New Media Pioneer: Merton and Angela Beaudion of The Link Radio

http://www.thelinkradio.org

A family friendly station with a wide blend ranging from Contemporary Christian to Christian Rock.

Q:  How long have you been broadcasting/blogging?

A:  All together my wife Angie and I (Merton) have been broadcasting for a year and 3 months. We started out as a mix station with Teen pop and Christian music mix but quickly realized that our listeners wanted more. So as we prayed about it we felt that God wanted us to go more toward the Adult Contemporary Christian direction.

So we have just let God take things over. As a result he has blessed this station in ways that we could never have done on our own.

Q:  In your opinion, what does a good song need to consist of?

A: Wow that is a real good question. First of all I feel that it starts out in the needs of the person. Some people feel that as long as it has a good beat the words mean nothing  and that is a great song. But to my opinion a good song is like a great restaurant. When you go out to eat at a fast food place you just remember the chain but not that specific restaurant. But when you eat at really good restaurant you leave full and happy.

It moves you  to want to come back. That is how I feel a good song should be. One that not only has a good beat but is composed of words that relax or even change your heart. One that fills you up and makes you want to come back for more. If it doesn’t move you then it really isn’t one that stays with you and you won’t come back.

Q: What is your favorite band or favorite genre of music and why?

A: As far as Genre is concerned that is easy. I think that is why we are having no trouble programming this station. We both love Adult Contemporary Christian music and that makes it both easy and enjoyable to us. As for favorite bands/artist Michael W. Smith ranks way up there with me and Angie is a big fan of the Newsboys.

Q: What changes in content laws, broadcasting rights, etc. have affected you most?

A: The new laws have affected everything we do but I feel the worst area it is affecting us is in the area of special features. If you want to do a feature artist or a special show that involves multiple songs by the same artists, For instance; New artists intro show or even the countdown when it has multiple songs by the same artists in the countdown you have to put in fillers just to make it able to play.

Q: A recent study found blogs to be more effective than MySpace in generating album sales, do you feel that that is a true statement?

A: We are really new to this field. In fact we just now set up a website www.thelinkradio.org that has the option to blog on it.( We haven’t set that part up yet but it will be real soon). But that actually makes sense though. It brings a more personal touch between the Band, Artist, etc … and the person interested.