JOY loses music director
Melbourne’s queer radio station, JOY 94.9 FM, will farewell long-time volunteer music director Damian Nicholas after a surprise announcement last week that he will step down from the role.
JOY FM station manger Stephen Hahn said Nicholas was instrumental in developing the sound of the station and helping form the current music policy.
Nicholas, who has been involved with the station for over a decade, told Southern Star he was moving on to other things.
-œIt is a real shame to see Damian go. His contribution to the station has been invaluable and he has worked really hard, Hahn said.
He said inquiries about the volunteer position started last week, however, the station will not be pushed into filling the role immediately.
-œWe will look internally and externally for a replacement but things are in place to deal with the sudden announcement.
Hahn said while the station would retain its -œpop-centric sound he is looking to expand the role to include a more diverse line-up.
This could include a committee to steer the station’s music content.
-œThis gives us the chance to expand and explore other areas of music the station doesn’t normally tap into, he said.
Hahn said surveys taken at the recent Midsumma carnival indicated the community wanted to see the station reflect more diversity in its music output.
I like diverse music and that’s why PBS gets my “gay dollar”. You can listen for good pop, good soul, good funk, good dub, good hip hop -you just look at the guide and tune in when you want. PBS have some really good music shows and the people on air seem to be big fans of what they are playing. Joy has always sounded as thought the people on air don’t know anything about the music and are just trying to sound excited
I am sure it’s a hard job for anyone but the music on JOYfm has always sounded really commercial and very repetitive to me – maybe cause I am young and not into the old pop classics. Maybe they don’t repeat the songs a lot but they all sound the same, I like commercial pop but not constantly. I am always surprised that the music at breakfast is the same in the affternoon, it’s always sounded like just one person was playing what they liked for an hour and then repeating it. Sometimes I just get sick of it even though I want to listen as its a gay station.
I might write in and offer to help! Not a member so maybe I better become one first.
It’s a shame he’s going. I think Joy plays a great mix of music. Commercial, but not the sort of stuff you hear on the commercial stations, if that makes sense. I hope they don’t start tinkering with the formula too much…if they try and make it completely diverse, they’ll end up pleasing no one!