Left of the Dial: BFM 89.9 Independent Radio Station and Its Indie Rock-friendly Midnight Programming as a Site of Sustainability
2021; Springer Nature; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1007/978-981-33-4568-3_18
ISSN2364-8252
Autores Tópico(s)Music History and Culture
ResumoSince its inception in 2009, Business FM (more popularly known as BFM 89.9) has been gaining traction and found an audience among urban, middle-class and English-speaking residents of the Klang Valley (Greater Kuala Lumpur region), Malaysia. This demographic is what could also be defined as the core group of indie production and consumption. While the station's main content and programming are focused on business and economics (as the name suggests), being Malaysia's sole independent radio station also allows it to practise and adhere to journalistic standards and incisive radio journalism sorely lacking in other commercial radio stations. BFM 89.9's indie status has played a vital role in challenging the standard notion of what a radio station should be in Malaysia's tightly regulated media industry. Although adopting a classic rock playlist format, the station has also become an important platform for indie music (indie rock in particular) in almost all of its local permutations in its night-time and midnight programming. This chapter explores the discourse of 'indie-ness' in the Malaysian context and how BFM 89.9's original local music programming serves as a site of rock sustainability that contests and opens up on-air space for independent musicians and listeners alike.
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