of actually being at a live performance as part of a spectrum of ways to experience music: "One of the "platforms' is in person. The operative phrase is 'clubhouse for listeners.' World Café Live creates another place for the artists to play."
And creating another venue, LaMay says, meant that WXPN initially got pushback from club owners (many of whom are WXPN donors) over World Café Live and a perceived threat to existing clubs’ business. "One of our early issues which we've definitely gotten by is that there were other people feeling like we were going into competition with our underwriters," he says.
But LaMay says that most of these concerns are gone, thanks to WXPN's efforts to remain collaborative with local venues. He also says the City of Philadelphia will issue a whitepaper later this year extolling the virtues of the partnership between WXPN and Real Entertainment Group that resulted in World Café Live.
"World Café Live is fantastic for Philly," says Gary Steuer, chief cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia (who commissioned the whitepaper). Steuer says the partnership between not-for-profit WXPN and the for-profit Hal Real "exemplifies the kind of innovation" that more not-for-profits should pursue, and that World Café Life is "the best music club" in the city.
Steuer also says that World Café Live has an impact beyond Philadelphia. "There now is a 'there' there that goes with the syndicated radio program. Listeners are inspired to come to Philly," he says.
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Comments:
Posted Fri, Aug 6, 10:15 a.m. Inappropriate
Thanks for the good overview of potential here. It's nice to hear something positive about one of the other proposals instead of just more negative about the Chihuly Museum.
It does seem like a radio station with opportunities for visitor interaction would go very nicely sandwiched between the Mural Ampitheatre and the EMP.
Posted Fri, Aug 6, 12:50 p.m. Inappropriate
So Feliks, how much did you get paid for this PR puff piece, anyway?
KEXP is just another overhyped, fetishized college radio station, with the added bonus of a supporting organization that has grown like a cancer cell. If they can afford to pay John in the Morning $120K a year, they sure don't need any of my money.
My proposal for the space between the Mural Ampitheatre and EMP is an EMPTY GRASS FIELD...
Posted Fri, Aug 6, 2:10 p.m. Inappropriate
Most businesses would probably like to move from a location where they are paying rent
to a "public" forum where, even if they do pay rent, the landlord is a known philanthropist and not a tough bargainer. This is a good opportunity for KEXP and maybe they are a better fit at Seattle Center than the Chihuly assemblage but, face it, it's a grab for a quasi public status and eventually public underwriting. I have a name for it! "Public/Private Partnership" that sounds pretty good.
Posted Fri, Aug 6, 2:19 p.m. Inappropriate
Orino, unless by "college radio" you're referring to a genre, I don't think KEXP qualifies as such anymore. Yes, its license is held by the UW, but it's been years since students ran it.
This is a bit off-topic, but it's too bad that the UW's two stations are now entirely professional operations — or perhaps another way to say it is, it's too bad all the students have is RainyDawg, which appears to be on hiatus until the HUB remodel is finished in 2012. http://hub.washington.edu/servicepage.php?q=rainydawg
Posted Fri, Aug 6, 3:10 p.m. Inappropriate
This is a great article. It's pro-KEXP but hardly what I'd call a "fluff-piece". To me, their proposal is a no-brainer. KEXP could do some wonders with that dead space and really champion Seattle music and independent artists in a whole new way. PLus, how can you argue with free music? KEXP is a global radio station and a respected source with followers in almost every country. I couldn't think of a better, more dedicated group to represent our city. If you know anything about music, you'll know that what they do is truly unique. At least take the time to read the full proposal.
Posted Sat, Aug 7, 11:42 a.m. Inappropriate
I would like to know where the Chihuly folks get their crowd and revenue estimates. Also how much of the Chihuly money would draw from the Tacoma Museum of Glass. I question their estimates and revenue projects. 400,000 to see glass where I can go elsewhere in Seattle and see it for free. SOrry just dont buy it.
Posted Sat, Aug 7, 6:53 p.m. Inappropriate
The building itself is an albatross. It's an ugly warehouse that cramps public space on its north and south sides. Raze it. If honest concensus favoring another building is reached, the foundation footprint should be much smaller to improve access to and visibility of venues to the west. It could be a few stories tall to locate several, various venues inside: dining, retail, kids entertainment (video game hall, grand installation of a carousel or two, etc), a Chiluly Gallery, a Bubbleator. And it should always be open to the public, not a pay-to-play admission.
Posted Mon, Aug 9, 4:15 p.m. Inappropriate
Seattle Center needs to evolve into the open space envisioned in the master plan and exemplified in the FROG proposal. The growing neighborhood needs a green park. At the same time, KEXP has very attractive possibilities for infusing the Center with new visitors and energy. KEXP combined with FROG might make the best of both proposals. To judge from KEXP’s reported earlier talks with the Center about relocating there, there exist other possible locations for KEXP than the Pavilion. With the Pavilion removed, there would be room for a park. If KEXP’s finances can pass muster, this is a chance for the Center to jump the fence on the Space Needle LLC mindset and get more exciting possibilities.
Posted Tue, Aug 10, 1:59 p.m. Inappropriate
I have had the opportunity to be involved in building and moving more than a dozen studios for radio in the region. For a station to have a ready made theatre is a good concept as broadcast radio struggles to stay alive in an internet world where anyplace can be a radio station. That said, ease of access plays a HUGE role, as does visibility.
The fun forest hall fails on both counts. Not visable from any street, it would be hidden except to those already on the grounds. The goal of 200-500 live performances is laudable... but how do you plan to load in and load out bands and groups and audiences with NO parking adjacent, and all egress subject to pedestrians.
The prefect location for KEXP would be to take on the big box due east of the EMP. Now having failed its ninth or tenth attempt to be a disco, bar, restaurant whatever... it is vacant. it is bigger than this space. It is accessable from the street on 3 sides. It has paid parking right across the street (due NORTH) and additional parking at the stadium lot. It could be modified so there is a truck load in for the studios.
It has ground level access for audience windows. It is right on the bus line. And hundreds of thousands of music oriented fans drive by daily, and the 500,000 paid visitors to the EMP would see KEXP from the main entrances.
The building in question would reqire expensive modifications, would be difficult to reach during major festivals, and would require escorted load in and load out for EVERY show as it is in the middle of pedestrian concourse. It is two blocks to the nearest parking.
The arguments about access to the Mural are moot. In this digital age, you can go live from anywhere with electrical or even battery power.
In a city with 271 gray and rainy days a year, the impetus of being near an outdoor venue is rather limiting, and the Mural is reserved for more than three dozen events and weekends already with Seattle Center Programming. The best stages to cite are indoor ones... EMP has several great options, and that is... across the street from the first building I cited.
I like the idea of KEXP pushing live programming, and almost live events. The center would offer a lot of options for indoor shows for the rest of the year, and the various festivals and outdoor venues for the 90 nice weather days we DO get... but the opportunity to build a great new studio does not come along often. It is an expensive proposition.
The building due East of the EMP is the one you want. It is higher profile, has far better and easier access, will have fewer operational interruptions due to festivals and events, and give the station far more freedom to do it right.
Years ago I had the option to choose between two equal size spaces for our News Department: the second floor, or a floor whose number was the same as the first digit of our call number. I went with the 8th floor, and regretted it for the next ten years.
Access, Egress and Parking play a huge role when you producing shows and events. Lastly, I bet you can get a better rental rate from the other building than from the Seattle Center, whose need to generate revenue is greater than ever before.
Posted Tue, Aug 10, 5:45 p.m. Inappropriate
Radio is a wonderful thing, especially when subsidized by the generous Mr. Allen. KEXP can play anything they want and we can listen to it for free. You can't improve on that.
For KEXP to say to us that what they really need is a live venue, also free, in order to achieve true artistic liftoff seems totally nonsensical. Why don't they rent a tavern? an all ages club? why don't they rent the blue building mentioned above? why don't they rent more space in the building they are in and have live broadcasts? the notion that artists must be seen to be appreciated sort of undercuts the radio idea doesn't it? I never had to see the Beattles live or Gene Vincent. I didn't even know what Bo Didley looked like until I was about 25 but I sure liked his music.
Posted Thu, Aug 12, 8:48 p.m. Inappropriate
I don't think KEXP would be a good fit at all in the Seattle Center - the music they play is actually quite a narrow slice of the entire musical spectrum, though it is made up of a lot of the indie and alt rock stuff that made Seattle famous in the 90's and beyond. You'll find more variety on KBCS, a more true to its roots public station staffed by mainly volunteers at Bellevue College.
The whole change of KCMU to KEXP smacks of back room dealing between billionaire Paul Allen and the shadowy UW board of Regents (who the hell do they answer to?). Why doesn't KEXP move into the EMP building? I'm pretty sure that's where the name change from KCMU to KEXP came from anyhow.
I agree with Kieth's post that KEXP should go rent/lease a music venue or tavern. It would fit better with their target demographic.
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