The freeform broadcasters of Jersey City’s WFMU are producing the first-ever Radiovision Festival in New York later this month, a weekend-long confab to highlight creativity in radio and technology’s potential to unleash it.
On Oct. 29, panelists from WFMU’s own talent roster will be joined by the likes of This American Life creator Ira Glass, media innovator Kenyatta Cheese, and blogger Andy Baio of Waxy.org, among many others, for a day-long symposium on the future of radio. On “Hack Day,” Oct. 30, code-writers, digital story-tellers, musicians and others will “reinvent radio” by using WFMU’s Free Music Archive to create new programs and software applications.
The festival opens Oct. 28 with a live performance by Joe Frank that’s already sold out, but tickets are still available for the symposium and Hack Day. The event coincides with WFMU’s annual Record Fair, also held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.
WFMU General Manger Ken Freedman described his objective for the festival in a recent interview with Radio Survivor: “I think it’s more important than ever to explore how radio is evolving and changing and taking on new forms. The very question of ‘What is Radio?’ is now debatable, which it never was before. It’s exciting to discuss these ideas with radio artists and digital pioneers.”