Media and Entertainment conglomerate Clear Channel has announced it’s plans to launch an EDM radio station named “EVOLUTION” within it’s iHeartRadio brand. The station will start things off on November 12, beginning with a five-day studio takeover by Pete Tong and a live performance by Afrojack on November 14. Starting November 19, the station will begin it’s regularly scheduled programming, including “All Gone Pete Tong,” a daily two-hour radio show that will broadcast from 7-9 PM EST. DJs on the station are set to include “Diplo; Wolfgang Gartner; Morgan Page; Fatboy Slim; Yung Skeeter; Dim Mak; Manufactured Superstars; Roger Sanchez; Dillon Francis; Doorly; Eats Everything; Jaymo and Andy George; The 2 Bears; Tom Staar; and Hot Since 82”
So, what’s the problem? Clear Channel is the company that runs many other major radio stations across the US. You know what one radio station in your nearest city that plays the same top 40 hits all day for months at a time? That station is most likely run by Clear Channel. You know how you might have liked a song on said station the first time you heard it, but now it’s been played so many times the very thought of the song makes you want to locate the nearest bridge and jump off? Clear Channel is largely responsible for that, too. 
This has the potential to be something truly revolutionary. I think most people reading this would agree that in theory an EDM-centered radio station is a good and overdue idea. I think most people would also agree that they wouldn’t want it to end up like their local top 40 station, playing the same songs 3 times in an hour. Now, with the impressive roster of DJs they have slated we can hope that won’t be the case, but we have to take into account what type of freedoms the sponsors, record labels and Clear Channel itself will give the DJs.
There needs to be variety. We already have many DJs that all play the same songs among themselves pretty much every time they perform, we don’t need a radio station that is just going to play those songs over and over again as well. We need a radio station that will expose us to new and upcoming artists, play up and coming and unreleased tracks, and dive into the underground, at least occasionally, to deliver something listeners wouldn’t otherwise hear. EDM is about the new, the fresh, and the exciting.
Clear Channel – you’ve got a magnificent thing at your fingertips. Please don’t fuck it up.
