KCRW TO PODCAST LIVE STUDIO PERFORMANCES

Beginning Thursday, July 21 Los Angeles based public radio station KCRW will offer podcasts of live sessions performed by unsigned and independent artists on its signature music show, Morning Becomes Eclectic hosted by Nic Harcourt.  The first podcast will be the 40 minute performance and interview with Goldspot, a Los Angeles band that is generating a lot of buzz.  Goldspot will perform live on Morning Becomes Eclectic today at 11:20 AM PT.  The session podcast will be available by 2 PM PT from both the KCRW.com podcast page and the iTunes 4.9 podcast section of its music store.

Each Morning Becomes Eclectic live session podcast will be available for a two week window.  More live sessions will be added as they are available.  Next week, KCRW will add the podcast of Every Move A Picture’s performance and interview, which was recorded on April 20, 2005.  The San Francisco band anticipates signing a record deal in the coming weeks.

KCRW Music Director and Morning Becomes EclectiC host, Nic Harcourt, says, “Since we began offering our non-music programs as podcasts, we’ve been inundated with requests to make music programming available.  While the major labels are still figuring it out, the independent artists understand the value of this type of promotion, and I’m happy we’re launching Morning Becomes Eclectic podcasts with an L.A. group.”

Russ Rieger, Partner and Founder of the independent label Union Records, remarks, “As for Goldspot, podcasting represents a new and innovative way to spread the word about this truly great band and we are both proud and thrilled to be included.”

KCRW first launched its podcasting lineup on March 1st with 22 locally-produced talk and culture programs. On June 28, iTunes 4.9 launched, featuring several of those shows on its podcasting front page, which resulted in a ten-fold increase of downloads in one day.  Almost one month later, KCRW has seen its total podcast subscribers grow exponentially, from 100,000 a week to at least 300,000 a week.

KCRW is an NPR-affiliate station with a unique public radio format that features talk and free-form music programming.  Morning Becomes Eclectic airs weekdays from 9 AM to Noon PT.  The show is also available as a live stream and on demand at KCRW.com.  Live performances by established, unsigned and up-and-coming artists have been a feature of the program for years.  Recent live guests include Keren Ann, Thievery Corporation, Robert Plant, Shelby Lynne, Feist, Doves, Spoon, M.I.A., and Aimee Mann, among others.  All live sessions are archived for streaming on demand.  The New York Times Magazine profile of Nic Harcourt on June 28 calls him “. . .the country’s most important disc jockey and a genuine bellwether.”

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KCRW is an NPR-affiliate station with a unique public radio format that features talk and free-form music programming.  Morning Becomes Eclectic airs weekdays from 9 AM to Noon PT.  The show is also available as a live stream and on demand at KCRW.com.  Live performances by established, unsigned and up-and-coming artists have been a feature of the program for years.  Recent live guests include Keren Ann, Thievery Corporation, Robert Plant, Shelby Lynne, Feist, Doves, Spoon, M.I.A., and Aimee Mann, among others.  All live sessions are archived for streaming on demand.  The New York Times Magazine profile of Nic Harcourt on June 28 calls him “. . .the country’s most important disc jockey and a genuine bellwether.”

KCRW-FM, licensed to Santa Monica College, is National Public Radio’s flagship station for Southern California. The station serves Los Angeles and Orange Counties at 89.9 FM, Ventura County at 89.1 FM on KCRU/ Oxnard-Ventura, the greater Palm Springs area at 89.3 FM on KCRI/Indio-Palm Springs and Kern and Northern LA Counties at 88.1 FM on KCRY/Mojave/Antelope Valley. KCRW can now be heard in Santa Barbara at 106.9. Other translators carry the signal to the Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley areas at 90.7 FM, Gorman at 89.7 FM, Banning at 90.9 FM, the Ridgecrest area at 100.1 FM, the Santa Paula, Moorpark, and Fillmore areas at 102.3 FM, Ojai at 102.1 FM, and Lemon Grove/Spring Valley in San Diego County at 89.9 FM. Every week, more than 500,000 listeners tune to the station for its eclectic and innovative non-commercial program schedule. KCRW can be found on the World Wide Web at KCRW.com, streaming 3 channels and podcasting all KCRW-produced talk programs.