{"id":1472,"date":"2014-05-13T15:19:47","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T19:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=1472"},"modified":"2025-01-28T09:18:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:18:56","slug":"the-art-of-the-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2014\/05\/the-art-of-the-find\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of the Find"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeff Regan \u201998 excels at discovering the next big thing in alternative music.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s all about connections: with the music, with the audience.<\/p>\n

Every song Jeff Regan \u201998 schedules as director of programming for Alt Nation, SiriusXM\u2019s alternative rock station, has been carefully chosen because \u201cwhat matters is that human connection,\u201d says Regan. \u201cArt does that, unlike most other things on this planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regan is always hoping to discover the next Arcade Fire or Kings of Leon, bands that can fill stadiums with screaming fans. Maybe he\u2019ll check out a little-known blog and pluck out an obscurity like Atlas Genius, an Australian band whose song \u201cTrojans\u201d became a success on Billboard\u2019s alternative hits chart. Or maybe he\u2019ll take a tip from a fellow employee and program a cut by the Brooklyn rock group American Authors. It\u2019s a crapshoot, but finding \u201cThe Next Big Thing\u201d is the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always try to understand who in two years from now will be the next phase of flagship artists for this format, and try to find them now and introduce them to our audience,\u201d says the 38-year-old Regan. \u201cMy job is to curate the playlist at SiriusXM and build new artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Regan] has a passion for the music. He knows his audience, and he does a really good job at ID-ing what his listeners want, and taking shots on up-and-coming music,\u201d says Mike DePippa \u201996, vice president of rock and alternative promotion for Columbia Records. \u201cObviously a lot of thought goes into that. You see what\u2019s going on online and in the press; he takes all that into consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Ridgefield Park, N.J., Regan entered college as a business major, but \u201cthere was no connection there.\u201d Since he was the kid, he was someone who at parties would take a stack of CDs and program the music, so he decided to get involved with Seton Hall\u2019s radio station, WSOU, which he listened to throughout high school.<\/p>\n

WSOU is boot camp for radio buffs: a semester of training and meetings, learning the rules. Then producing for other hosts; answering the request line; reading the news. And then, some students get to host their own show \u2014 on whatever shift is available.<\/p>\n

All of that taught Regan what he still applies today in his work: That \u201cyou are serving the public interest; your listeners make your station. Also the legacy of breaking music, the advocacy they had for the artists. There wasn\u2019t commercial support for many of the bands on the playlist. That I hold as the pinnacle to what I do today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Sirius, Regan spent six years at Z100 in New York, a top 40 station that was very popular but very rigidly formatted.<\/p>\n

So in 2002, when the opportunity at Sirius came along, Regan jumped at it. What he\u2019s programming as \u201calternative\u201d are generally guitar-heavy bands, most of whom write their own music, Regan says. \u201cMost of the music we play is not overly produced. And it\u2019s not necessarily produced for mainstream consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find these groups, Regan checks music blogs and websites, listens to original songs on Internet platforms like Bandcamp. He scours British and Australian music charts and follows recommendations from a network of musician friends. He\u2019s also big on checking to see how he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at the feedback via social media, I check a band\u2019s Twitter feed, and I\u2019ll check sales on the song,\u201d says Regan. \u201cAt the end of the day, people are paying money to hear what I\u2019m doing [Sirius is a subscription service]. And the beautiful thing is they will still go out and buy records, go out to see the bands, and I will see single sales go up based on our airplay \u2014 immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs recently as five years ago, the alternative station in most markets was an active rock station, or a \u201990s grunge station,\u201d says Sean Ross, author of the \u201cRoss on Radio\u201d column on Billboard.biz. \u201cAlt Nation was able to give pure alt music exposure it couldn\u2019t get anywhere else, and as such, it is probably a significant reason that the format has shifted back to being more pop, more melodic, and more distinctive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"theartofthefind\"<\/a>It\u2019s a funny thing: The death of radio has been reported for years. It\u2019s too old, too formatted and boring, claim its critics. But it\u2019s still creatively alive and kicking, especially on college stations, and in the do-your-own-thing ethos of Sirius\u2019 more than 75 niche-oriented music channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still think it\u2019s the human connection,\u201d says Regan of radio\u2019s continuing popularity. \u201cPeople exist in their cars; it\u2019s a technology they feel comfortable with. There is the excitement of not knowing what\u2019s next, being introduced to something you might not know otherwise. I think we do it better than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis Beale is a North Carolina-based journalist who writes about entertainment and culture.<\/cite><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Regan \u201998 excels at discovering the next big thing in alternative music.<\/p>\n

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