KPNR-FM Pittsburgh Net Radio

Pittsburgh Net Radio is an indie/freeform internet radio station broadcasting from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, on the [http://www.live365.com Live 365 radio network.]

Pittsburgh Net Radio started in 2001 as a forum for Pittsburgh based acts to get their music heard beyond local bars, clubs and Pittsburgh in general - the broadcast stream expanded its format in 2004 thanks in part to a Seed Award provided by the Sprout Fund, a forum in Southwestern Pennsylvania that embraces innovative ideas important to young adults and Pittsburgh's landscape, arts and culture. The expanded playlist featured various subgenres of indie music with a more eclectic freeform blend of music.

This move was inspired by the lack of a freeform or indie presence in Pittsburgh's terrestrial radio market, particularly felt when publicly funded independent station WYEP geared their programming focus to a more folk/AAA/singer-songwriter mix targeted towards an older, perhaps more affluent, demographic within the city. Founder and music director Brian Cosgrove felt there was little terrestrial radio exposure for touring bands coming to Pittsburgh and the type of music one could hear any given week through the efforts of Pittsburgh indie promoters bringing bands to art galleries and music spaces around town.

As Cosgrove told craveonline.com in May of 2005, "I'll go to these amazing shows and see maybe twelve other people there besides me, I'd feel a little embarrassed for the city and sorry for the bands who made the trip - now with a negative impression of Pittsburgh and the promoter who likely lost a ton of their own money, thanks in large part to no radio promotion. I'd think of people who skipped the show and if they would've attended had they been familiar with the band's music rather than just seeing a flyer in the window of some coffee shop. WYEP has the most influence in the city but they also have a demo niche they cater to and more power to them, they're successful, I'm just a dreamer. I see a net station like WOXY from Cincinnati bringing good music to the masses while supporting it's local scene by getting people to shows, getting touring bands into Cincy and getting their local bands exposure to the indie labels that flock to the station. I see what mp3 blogs are doing for certain city scenes. This is just me trying to spark something like that in Pittsburgh, doing my part to get people exposed to new stuff, whoever they may be."

Cosgrove programs the bulk of music with contributions from others currently or formerly involved in the Pittsburgh music scene such as [http://www.myspace.com/davidbernabo Dave Bernabo] (from Pittsburgh band [http://www.valeandyear.com Vale and Year] ), [http://www.myspace.com/mistermatz Tony Matz] (from Pittsburgh band [http://www.1tangerine.com Tangerine] ), [http://www.myspace.com/odradekstadium Andy Beckerman] (from comedy duo the [http://www.wrestlingteam.org Wrestling Team] ), [http://www.myspace.com/laguirre Lucia Aguirre] (local architect, artist, hipster), Jeremy Hedges (from Pittsburgh band the sea, like lead), Dave Trenga (from Pittsburgh's Behind Enemy Lines) and TJ Fenell (from Pittsburgh's Enamel Records). Local DJ's at Pittsburgh clubs sometimes stream their entire sets and KPNR also features Podcast Spotlights of various locally produced podcasts like Mike Q. Roth's Hardtravelin' featuring indie punk and hardcore from the Hardtravelin' label and Moe's Music Show. Community space is also available through a donation, much like public access television.

Every other week the station's website publishes their local and national top ten with music ranging from Silversun Pickups, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Hot Chip, CSS, Ladytron, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Islands, The Blow, Wolf Parade, TV on the Radio, Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom to local Pittsburgh acts like Dirty Faces, More Humans, Grand Buffet, Modey Lemon, Shade, Life In Bed, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Seven Color Sky, Centipede E'est, Ennui, Takeover UK and New Invisible Joy.

The station celebrated it's five year anniversary in October of 2001. KPNR still has a relatively small but loyal listener base with a surprisingly strong international fanbase. They have routinely landed in Live 365's most popular indie, alternative, college rock streams.In June of 2005, Pittsburgh Net Radio added the call letters of KPNR-FM to prevent first time visitors from thinking they only featured Pittsburgh music and discourage people from referring to it by the initials 'PNR' which often lead to confusion with 'NPR'. A domain name change is expected.

Efforts are currently under way to feature a more diverse range of programming by increasing the number of unique Pittsburgh personalities programming music.

External links

* [http://www.pittsburghnetradio.com Official site]