Laughing Cowboy Enterprises, LLC (LCE) (http://www.laughingcowboyenterprises.com) announced this week the kick-off of ther RocketHub crowd funding effort to raise capital for the purchase of a radio station to serve as the flagship station for Laughing Cowboy. Joe Youngblood, President LCE, explained he’s very excited about the campaign and is confident that they will obtain their goal. “Laughing Cowboy is out to challenge the broadcast industry. Clear Channel, Town Media and XM have damaged radio. They pegeon holed music in narrowly defined genres and broadcast the same limited number of songs repeatedly. They present a bland mix of music and throw in a shock jock or two. We want to broadcast a very wide range of music, classical, jazz, country, Americana, rock, opera. Artists like Robbie Williams, Wolf Alice, Torres, Kick Up the Dust, Carolina Chocolate Drops and Epica, along with older artists who are still recording, Elton John and Neil Diamond. You name it, our station will play it. Additionally, our DJ’s aren’t shock jocks rather they’re knowledgeable about music, about the news and about our communities. Our crowd funding goal covers the purchase of an existing station with enough capital to carry us through the first two months of operations.”
Mr. Youngblood grew up listening to the radio in the Texas Hill Country. “Radio presented us a window to the world. We would tune in stations from across the plains, WLS Chicago, KRLD Dallas, KTSA San Antonio, along with station from Oklahoma City and Shreveport, LA. Today, I still listen to the radio for entertainment, news, sports and weather. With Laughing Cowboy, I want to offer a new generation an opportunity to hear an wide variety of music and DJ’s such as I experienced.”
No station has been identified yet, but a hundred or so stations are for sale throughtout the US on any day. FM stations proliferated in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Many of these stations are located in samll markets, too small for Clear Channel. Many are also family owned. Now, the owners are looking to retire and see their stations as their retirement. These are the stations Laughing Cowboy sees as potential. “Many of these stations are the voice of the local community. They broadcast local news, local events, local sports and church services. We want to be a part of a community,” Mr. Youngblood explained.
As far as DJ’s, Mr. Youngblood says Laughing Cowboy will be different from the current shock jock radio. “We want our DJ’s to have their won persanlity, to be knowledgeable of music and current events and most importantly, alive, entertaining and engaging. We will help our DJ’s grow, letting them experiement with styles and technicues to determine what works best for them and help them develop as an individual.”
Mr. Youngblood stressed the importance of supporting the whole music industry, not just the artists. “I want to stress, we will pay royalties to both the artists and composers. Without composers, the variety of song selections decreases to everyone’s determent.