ANTHONY LUIS SANCHEZ: Composer and Musicologist
  • Home
  • News
    • Archive
  • Works
    • Compositions
    • Musicology
    • Publications
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Blog
  • Contact

Radio as Preservation

8/20/2021

0 Comments

 
Some may recall back in May when I briefly wrote about El Mes de la Radio (Radio Month) in Puerto Rico. I also noted some dates that could cause some confusion if not clarified, like World Radio Day on February 13 and National Radio Day (today’s date) in the United States. Instead of regurgitating what others say about National Radio Day (that it is a time to remember the creator of the radio Guglielmo Marconi—even though researchers like Allison Marsh find that part of history debatable), I want to take things in a different direction. Over the past few years, radio has gained importance due to the necessity for its historical preservation. The Library of Congress founded the Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF) in 2014 as an extension of the National Recording Preservation Plan. This task force follows an approach akin to ethnographic field recording preservation through finding, collecting, archiving, and researching radio recordings (specifically rare or endangered ones) for academic purposes.
​
Cultural preservation in radio equally deserves attention: both in terms of broadcasting and applying forms of technology through podcasts and Internet accessibility. I discuss this point in my upcoming musicological work on the Gullah/Geechee people in the coastal regions from North Florida to North Carolina. I not only look at how this community of descendants from West Africa have used radio stations (like Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio and WKWQ 100.7 FM) and podcast interviews (like this episode of The Stoop) to educate audiences about their history, language, music, and social customs. They also preserve their heritage by accurately representing themselves to prevent mainstream radio corporations (like the ubiquitous iHeartRadio) from interfering with and exploiting their identities. 
Picture
Photo by Rod Flores on Unsplash

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    ​DMA. Composer of acoustic and electronic music. Pianist. Experimental film.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    June 2017

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.