WBRU to be sold

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EGram
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WBRU to be sold

Unread post by EGram »

http://providenceonline.com/stories/radio-silence,24147

A friend of mine who was a WBRU dj back in the 00s just told me of this.

Even if i don't love most modern alt rock that wbru plays i enjoy occasionally flip to it in hopes of hearing some older music i loved when i was growing up. It doesn't help that 92.9 is a similar, yet better station with more variety and less commercials.

Among the dozens of BRU promoted shows and summer concerts i have attended i got to see the Killers at a seedy dive bar back in 04 at a $5 show put on by BRU. The next generation growing up will now have the opportunities. Many indie rock bands that don't get played on BRU much would at least get plenty of promotion from the station for shows nearby. For example i saw Beach house at Lupos in august 2015 with my friends and my sister. I would imagine in the future many other bands like that simply skip providence now.

Whats even more mind boggling is the station is actually not losing uch money and had no dire financial imperative forcing them to sell soon. The idea of selling your core business and forsaking your consumer base to start a speculative venture in the insanely competitive and failure ridden field of music distribution over the internet is just insane. Even the record industry people told them all this as the article states. I honestly can't think of a single instance of a terrestial station selling it single and going on to have success as in internet only venture. They almost inevitably lose all there listeners and close in a few years.

Unfortunately my friend tells me much of the reason it passed is many of the new alumni on the board and current students dislike the idea of broadcasting Alternative radio. I can't help but think that has as much to do with it as anything as it seems improbable intelligent people could actually think trading the current BRU for a internet station no one will listen to and probably another top 40 or urban station is good for the community your supposed to be serving as a non-profit.

So thanks for screwing over the local community Brown students and Alumni who voted for this. As a former listener and Employee of one of your advertisers i can assure you i won;t be listening anymore, neither will my company be buying the adspace we have bought for the 20 or so previous years.
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RF1
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RF1 »

The station, in going the streaming route only, will just hasten its demise.
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

In the late 90s BRU was virtually locked on all my radios, especially when I started driving here in RI.
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

What a drag.......
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RF1
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RF1 »

95.5 WBRU will no longer exist as a radio station in and around September 1st. The station's license will be transferred to Educational Media Foundation (EMF) which is expected to broadcast its Christian adult-contemporary music format. WBRU will accelerate its death spiral with a switch of its operations to internet only distribution.


http://wpri.com/2017/08/25/wbru-95-5s-s ... e-network/
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

well...if it has to go...this is a great option
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TruePoint
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by TruePoint »

Insult to injury that it is going to Christian rock. Ugh.
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

That's all she wrote. Last 3 songs were Talking Heads, then Smashing Pumpkins and final track was a little surprise they squeezed in White Stripes, then it died DJs were all pretty emotional, there was a lot of crying all day and some colorful language towards the end. I must admit as the ostensible final track "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins played... my allergies may have acted up a bit. Then "Fell In Love With A Girl" rocked out unexpectedly, there was a final sign-off and then just static. Real bummer. I'm listening to the ghost of the station right now on streaming and they're trying to keep spirits up but there's a "last week of school" feeling about everything, of course.

Apparently Brown and the Alumni tried to save the station, but the student and executive boards wouldn't listen. Likely the students who voted to kill were out of state/non DJs/non listeners (at least before college).

http://wpri.com/2017/08/30/emails-brown ... gnal-sale/
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by SGreenwell »

I also read about Brown offering that loan, which was probably low or no interest. Interesting, but I wonder how deep in the red WBRU was already; I haven't seen that listed anywhere. Presumably, the university probably recognized (correctly) that the station had a lot of value to them, and it was better to try to reacquire it and run it at a loss. With the size of Brown, it's probably a negligible effect on their budget.
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

Nice tweet from URI's station. WRIU's late night is pretty much the only college rock left in RI now.

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RF1
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RF1 »

SGreenwell wrote:I also read about Brown offering that loan, which was probably low or no interest. Interesting, but I wonder how deep in the red WBRU was already; I haven't seen that listed anywhere. Presumably, the university probably recognized (correctly) that the station had a lot of value to them, and it was better to try to reacquire it and run it at a loss. With the size of Brown, it's probably a negligible effect on their budget.


While the station was losing money, this does not appear to be the main reason for the sale according to this article:


WBRU vote to potentially authorize sale of FM license
Staff members cite decline in radio listeners, student interest as reasons behind possible sale
Brown Daily Herald
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/03 ... ian-beats/
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

Not usually the biggest fan of GoLocal (to say the least), but previous article seem to lend this credibility... this may be the explanation as to how this happened despite public opinion and the interest of the student DJs/staff

http://www.golocalprov.com/business/bro ... n-to-block
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EGram
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by EGram »

Nonsensical garbage.

Read my reply below.
Last edited by EGram 6 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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RhowdyRam02
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

What the fuck?
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RhodyKyle
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RhodyKyle »

EGram definitely voted for beer at the seats.
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ramster
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by ramster »

RhodyKyle wrote:EGram definitely voted for beer at the seats.
He meant to, just not sure he hit the right key :lol:
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Rhody74
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Re: WBRU to be sold

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RhowdyRam02
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

You can do two of the three, I'm proof of that, but you can't go all three
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EGram
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by EGram »

Sorry everyone.

They gave me a small script of xanax and Percodan after a minor surgery i had. Guess it affected me more then i realized.

Funny thing is I don't even drink alcohol but in my mind it all seemed very logical when i wrote it.

It's like when i was in hospital getting dilaudid shots every other hour after my big leg surgery last summer. I was frantically trying to explain to my sister if we didn't hide our family heirlooms ASAP the Lannisters would seize the opportunity to take them from us. Seeing as i was out of commission and could no longer protect us from them..
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Rhody74
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by Rhody74 »

Just kidding, Egram. Hope you feel better. We need lucid fans!
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Puck Frovidence
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

Somewhat related, Grant Hart from Husker Du died yesterday. Huge bummer.

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NYGFan_Section208
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

EGram wrote:Np, just gotta be more careful in the future. Thankfully my Xanax script runs out early next week and i have no plans to ask for another refill.

Not sure why my Doc thought it was a good idea to prescribe the highest possible dose (2mg) 2-3x a day. To someone who had never taken a sedative before. Granted i'm a big guy, 6ft 3in 200lb. who usually requires more then the average recommended dose. But that + 4x 10mg Percodans a day seems excessive.

Anyways back to BRU, They pretty much shaped my taste in music when i first heard "1979, "Tonight, Tonight", and Everlong" as a kid.

I feel like a piece of my adolescence has died.

A few years ago i was inspired to write this about "1979" on reddit and facebook. I still feel it's one of the best things i've ever written.

My friends didn't have much money, but we had plenty of time. Time to ride around in an old car doing burnouts and other dumb shit. Time to crash parties. Time to get involved in some light debauchery. Time to rail against authority when it came down on you after you flex a little freedom.
It felt like it would never end. We were always bored and waiting. Waiting to go to college, waiting to be un-grounded, waiting for that stupid class to end. Waiting for total freedom.

We had so much time, and we were always waiting, feeling like we're on the cusp of something else. Something bigger, something better, something different. The problem is that freedom comes so slowly that you don't realize when you finally have it, you've dumped responsibilities into the mix. These days you have no time, and you don't spend any time waiting. Everything must happen now. Now you have to get up for work at a shitty career you never thought you'd end up in to support the family you never thought you'd have with what sounds like more money than you ever thought you'd earn, but it is all spent so damn quickly.

You sit back and wonder where it all went. What changed? What happened? One day you were bored and restless waiting on the cusp of something else. Something big.

The millstone around your neck grows so slowly you never notice it until it's unbearable.
"Millstone"? Yikes! High school and college were great, awesome at times even...but having a family, career, and opportunities to do stuff...blows that away...but I guess it's like they say..."your actual mileage may vary"
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EGram
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by EGram »

Not trying to say having family or career does not have it;s own joys. They are just different joys then the one's many of us hoped for as a kid. Maybe i am odd but at some level i think i secretly wanted to be 19 forever.

At one point 100% thought my Fiance was the love of my life at age 20. Indeed since then i have never seen two people with such Animus. But adulting, and responsibilities got in the way. Eventually it made me realize how naive and idealistic my mindset had been. Indeed, How both of our Mindsets had been, we were teenagers who knew the Asnwers to everything. Having a relationship from schools half a world-away would be easy right?

Those kids i did everything with as a kid? One of them just died the other month at age 30 of a heart attack (in good shape and only smoked weed), a few years before that another friend suddenly shot himself in the face.. Personally I see the millstone as age and responsibility. Sadly i;ve seen it destroy and irrecoverably changes many people over the past decade or so.
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swampfoxer
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by swampfoxer »

EGram wrote: 6 years ago ...

A few years ago i was inspired to write this about "1979" on reddit and facebook. I still feel it's one of the best things i've ever written.

My friends didn't have much money, but we had plenty of time. Time to ride around in an old car doing burnouts and other dumb shit. Time to crash parties. Time to get involved in some light debauchery. Time to rail against authority when it came down on you after you flex a little freedom.
It felt like it would never end. We were always bored and waiting. Waiting to go to college, waiting to be un-grounded, waiting for that stupid class to end. Waiting for total freedom.

We had so much time, and we were always waiting, feeling like we're on the cusp of something else. Something bigger, something better, something different. The problem is that freedom comes so slowly that you don't realize when you finally have it, you've dumped responsibilities into the mix. These days you have no time, and you don't spend any time waiting. Everything must happen now. Now you have to get up for work at a shitty career you never thought you'd end up in to support the family you never thought you'd have with what sounds like more money than you ever thought you'd earn, but it is all spent so damn quickly.

You sit back and wonder where it all went. What changed? What happened? One day you were bored and restless waiting on the cusp of something else. Something big.

The millstone around your neck grows so slowly you never notice it until it's unbearable.
Hey man, I don't know who you are, but you don't have to say that you wrote it to share appreciation for it. It's not cool to take credit for it yourself.

Here's the original:
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TruePoint
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by TruePoint »

swampfoxer wrote: 4 years ago
EGram wrote: 6 years ago ...

A few years ago i was inspired to write this about "1979" on reddit and facebook. I still feel it's one of the best things i've ever written.

My friends didn't have much money, but we had plenty of time. Time to ride around in an old car doing burnouts and other dumb shit. Time to crash parties. Time to get involved in some light debauchery. Time to rail against authority when it came down on you after you flex a little freedom.
It felt like it would never end. We were always bored and waiting. Waiting to go to college, waiting to be un-grounded, waiting for that stupid class to end. Waiting for total freedom.

We had so much time, and we were always waiting, feeling like we're on the cusp of something else. Something bigger, something better, something different. The problem is that freedom comes so slowly that you don't realize when you finally have it, you've dumped responsibilities into the mix. These days you have no time, and you don't spend any time waiting. Everything must happen now. Now you have to get up for work at a shitty career you never thought you'd end up in to support the family you never thought you'd have with what sounds like more money than you ever thought you'd earn, but it is all spent so damn quickly.

You sit back and wonder where it all went. What changed? What happened? One day you were bored and restless waiting on the cusp of something else. Something big.

The millstone around your neck grows so slowly you never notice it until it's unbearable.
Hey man, I don't know who you are, but you don't have to say that you wrote it to share appreciation for it. It's not cool to take credit for it yourself.

Here's the original:
Hey man. We will take down the post here. Obviously if we had any idea that a poster here was passing off someone else’s work as their own, we would not permit it to be posted in the first place. We appreciate you bringing it to our attention.
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swampfoxer
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by swampfoxer »

TruePoint wrote: 4 years ago
swampfoxer wrote: 4 years ago
EGram wrote: 6 years ago ...

A few years ago i was inspired to write this about "1979" on reddit and facebook. I still feel it's one of the best things i've ever written.

My friends didn't have much money, but we had plenty of time. Time to ride around in an old car doing burnouts and other dumb shit. Time to crash parties. Time to get involved in some light debauchery. Time to rail against authority when it came down on you after you flex a little freedom.
It felt like it would never end. We were always bored and waiting. Waiting to go to college, waiting to be un-grounded, waiting for that stupid class to end. Waiting for total freedom.

We had so much time, and we were always waiting, feeling like we're on the cusp of something else. Something bigger, something better, something different. The problem is that freedom comes so slowly that you don't realize when you finally have it, you've dumped responsibilities into the mix. These days you have no time, and you don't spend any time waiting. Everything must happen now. Now you have to get up for work at a shitty career you never thought you'd end up in to support the family you never thought you'd have with what sounds like more money than you ever thought you'd earn, but it is all spent so damn quickly.

You sit back and wonder where it all went. What changed? What happened? One day you were bored and restless waiting on the cusp of something else. Something big.

The millstone around your neck grows so slowly you never notice it until it's unbearable.
Hey man, I don't know who you are, but you don't have to say that you wrote it to share appreciation for it. It's not cool to take credit for it yourself.

Here's the original:
Hey man. We will take down the post here. Obviously if we had any idea that a poster here was passing off someone else’s work as their own, we would not permit it to be posted in the first place. We appreciate you bringing it to our attention.
You don’t have to take it down, and I agree, there’s no way you could have known. I have looked through this guy’s other threads, and it seems like he might be a little bit of a BS artist in general? I just wish he would think about what he’s doing with his life, and figure out what’s driving him to do it.

In short, I wish I could sit down for a beer with the dude and talk it over.
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RF1
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by RF1 »

I wonder if the foolish Brown students, now two years later, regret their stupid decision.
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Taylor Swift
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by Taylor Swift »

RF1 wrote: 4 years ago I wonder if the foolish Brown students, now two years later, regret their stupid decision.
Probably-I never really listened to BRU too much, I certainly am not tuning in for God Rock.
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EGram
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by EGram »

I pmed this to Swampfozer last night.

Someone just pointed me to some old thread where i apparently may have plagiarized an old reddit post of yours, or at least a couple sentences of it.

I offer my full un-reserved apology for this. It makes me feel great shame, as while i have no problems taking people's views and modifying them a bit to be my own. This one seemed to be beyond the pale and reflect me in a morally awful light,


For whats it's worth. That Summer of 17 was the worse of my life. Indeed, a all the drugs the docs had me on caused me to make an even worse post when they got me high one night.

I was in hospital for 4 months after nearly losing my leg and need ding 5 operations. So i basically had nothing to do but
Sit in my bad with my laptop for months and write things. And take opiates and Benzos.


What most likely happened is i copy paste quotes from threads on reddit or other forums thats i like to stimulate my thought's later. Most likely I simply Accidently copied your paragraph or couple sentences, or whatever it was accidently to the actual ost. For this am deeply sorry.


BTW. Are you sure you wrote that Smashing pumpkins piece? I've seen it and variations on my sisters year book quotes of all places from 4-5 years ago... I've always seen it pop up on facebook. If you are the original writer. You should take great pride in how many people were touched by that.
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NYGFan_Section208
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

Taylor Swift wrote: 4 years ago
RF1 wrote: 4 years ago I wonder if the foolish Brown students, now two years later, regret their stupid decision.
Probably-I never really listened to BRU too much, I certainly am not tuning in for God Rock.
Might wanna give it a try sometime... 8-)
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swampfoxer
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Re: WBRU to be sold

Unread post by swampfoxer »

EGram wrote: 4 years ago I pmed this to Swampfozer last night.

Someone just pointed me to some old thread where i apparently may have plagiarized an old reddit post of yours, or at least a couple sentences of it.

I offer my full un-reserved apology for this. It makes me feel great shame, as while i have no problems taking people's views and modifying them a bit to be my own. This one seemed to be beyond the pale and reflect me in a morally awful light,


For whats it's worth. That Summer of 17 was the worse of my life. Indeed, a all the drugs the docs had me on caused me to make an even worse post when they got me high one night.

I was in hospital for 4 months after nearly losing my leg and need ding 5 operations. So i basically had nothing to do but
Sit in my bad with my laptop for months and write things. And take opiates and Benzos.


What most likely happened is i copy paste quotes from threads on reddit or other forums thats i like to stimulate my thought's later. Most likely I simply Accidently copied your paragraph or couple sentences, or whatever it was accidently to the actual ost. For this am deeply sorry.


BTW. Are you sure you wrote that Smashing pumpkins piece? I've seen it and variations on my sisters year book quotes of all places from 4-5 years ago... I've always seen it pop up on facebook. If you are the original writer. You should take great pride in how many people were touched by that.
I guess I can't get PMs because my account is too new. Yes, I did write it. Thanks for the apology, and I hope you are well!
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