Here is a post on Beyond Jazz's Michelle Sammartino's MySpace blog that speaks of the channel's demise.....this is sad.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...endID=29235862
A note from Michelle
Current mood: sad
Category: Life
Well folks, I know a lot of you have been asking what is going on, why was I laid off, what will become of the channel and Russ etc etc. I now have some answers for you… and I am ready to talk about them. Admittedly it took me some time to decompress and adjust to no longer being a part of the one thing that I sunk every bit of my time, passion and effort into for the last seven years.
Before I get into the sad part of this, let me preface it by filling you all in on how it all began for me.
I interviewed for XM Satellite Radio on September 11th 2001… the day the planes hit those buildings. It was not only a day that changed the USA, but it changed my life completely. I began what would be the best point of my career thus far. Never in my life have I enjoyed a job more, and I have always spent my time in jobs that I liked. That was something I made sure of, to follow a career path and to make sure that if I was going to do something for over 50 hrs a week, I better damn well like it.
I loved XM. I loved their philosophy, their passion for music and quality programming, choice, commercial free uninterrupted music. I loved that they were on a cutting edge of technology and I was fortunate enough to work alongside some of the most brilliant people I will ever have the opportunity to work with. I watched this service go from no satellites, watched them launch them, watched the subscriber base grow, helped grassroots word of mouth growth and essentially felt like I was making the world a better place, through exposing this incredible music to the masses.
I enjoyed every day. I loved the people I met. The musicians. Their stories. I loved the music I was exposed to. I LOVED helping unknown bands with a passion for jazz get played to the widest audience they could ever possibly imagine being exposed to… simply by sending me a copy of their CD in the good ol US Mail.
It was the most rewarding and selfless "job" I could ever imagine. I could not believe how fortunate I was and was thankful every day for it.
Then there was merger talk. Merger talks with the rival we grew to hate just because they were our only competition and we needed that rivalry. And it was that way from the start. We always knew we were the better company. I can not speak for other XMers but I felt betrayed with the thought of a merger with THEM! How could we be negotiating with the enemy! We always had more subscribers, we always had better content, better programming, better technology, better products, better talent. Who cares that they could (NOT) afford to pay Howard Stern's ridiculous salary, so much damn money yet they won him anyway! STUPID! His programming is trash… all T&A and the same thing regurgitated day after day. How many tits can you guess are implants or not in one week? Ugh! This is what they chose to spend their money on. They canned their Modern Jazz channel for a Grateful Dead channel. A band that stopped making music in the 90's. Modern Jazz is STILL being made every day. Sixty years of incredible improvisational music unrepresented on their service… and now ours. Unacceptable! We are talking Miles here… among SO many others.
I could not believe we were seriously merging. Our CEO bailed on us. Ok, his wife was ill and I understand family coming first. But then people started leaving in droves, as if they gave up the ship. Lee Abrams… gone. Eric Logan… gone. The people finally left in charge were essentially there to do the "handoff". The writing was on the wall a long time ago. But the merger took so long we truly missed our window of opportunity to be competitive. A year and a half later and here we are… struggling… and in the midst of what is now a hostile takeover and a recession. This is not a merger of equals… if it were there would be equal XMers to Sirius folks. It is not that way.
I was laid off unexpectedly on Oct 5th. It was a shock and I am still trying to recover. It is hard to shake off and let go of something that was my life. The channel is done Nov 14th and Russ is being laid off that day as well. 80 people in Programming (XM Programming) were laid off last week. It is over. The dream is over and the service is done.
I am not sure what else to say in this regard. I have no idea what this service will now be. I can honestly say I do not care at this point. I am moving on and so are so many others. Not by choice.
Russ Davis and I are planning to continue to work together in some capacity. STAY TUNED. I am working on JamminJazz.com and he has RussDavisMOJA.com. We are still deciding what we can and can not do with those sites. We would like to continue to provide you with the latest and greatest new and old and fusion music we know of…. Somehow.
So please stay in touch, and please stay with Beyond Jazz until the end. We promise to continue to make every day, every hour as good as it was… until they flick the switch. You can bet on that!
THANK YOU ALL for your devotion and support over the years, the channel would never have been what it was if it had not been for you. YOU are the reason we were the World's ONLY Modern Jazz Channel….
Onward and upward!
Thanks for listening!
~Michelle
Linear Mode
