Area EDM listeners devastated after station changes

LYNN – The popular dance music station Evolution 101.7 was abruptly pulled from local airwaves last Friday, and it?s causing quite a stir among fans. Listeners are now turning to Evolution 101.7?s Facebook page to express their dissatisfaction.Evolution 101.7 has since been replaced with a new country music station “The Bull.”?For a while, Boston had a leading edge music scene that rivaled L.A. and NYC,” one listener wrote. “Poof. Gone. Replaced with a country station? A country station in Boston is a big mistake. I have never seen a country western bar in the Boston metro.”An online petition asking Clear Channel Communications to put the station back on FM radio was also posted on the page. The petition requires 1,500 signatures before it is sent to Clear Channel, and had already received over 1,000 of those signatures as of yesterday.Petition creator Gregory Gallagher said he feels that Clear Channel is throwing away the future of what he believes radio should look like.?Evolution 101.7 was not like other radio stations, it didn?t play the same mainstream music. They played diverse, dance and electronic music that made people want to get up and dance and sing along,” he said. “I feel like the radio has lost its purpose? it is supposed to be for the people?s music, not one company selecting the music and removing radio stations because ?It?s best for business.?”Local resident Seth Albaum said he?s noticed the decline of profitable commercial radio and attributes its demise to Clear Channel and other corporations generally programming music from satellite locations and also the dependence on consultants who don?t always understand the local market as well as they should.?Radio has lost its relevance with a lot of people,” he said. “The truth is, on commercial radio, there is no local flavor.”Although he did not listen to Evolution 101.7, he did listen to WFNX, but said he was turned off from the station when the playlist grew stale. Albaum recalled a time when commercial-free stations were more popular and deejays had more control over what was played.?It makes me sad what happened to radio. I think the best stations on the airwaves now are college- and university-based,” Albaum said.Dylan Sprague, program director for Clear Channel Boston, said that the decision to remove Evolution 101.7 was a response to the younger generation of country music fans in the area.?There was a great opportunity to bring country music to Boston on 101.7,” he said. “We decided to do something different.”Sprague stressed that the changes made to Evolution 101.7 were more conceptual than actual, and noted that many listeners were already accessing the station through iHeartRadio and HD programming at 107.9 HD2.?When a radio station goes off the air, it usually goes away forever. In this case, the station continues to live on and is programmed exactly the same, it?s just found in a different area.”Sprague said he has seen listener feedback on social media but was not previously aware of the petition. He also said that Clear Channel has no current plans to reinstate the station on the FM airwaves.The station, broadcast out of Lynn, started playing electronic dance music, or EDM, in December 2012, and was the country?s first all-dance music FM station. Often referred to as ?club music,? Evolution 101.7 reached the mainstream audience by broadcasting ?nightlife? music in the daytime. The genre quickly gained a loyal following in the Boston area, and the Evolution 101.7 Facebook page has received over 10 thousand ?likes.??Kristin Bornstein may be reached at [email protected].