My KEXP donation
I done squeaked in my KEXP pledge this morning. I like a lot of other stations, but something just tugged at the corner of my soul. Kinda like those Greenpeace kids in front of Whole Foods… but John and Cheryl were more effective. I didn’t give enough for Riz to come over cook me dinner or for Stevie Zoom to give me a personal tour of the studio, but hey, it’s something.
Nice job! I gave mine yesterday and requested the black keys. Note: with the KEXP card, you get as many free goat cheese fondues at the palace kitchen that you want!* So worth it!
(1 per visit, have to get cocktails, has to be on a weeknight.)
Yeah, everyone applauded The Stranger for pointing out that KUOW has been so fiscally responsible that they have over 1M in the bank. Why is nobody pointing out the incredible, out of line, salaries that KEXP employees are getting.
Nobody donates money to get me closer to 6 figures…. I see no reason to do that for dj’s who also have vested interests in the bands they are choosing to play!
That is just the tip of the iceberg but KEXP will not get a dime from me until they (not likely) become fiscally responsible.
(One, two, three, four, let’s start a FLAME WAR!)
OR: Let’s See the Rest of Your Iceberg.
Hey NOTADOUCHEBAG, thanks for reading and thanks for your comment.
I recall a couple of years ago when I read in The Seattle Weekly that John Richards (AKA John in the Morning) was making something like $140K/yr at KEXP. The Weekly behaved like they had the scoop on the Story that Would End 90.3 KEXP. And they had me, and I was outraged… for about thirty seconds.
During that half minute, I was pissed because I had the naive expectation that no like-minded, left-leaning music aficianado could be making…. a living wage.
OK, so a hundred grand a year is well above the living wage, but nonetheless, I boiled it down to this: what is so WRONG about someone making good money for what they are good at? Think about it: John Richards is 32 or 33 years old. He paid his dues for years, working at sh*t jobs and going to shows but absorbing music and everything about it passionately. Just like his co-workers Cheryl Waters, Derek Mazzone, Kevin Cole, DJ Riz, Larry Metro etc etc. So you’re not going to donate to them because they “make too much money” and no one’s donating to *your* cause? OK, fine. To paraphrase my friend Kelly, “What do YOU do that’s so important?” If you’re so good at it, why are you working for someone who’s paying you peanuts?
Who told you that your donation goes in Greg Vandy or Don Slack’s pockets? ‘Cause it can’t be true.
Additionally, a million in the bank for a big-city radio station is also peanuts. Especially one that might reach 50,000 people each day. (My guess extrapolated from a story from The Weekly in 2003.)
And if your qualification for “supporting businesses” is that they are fiscally responsible”? I’d better not catch you tuning into a Clear Channel station. Or shopping at Safeway. Or buying Dow Chemicals products. Or buying gasoline, for that matter.
Let the flaming begin….
Not that I’m an expert on the matter but my 2 cents worth is that John certainly deserves whatever salary he makes, probably even more (including a couple extra DJs at KEXP). He has a huge following, works his ass off, shapes the music we listen too and hell, he even has celebrity status in Seattle. The sticking point tho is that KEXP is a non-profit organization which by adding a large salary, some may think it doesn’t make sense. But you also have to look at it, without him, would KEXP be KEXP? Would they get the same cred, support and draw that they do today?
I mean, also look at the ridiculous salaries of Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. This *supposed* 140K is chump change compared to what they make.
In addition, I will gladly contribute to my membership every year — just to get awesome new music AND commercial free radio regardless to to what the DJs salaries are. If they made a $500K each, more power to them.