Of late I have been particularly scathing on the current state of smooth jazz radio and the way its ultra restrictive play-lists are choking the life out of the genre’s emerging talent. I have often asked questions along the lines of ‘how can artists be expected to sell CD’s when their music is never heard on radio’ but KIFM 98.1 Deejay J Weidenheimer has put an interesting slant on the same subject with his observation on just how difficult it is now becoming to actually buy CD’s from a store.
Take, for example, Borders Books & Music in downtown San Diego. This once great music location boasted, in its heyday, an outstanding range of contemporary jazz with facilities to listen to every CD in the store. It now stands as a pale comparison of its former self with a selection so limited it is hardly worth checking out. I guess we are back with chickens and eggs. Borders have obviously scaled back its stock of product in response to falling demand. However, although demand has always been fuelled by radio play it has also been stimulated by the ability to use stores such as Borders to browse, discover, sample and buy. The consequence of lack of choice is potentially devastating. It’s hard to work out where this all started but easy to see where it might end.