CMJ NOMINATIONS SPECTACULAR

College Radio Awards Nominations 2014

Station Awards

Welcome to they years CMJ NOMINATIONS ! Last year I did this after the nominations closed. I decided to do it earlier so that if you did not know who to nominate then this might help you. There are so many good stations right now that it made my decisions hard.  

You can take a look at last years nominations here: http://douginthehouse.blogspot.com/2013_09_01_archive.html

Lets start from the bottom and work our way to Station of the year.... 

Most Creative Programming

So many good stations to pick from. But I wanted to go with someone who's chart changed on a weekly basis. I narrowed it down to KDVS  , KALX In the end I went with KDVS because I know less of their records on a regular basis. 

(Station)

KDVS 

Best Taste In Music

(Person)

 I think to be a Music Director you do not really need good taste in music. I just have to have an open mind and to know if something is "good" It is very subjective but even if you don't like something I think a lot of the time you can figure out what is good for that genre. With that said I would think the person with the best taste in Music should be someone that has an open mind about most records. 

We saw pitches for this award earlier from WHUS, WVFS and WKDU as you can read in the earlier posts. I would also like to say that WITR also has great taste in music. The former director from KVCU would of been my nomination but he has since graduated I am going to go with one of the new MDS from KCSB as he seems to be able to talk in detail about any genre I throw at him. 

Jake Weeks--KCSB 

Best Student-Run, Internet-Only Station

Over the years there has been a rise of these stations at CMJ and I think more and more these are a better reflection of what people like at college radio. I am not really counting stations that have had their airwaves taken away though. I was going to nominate 3wk or Bagel radio but I guess they are not student run. So I went with the once mighty KUSF as a reminder of http://savekusf.org

KUSF 

Rookie Of The Year

There are a LOT of stations still coming back with brand new MD's so it is kind of a shame that they will not get the chance to be nominated. I had a hard time deciding on what makes an MD a rookie.  Less than a year I guess was my final ruling.  I have to think that the Rookie of the year might be tied with Biggest Improvement. I decided to split the two up but know that both stations/ MD were up for the nomination  

(Person)

Zak from KRUX 

Best Use Of Limited Resources

Have you been paying attention? Most stations have limited resources, how many stations have lost their signal lately? At least one big station a year for a while now. Still WRAS still has way more recourses than a LOT Of stations so I tried to stick with smaller stations on this one. But was ultimately swayed by the email pitch they sent out. WKNC 

(Station)

WKNC 

Biggest Improvement

 I think for the first three years of this award KLSU won. Its kind of a backhanded complement right? Hey you were awful now you are less awful! I think KRUX has improved a lot as well but really feel WVFS has changed a lot over the course of the last two MD's and for the better. They also have a really nice new website 

WVFS 

Biggest Community Resource

(Station)

I think this is a big one and kind of ties in with Station of the year. If you are big in your community then plays on your station will mean more than a play at a station that does nothing to be involved with the community. But in my quest not to nominate the same station more than once I will pick someone different for each nomination.  I went with WTSR because of how much more they are doing on all fronts over the past few months. Madison was in the running for MD of the year as well. And think she should be considered. 

WTSR 

Biggest Champion Of The Local Scene

Can you believe there are some stations that don't set aside time for local artists? Seems pretty silly to me and seems like that would be nice easy way of connecting with your community.  

KUOM 

Will Never Sell Out

(Person)

 Sure you won't.... sure you won't. Actually I don't think she will as she has been doing it for a while but this year I went with Alice from KVMR 

Alice KVMR 

Specialty Music Director Of The Year

I do not know.  I did not get any submissions for this so I have no idea. Someone from CJLO or one of those canadian stations usually win so since I only talk to one Canadian station I nominated him. 

David --CILU 

Music Director Of The Year

This was a hard one as I am trying to split up the Station of the year and the MD of the year voting and there are so many good MD's out there.  WDWN, WITR, WKNC, WTSR, WUOG, WVFS, KDHX, KALX, KTCU, KUOM, and actually anyone listed above were in consideration for this nomination but I went with ... 

Michelle from WDBM 

Station Of The Year

Last year I went with KDHX as I think they are one of the best stations out there. They still are of course but in an effort to spread the love around I have tried not to renominate in the same category as last year. So this year I am going with KALX 

KALX 

I also must do Industry awards. I think there are a lot of good companies out there that should be recognized and this is my opportunity to do so. 

Industry Awards

Promoter Of The Year
Last year I went with Tenni and she continues to do a great job. If you are not going to Nominate ME ( and really you should) I feel the promoter I hear the most about on my calls recently Is Christine from Distiller so I would go with her. But really go with me 


Doug Pirate! 




Promotion Company Of The Year


I would obviously love for you to nominate us. I think we work some really good projects and don't overwhelm you with too many releases at once. BUT... if you were not going to nominate us I would suggest my next favorite company A Man, A Plan, A Canal  (Company)


Pirate! 


Outstanding Leadership In College Radio
 I think this one just means you have been a round for a while.  
Douglas Blake--Pirate 


Best Online Resources


we were the first company to really go hard after digital. 
Pirate! 
Best Taste In Music


Canada has forgotten more bands than I have known. Nominate him   
Canada--Pirate


Please Hire Me When I Graduate


(Company)


Go where the money is. Twitter. Get a job at Twitter. 


Best Artist Roster


(Company)
Pirate! 
Well thank you for reading. You have until Friday at 4pm Eastern to nominate someone! Get your nominations in! http://www.cmj.com/column/on-air/2014-cmj-college-radio-award-nominations-now-open/