Why Swiss major-labels have stopped working with all Swiss alternative-radios
Swiss major-labels EMI, Universal and Sony stopped working with all Swiss alternative radiostations (incl. DJ Leo/The Indie-Team). Of the majors only Warner Music Switzerland started working with our radiostations again in december 2011 (welcome back!).

Swiss majors forced journalists and radios to work with their own system called Music Promotion Network (MPN). It is expensive, requires a fixed IP-adress and completely unusable for alternative media. Because we all refused working with MPN the majors stopped working with us: No new music, no information and we even have a ban on interviews. This ruthless behaviour has been causing a big scandal. It has been all over Swiss (and German) press since 14 months now!
Please check selected press-articles here!

Affected Swiss radio stations are:

Radio 3fach (Luzern), Kanal K (Aarau), toxic.fm (St. Gallen), Radio X (Basel), Vibration 108 (Sion), Radio Cité (Genf), Radio Industrie (Zug), Radio Lora (Zürich), Radio Blind Power (Bern), Radio RaBe (Bern), Indie-Team (Leo Niessner, Musikpresse-Agentur div. Unikom-Radios und Print-Medien), Radio RaSa (Schaffhausen), Radio Stadtfilter (Winterthur).

Who is concerned by this discriminating majorlabel-politics?
– Musicians and their agencys/managements signed to Swiss majors: Without new music they don't get any airplay by the radios. Very often our radios are the only ones who play new music outside of mainstream and the charts! Without music we can't announce any concerts as well.
– Concert-organizers/bookers and venues: Without music we can't announce concerts of the bands. First venues have claimed thinking about not booking smaller major-bands anymore as long as they don't get support on he radios.
– Listeners: They don't get informed about new albums and concerts of bands signed to major-bands.

How do Swiss radios and journalists react?

We've successfully started working directly with major-bands, their managements and labels abroad. Latest bands supporting us and sending us their music for the radio include R.E.M., White Lies and Guano Apes.
In february 2011 we've made it public: With Open Broadcast, our newest partners, we have built our own music-platform (infos here)! It's use is free for all musicians, managements and labels. Once you've uploaded your music on the platform, it can be used by all radios for free as well.

How can we send you our music?

Please feel free to send us Cds, Vinyl or downloads (320 kb/s, MP3s or wav if possible).
Adress:
Indie-Team,
Radio K-Channel/Radio Lora/Radio RaSa and others
c/o Leo Niessner, Postfach 575, CH-8152 Glattbrugg/Switzerland

Tel. Int.: +41-78-76 76 244 www.djleo.net,
sternenflug{at)swissonline.ch

More about DJ Leo:
- Have a look at me with John Kennedy/Radio XfM London – he invited me to his live-concert-day in Camden last year, as we do rosimilar radioshows, just in diffenret countries: click here to see picture

- Listen to a special about the refusal of EMI Switzerland to work with our alternative radiostaions  (feat. John Kennedy from radio XfM, Noel Gallagher and others): http://www.6degrees.ch/DJLeo

For a short view into DJ Leo's radioshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPH_gsHSEvg

• DJLeo's radioshows (more than 10 hours a week) are the only regular alternative/indie-radioshows here on Swiss radio, which keep the spirit of John Peel alive and give new talents a voice.

• We've always got bands playing live in session in the studio: gallery with some bands

• Shows are broadcast on different Swiss alternative radiostations and have been going for 20 years now.

  Show presenter/DJ Leo Niessner is often been called «The John Peel of Switzerland» (Rockstar-Magazin, Mitteland Zeitung)

• Most of our shows are now broadcasted on the internet, where we greet people from all around the world

• We working together with Swiss distributors as well as with labels all over the world. As you know not everything is released over here.

• You can find playlists and news on our homepage in the internet: www.djleo.net

• We've had interviews with the likes of Oasis, Supergrass, Ash, Heather Nova, HIM, Massive Attack's 3D - just to name a few.

• Leo weekly produces the Saturday-night-specials for radio Kanal K, where there are live-concerts being broadcast

• All shows feature advance copies/direct imports/interviews/listeners competitions...

• Shows are broadcast on Radio Lora, Radio Kanal K, Radio RaSa – some more to come!

• Music formats in Leo’s shows: indie/britpop/alternative/gothic/ambient/electro/…

• Music formats in Leo’s Rock’n’Roll-shows: Rockabilly/rock’n’roll/psychobilly/trash/garage/60ies

• Please check out DJ Leo’s band SPENCER: www.myspace.com/radiodjleo

• Playlists, dates and more: www.djleo.net