What The Current Means for the Internet and Your Family

What The Current Means for the Internet
At a time when old media in the form of radio, network television, and newspapers are on the run, one public radio station is thriving. What the Current represents in an example of an institution that correctly answers the question posed by CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis, What Would Google Do?  The answer is simple, but astonishing in its foresight. The Current knows that  it operates in an economy of abundance rather than scarcity. Rather than erecting a paywall, the station gives away it's service in as many creative formats as possible, knowing that the more happy and dedicated listeners they have the better. Access points for the Current include twitter, facebook, an iphone app, and live streaming. Astonishing considering that it is an affiliate of National Public Radio, lightyears ahead of the competition.

What The Current Means for Your Family
One of the things I love about our home is that we always have music playing. The service that makes that possible is a public radio station out of Minneapolis, the Current. The Current is place to listen to awesome music that we here at fatherfolk love including the artists we posted about in this post. There are many good options out there to listen to music on the web including Pandora, LastFM, etc. What sets the Current apart is the real live DJ's who bring a love of music, an incredible base of knowledge about the artists, and good old Minnesota flavor.



Shows
Besides consistently good music, the Current has many great shows. Some of my favorites are:
The morning show with Jill Riley and Steve Seel. Your typical morning show, only with brains.
Teenage Kicks with Jaquie Fuller. Songs from the late eighties and early nineties, before alternative wasn't.
Musicheads. My friend Kate once said that if these guys knew as much about anything else as they do about music, it would be intolerable.
The United States of Americana. Country done right! (and my personal favorite hour of music each week.)

Access
One of the great things about the Current is that there are many different access points so I am never far from good music. Here are a few of the ones I use:

Internet: You can access the stream for either itunes or windows media player. Once you listen, it is always there in your playlist. and is easy to return to.

Iphone/Ipod: The Current has an app that can be downloaded from the itunes store for free here.

Android: This one involves a bit of a hack. I suggest downloading Rcherryplayer, an app that plays radio streams. From there you can bookmark the Current.


The Music
Here is a sampling of the Current play list.

7:53
Building Better Bombs
Safehouse Lament

7:48
Blitzen Trapper
Dragon's Song

7:43
The Fall
Youwanner 

7:40
Dandy Warhols
This Is the Tide

7:32
The National
England 

7:27
Dinah Washington
Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby (Rae and Christian Remix)

7:23
The Roots
Right On feat. Joanna Newsom

7:18
Villagers
Becoming A Jackal

7:14
Galaxie 500
Flowers

7:10
The Big Pink
Velvet



A Word on Giving
An an NPR station, the Current is funded through membership drives which happen several times a year. My family gives regularly and are proud to contribute to keeping this amazing resource on the air.