Beginning in
1987 at WQCK (Baton Rouge, LA). Gigs throughout the ‘90s at WFMF
& WTGE (Baton Rouge), KLRZ (New Orleans, LA), KSMB (Lafayette,
LA), KILO (Colorado Springs, Denver, CO) & WGIR (Manchester, NH;
Boston, MA). Programming stints late in the decade at WQCK
(Baton Rouge, LA), WXRG (Biloxi, MS), WXCR (Albany, NY) & KLRZ
(New Orleans, LA). Finally syndicated late night personality on
the Christian Hit Radio Satellite Network (Nashville, TN) at the
end of the millennium. Now President of Scott Hawk Media
(Nashville, TN) whose properties include online radio stations
WebRock.net and Knocka.com.
1. What prompted you to begin WebRock.net, and
how did the ball get rolling to get it off the ground?
In the early 90’s I had the opportunity to
work at one of the nation’s first stations to use an automation
system. That was back when TM Century was developing their UDS
system before Scott Studios and music on hard-drive. In 1995, I
was programming a small market classic rock station in the
southeast. One of our sister stations was a jukebox operated AC
outlet that was literally in a closet in the back of our
building near the garage. That was when the idea originally
began to take shape. Of course there were only a handful of
people streaming content online at the time so there was no real
concept to further the vision.
Late in the decade I started WebRock.net’s
parent company Scott Hawk Media, which was an outgrowth of a
radio show prep service we had begun called Monster Prep. Over
the years I had watched the dot com craze with the technology
boom and began to see the potential reach of an Internet only
station especially in the Christian marketplace. The Christian
industry, for all its growth, still suffered from the loss of
its promotional backbone namely being radio. The question was
how could we bring Christian radio to every market in the United
States and the answer was quite clear. We began doing case
studies and approaching investors in late 1999. Our studies
showed that Christian consumers were turning to the Internet to
find Christian music, as it was not easily accessible in their
market. We also found that the rock genre was largely neglected
even with the popularity and success of artists with mainstream
mass appeal. WebRock.net was started to provide a positive
alternative to its mainstream counterpart. And we literally
created the “modern rock” format for the industry in order to
accomplish our vision.
2. What criteria go into the decision to add
music to WebRock.net?
The concept behind WebRock.net has been to
define our format by mainstream standards and to provide a
product that is comparable to our mainstream counterparts. What
that has come to mean is WebRock.net setting the standard for
our industry. The basis of our music criteria is focused on
artists who have created truly inventive and artistic work with
lyrics leaning in a "positive" and "vertical" manner.
We start with that foundation then use a
variety of audience music testing to pick songs which are not
only potential a “hit” but relevant to our station’s vision as
well. This simple philosophy has catapulted WebRock.net into the
spotlight for many other stations across the country and around
the world as a sounding board for “what’s next” in this music
genre. We have even noticed that record labels watch what music
we jump on to help them choose what singles to release to the
radio market.
Without a doubt, WebRock.net can stand toe to
toe with any large market mainstream property. It’s all thanks
to our creative team who has created one of the most engaging
Internet radio properties on the planet. And that’s why
WebRock.net has become the premiere online music station in the
industry.
3. Where to you see WebRock.net 5 years from
now?
Anyone with a little bit of vision, maybe a
Star Trek fan as well, can see where radio is going. The future
of radio is Internet radio. It may not be called "Internet
radio" but it will be essentially the same beast. Generally,
most people still see the Internet as web pages and email. But
the Internet is really a means of transmitting information, just
like radio, television or cellular signals do in the air. I
believe once broadband wireless is more common, people will
suddenly see the true nature of the Internet. When the Internet
is airborne, then suddenly it will become the next step in the
evolution of television and radio because it's also interactive.
Streaming media, audio and video, is the future of the Internet.
Driving from LA to NY and listening to WebRock.net is not as far
down the road as some might think.
Imagine the impact this is going to have on
the industry. Now multiply that times 100 and that is the impact
it will have on the Christian music industry. Suddenly the
scarce medium of Christian radio will be available anywhere and
everywhere... In your car, on your Walkman, on your clock radio,
etc.
You can already hear WebRock.net on iM
Network’s "Best of Planet" programming through a growing number
of iM Radio® Tuners, including the Philips FW-i1000, the Philips
MC-i200, Panasonic's Broadband STB, iM Remote Tuners, and iM
Radio Tuner Software, as well as other upcoming products.
WebRock.net is also distributed through
XSVoice, enabling live audio streaming to wireless devices via
its Mobile Broadcast Network! You can enhance your existing
wireless service with the option to listen live and on-demand to
WebRock.net right from your wireless device like cell phones,
PDAs, pocket PCs and more.
It’s here that the future of radio lies and
WebRock.net is on the cutting edge of this incredible new
medium.
4. If you could change one thing in Christian
radio or the Christian music industry what would it be?
Funny you should ask this particular question…
Just this week I finished writing a book on the subject
entitled, “REVOLUTION: An honest look at Christian music.” Watch
for it to be published this summer or fall. Let me answer your
question with a quote from the book.
“In it’s current form, the Christian music
industry is having little impact on our culture. It’s simply
servicing the church. And that’s not necessary so what’s the
point?”
5. Why do you think WebRock.net has been
successful?
I don’t think anyone in our company could have
ever imagined that WebRock.net would be this successful this
fast. And the properties reach has been dramatic, not only in
the marketplace but in the industry itself.
When we first began we would compare our play
list to albums charting on the rock sales chart, the Christian
retail sales chart and the general market retail sales chart. On
a good week we would see 3 or 4 artists in the top 20 on the
rock sales chart and one in both the Christian retail sales and
general market retail sales charts. That has changed
dramatically. Just last week we counted 17 albums out of 20 in
the rock sales charts of artists we play and 10 in the top 50 on
the Christian retail sales charts and 6 in the general market
retail sales charts. I believe this because of the influence
WebRock.net in the marketplace.
I don’t believe that what we’re doing is
staggering by any stretch, but when you look at the influence
WebRock.net has had on retail sales, the industry, the artists,
the radio industry and our medium; it’s hard not to see that the
market is crying out for what we’re offering.
