Most stations will flip this year.... a couple will survive.... probably the Wave, perhaps Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia (which sort of came back after a flip).

I don't see the future as smooth.... yes, there are a great many people (I call them "smoothies") who are comfortable with it and they think it includes Luther Vandross, Sade and Anita Baker hits from 20 years ago. They don't have a clue as to how smooth jazz was born, what it represented to us in the late 80's and early 90's - and quite honestly, they don't care. Smooth jazz is the only outlet for music from yesterday that they can identify with. Corporate radio has essentially shut them out in favor of today's flavor of the month.

I see the future as being a hybrid of fusion, jazz, funk and rock elements. This music will be available on satellite, HD, internet and indie sources. Distribution will be digital download - and if you go to a show, perhaps you can get an actual CD.

I don't see the future as being revamped hits of yesterday. While the ""smoothies" may love it, the rest of us who aren't ready to become horizontal (nod to Cabbage! ) - well, we want music which interests us and motivates us - and not necessarily because we want to sit back, relax and live a "lifestyle" pushed upon us by advertisers and market-meisters.

These days, I see the collapse of smooth jazz radio as being a good thing. Because musicians and artists no longer will have to adhere to constraints and formats - and will hopefully focus on great music and melodies - rather than getting a spot in the rotation on corporate radio stations.

The smoothies just haven't heard the stuff they are missing. I mean they are even missing Acoustic Alchemy, Spyro Gyra, the Rippingtons and even the Boney and Peter White songs that are not covers. when they hear them they will totally light up. It's like one of the guys who commented in RnR mentioned. They give you the red couch, the blue couch and the green couch and ask you to choose which one you like best but what if you really want purple or yellow. Or would want purple or yellow if you saw them too.

There are already so many signs of life and inspiration coming from the people who were exiled and/or fired from stations when BA took over. Now everyone is talking about starting brunch shows, podcasting, putting up internet stations. One thing I pressed in my "One Station Fits All" editorial last year which kind of predicted this whole mess was that when the "Think tank" is reduced to three people who affirm each other and no new ideas are allowed to seep through stagnation cccurs big time, which is what has happened. When this happens you have to do the same thing that you do with a stagnant pond or a tree that only blooms on new growth. Drain it or prune it back to the roots..
there will be a lot of growing pains because radio is over as a music medium and it took drastic measures for people to realize this.

One thing always scared me about smooth jazz musicians post-BA compared to musicians in other genres. Smooth Jazz musicians often referred to the music they play as "the format." I've never heard a country, pop, or R&B artist refer to their music as a format..always as the music. hmmmmmmm....

They were a full time broadcast Architecture SJ Network affiliate. You can't play songs that are 30-40 years old and survive in a city where the average age is 35. These people were 5 years old when "Feels So Good" came out and just a glint in their mama's eyes when "You are The Sunshine Of My Life" was released. And that was the core music this station was playing.
No loss. Nobody listened anyway. Now we can get a brunch show going that will play more SJ in 4 hours on a Sunday morning than BA Network plays in a week.

Shannon... My phone has been busy, listening to people talk about their upcoming projects. There's a new energy that wasn't present before, now that the format is ending. The music will reflect that and we should start to hear the results soon.

That said.... a long awaited project will be available at CD Baby soon.... Frank Felix's "Tales From the Funky Underground" will be available in mid-April. The CDs have been sent and will be listed soon. Good example of how timing has helped.... Frank's music is too funky for the smoothies, and will have a better chance now.

I expect CD Baby and Payloadz.com to be strong distribution sources for digital music.

Kat, cdbaby.com is a gold mine! I've bough a ton of music off that site. I mean really good music not available anywhere else. From Jazz to funk and even bass players (my forte)!