The paradox of noncommercial radio’s symbiotic relationship with the music industry goes back to the late 1960s. In 1968, Billboard announced a fundraising marathon for listener-supported college station WFMU.
According to Radio-TV editor Claude Hall, WFMU played “progressive rock” (the magazine’s term for freeform radio at the time) and had “some of the best programming available in this format anywhere in the nation.”
The best station in the nation, already in 1968!
