The public-radio station at 89.3 FM debuted in Denver in 1985. Since then, it’s specialized in presenting the sort of jazz music that’s become increasingly scarce on the airwaves, while also celebrating community broadcasting and highlighting cultures unique to the Mile High City. But in 2022, a significant slice of the listenership expressed extreme displeasure over changes at the outlet, including the departure of four longtime hosts — Rodney Franks, Susan Gatschet, Matthew Goldwasser and Janine Santana — and the perception that the music mix at the signal, which had leaned heavily on the work of jazz giants, was being watered down in a revenue-driven quest for a younger audience.
Then-program director Max Ramirez, who was closely linked to these moves, left KUVO in April, with general manager Nikki Swarn filling the post on an interim basis during the search for a successor — and German is certainly an intriguing choice. He’s not exactly a jazz lifer, and he’s only worked in radio since 2015. But his previous efforts as an advocate for musicians on both the national and local levels, as well as his dedication to sonic diversity, connects with the station’s traditions. Moreover, he appears to have little interest in giving additional jolts to an operation that’s gone through more than its share of shakeups lately.
“KUVO has a nearly forty-year history in the Denver metro area and such a strong foundation,” German says. “I want to build on that foundation, not to lift out the foundation and start over.”
Although German, 48, was born in Kansas City, Missouri, he jokes that he’s not really from anywhere. “My dad was in the Navy and we moved to different military bases or shipyards every three years. So I’m a military brat. I lived in North Carolina, South Carolina, San Diego and Long Beach, California, and Virginia.”
His first job after graduating from high school during the mid-1990s was in Richmond, Virginia, where he landed a job at a branch of Tower Records. Before long, “I became obsessed with music and realized I could make a career in the music industry,” he says.
At Tower, German worked his way up to the position of singles buyer, which he describes as “a crash course in how the music industry worked on the retail side.” From there, he shifted to Circuit City and purchased products for approximately 400 stores nationwide.
Then, in 2004, German hooked up with SoundExchange, which he calls “a performance-rights organization that was set up by the U.S. Copyright Office. By then, music was starting to go digital through Pandora, Sirius XM and internet radio services. The office set up SoundExchange to collect and distribute performance royalties on behalf of recording artists and whoever owned master recordings, so they would get royalties whenever their work was on these non-interactive services” — straight-up streamers that choose what to play as opposed to operations such as Spotify, where users pick the tunes they’d like to hear.
Prior to this period, artists who didn’t write their own material — German offers Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett as examples — weren’t usually eligible for royalties, and neither were scads of lesser-known singers and players. “I would get a list of artists who had uncollected royalties and reach out to them or their estates to find out who was responsible for paying these things,” he explains.”I’d go to places like South by Southwest and go up to people at showcases and say, ‘I’ve got $8,000 for you, and here’s my card.’ A lot of them would say, ‘Yeah, right, get out of here.’ But then they’d do their research and call to say, ‘I met you at South by Southwest and you said I had some royalties waiting for me. What do I have to do to collect them?’ And I’d get their accounts set up in our system so they could.”
His stint with SoundExchange brought with it opportunities beyond giving musicians long-delayed recognition and cash. For instance, he served for two years on the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences board of governors in D.C., and also got a chance to vote for the Grammys. But in 2012, he moved to New York City and signed up with Believe, a firm that helped develop digital marketing campaigns for record labels, many of them based in Europe.
Three years later, in 2015, German jumped again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where a lot of his family had relocated. There, he got involved with WYCE, a community radio station, starting as a volunteer and going through the training program like any other novice. But after he’d earned his own show, he recalls, “I let the station manager know I had some music-industry background, and he said, ‘We’re looking to hire a music-operations coordinator. Send me your résumé.’ After I did, he said, ‘You are completely overqualified for this ten-hour-a-week job.’ And I said, ‘That’s okay. I’m really enjoying your mission and I love the music.'” By the end of his six years at the station, he was music and programming director.
WYCE had “an open format,” German points out. “Our tagline was ‘A World of Music,’ and we played jazz, blues, folk, rock, worldbeat, Michigan music and everything in between. That was really where I discovered that there was so much great music out there: Afrobeat, Cuban music, Latin alternative, neo-soul, gospel. It really opened up my music palette — and it made me realize what a rich musical legacy Michigan has. We honored a lot of Michigan musicians at an awards show and I joined the Michigan Music Alliance. I hosted webinars on how to collect royalties, register your copyrights, learn how to create an LLC and get tools to take their careers to the next level.”
His final stop prior to coming to Colorado was Duluth, Minnesota, where he hosted an afternoon-drive program on The North 103.3 FM, a station affiliated with the local PBS television affiliate, with which he coordinated special projects such as a documentary about Indigenous musicians who wrote songs about the traumatizing boarding schools that many Native Americans were forced to attend. But after just seven months, he saw KUVO’s listing for program director and couldn’t resist applying. “I knew KUVO from when I was at WYCE,” he says. “I would stream different stations across the country, and I really enjoyed the stuff I heard.”
When asked about Ramirez, German is cautious. “I can’t really speak on my predecessor,” he maintains. “I didn’t know him. I do know there were some hiccups, but all I can really say is that I’m looking forward to the future and continuing to serve the community through music curation and passionate hosts. I still hear very diverse music: jazz, Latin alternative, gospel, indigenous music, soul, rhythm and blues. I don’t know what people are missing, but what I’m hearing I feel is still true to KUVO.”
He stresses that “I’m a fan of the station, and I love every show I’ve been listening to. I love The Latin Soul Party,” which airs on Fridays from 8 p.m. to midnight. “I love The Morning Set,” created by former KUVO president and general manager Carlos Lando; it’s heard weekdays from 7-10 a.m. “I’m hearing all kinds of wonderful music, and I think the way the on-air hosts provide music curation to listeners is very valuable. In an age of automation, community radio stations like KUVO are very rare.”
According to German, he has the simplest of agendas. “My main goal when I get to Denver” — he’s working remotely from Minnesota at present but expects to be on-site as of October 30 — “is to do a lot of listening not just with the staff, but also with the community. I want to know what the community wants, what the community needs. I want to learn the demographics of Denver to see where we have an opportunity to include more diverse voices, so all community members are represented.” He’s also looking forward to exploring more cross-pollination with Rocky Mountain PBS, with which KUVO merged in 2013.
German understands that the situation at KUVO is complex. “I want to work together and have an open dialogue about how we can heal and move on,” he says.
“I’m excited to be down there, because I love public media and I love KUVO and the passion that the listeners and the longtime staff have,” he adds. “Hopefully, I’ll be welcomed with open arms.”
Credit: Source link