It'll be "a hard day's night" for WUSC this Friday. Columbia's only alternative radio station will be "working like a dog" during a spontaneous 24-hour Beatles marathon.
It's a fund-raiser to restore the station's Web radio, said station manager Elyn Blackman.
"It's not one of our normally scheduled fund-raisers," she said. "It was something that was done at USC a long time ago, and we're trying to bring back a tradition."
For WUSC, she said, the Beatles are the perfect band, sure to appeal to all tastes and sure to last for the entire day. Callers can donate during the individual two-hour shows, and the largest donation on a show will win a prize donated by a Beatles fan club.
"There is probably no other artist in music history that makes sense to play for 24 hours," she said. "There's so much solo material, tributes, crazy studio recordings and rare stuff. There's going to be live recordings and rare tracks and spoken word and interviews."
The money has been earmarked to pay royalty fees for WUSC's live Web radio, unplugged in 2001 in response to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
WUSC, like many college radio stations, relies on educational exceptions from the recording industry to play its music at a low cost. In 2001, the DMCA warned Web radio stations that companies could charge normal rates for Web broadcasts.
"Right then was when a lot of college stations started to worry," Blackman said. "It was completely infeasible - it was about $20,000 per year."
But last January, the Recording Industry Association of America negotiated with representatives from college radio to hash out an exemption for educational radio.
College radio stations have until mid-October to opt in to the lower royalty rates, but stations like WUSC that previously webcast will have to pay for past royalties.
"We need at least $1,500 to pay back royalties and to clear us through 2004," Blackman said. "After that, it's only going to be about $500 a year."
The station has pitched the effort with posters all over Columbia and three weeks of radio promotion. The marathon has interested The State newspaper, whose entertainment columnist Michael Miller has interviewed WUSC staff for his Friday feature.
The station's phone number is 803-576-9872, but if you're feeling generous, don't wait until this Friday. WUSC accepts donations through its Web site at wusc.sc.edu.
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