[cma-l] Thank you for the music - Diesel-U-Music Radio

[Bill Best]

Hi

The CMA through Canstream is delighted to have supported the massively
successful Diesel-U-Music Radio project(http://cult.diesel.com/radio)
which finished (sadly) last Sunday when their RSL came to an end.

Read the glowing write-up by Miranda Sawyer in Sunday's Observer
newspaper below.  The first D-U-M Radio project back in May was
reported in Vogue UK (http://tinyurl.com/dumradio).

Diesel-U-Music Radio is a canny blend of product placement for the
Diesel fashion chain with bleeding edge trendy music and community
radio broadcast values - a win-win formula that might possibly be
emulated by other existing and upcoming community radio stations.

The CMA is proud to have delivered quality webcasting and service
support to the last two Diesel-U-Music Radio ventures and we look
forward to a long and continued association with Emma Sutton, the
master-mind behind the project.

Bill
- -
Technical Manager
Canstream Online Multi-Media Solutions
http://www.canstream.co.uk/

Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk/

\\

Thank you for the music
Diesel-u-music Radio

Miranda Sawyer: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/oct/12/radio

It is hard, in these fragmented days, to find a music station that
satisfies, that slaps you where you're too often tickled, that plays
music for no reason other than it's fantastic. So imagine my
unfettered joy when I stumbled across Diesel-u-music. Broadcast in
Glasgow on 106.6FM, also available on the net, the Diesel station has
been a wonderful three-month experiment that, sadly, ended this
weekend, with simultaneous parties in 17 countries to celebrate the
fashion label's 30th birthday.

Scheduled by canny radio producers with excellent contacts in the
music industry, the idea behind the station was a) to make the Diesel
fashion brand seem cool again by b) letting artists, DJs and record
label owners play the music they wanted to. Thus, labels such as
Sunday Best and 1968, clubs like Disco Bloodbath and Bugged Out! had
their slots, as did Simian Mobile Disco, Tayo, Lou from New Young Pony
Club, Sal P from Liquid Liquid, Ben from Max Tundra and Becky who
sings with Tunng (brother and sister, fact fans). All rocked up to a
small studio in Dalston, east London (or to the equivalent in Glasgow)
and played their favourite tracks for an hour or so, for free. Sal P
even had his birthday party at the Dalston studio, straight after
Liquid Liquid played last week.

How did the Diesel crew get them to do it? By creating the kind of
atmosphere that artists like: relaxed, music-friendly, but with
quality technical back-up (producers who worked with John Peel etc).
And, well, by appealing to their baser instincts. Emma Sutton, the
station's creative director, says: 'We were friends with the Klaxons
and they didn't want to come on, because they thought it was a bit
uncool, but then we got Jamie drunk one night and said, "Come and do a
radio show!" So he did and he liked it so much he stayed the whole of
the next day.'

What has been really enjoyable about the station is the way it's
broken many radio rules: there is no playlist, no 'promote the new
record' interviews, no concession to the time of day - drivetime isn't
soothing; grime is played before 9pm. The result? A lively, mixed-up
music station: unpredictable, upbeat, fantastic. The presenting could
be hit and miss, but the music was flat-out fabulous.

Just two problems: one, the experiment was too short ('Just as we've
got it running smoothly, we have to finish,' sighs Emma), and two, you
can't download the shows. This may well change if Diesel deems the
experiment a success and decides to let Diesel-u-music run and run.
Come on, you self-consciously offbeat Italo-denim obsessives, you know
it makes sense! And, yes, I did notice that the financial world is in
meltdown. I just chose to ignore it.