A Pop Radio Station Has Played RATM’s “Killing In The Name” for 24 Hours Straight to Protest Layoffs
Anyone here a fan of 1994 heavy metal comedy Airheads? Well, in the movie, hard rock radio station Rebel Radio discovers midway through its hijacking by a metal band that they’re being restaffed and reformatted into an easy-listening radio station named The Rain (“Listen to the soothing sounds of The Rain,” says boss Milo, to which station employee Suzzi whispers, “All those blowjobs for nothing…”). In response, DJ Ian the Shark tells fans to come on down to the station, and proceeds to blast super heavy music on-air. We bring this up because this is exactly what a Canadian radio station has done, playing Rage Against The Machine‘s “Killing In The Name” for 24 hours straight and counting in protest of layoffs and possible reformatting.
As reported by the Vancouver Sun, Vancouver radio station KiSS FM, which is typically a pop and soft rock station, has been playing the RATM classic on steady rotation for the past day.
The move comes after popular morning show hosts Kevin Lim and Sonia Sidhu and afternoon DJ Tara Jean Stevens announced their departures, with Lim and Sidhu saying, “KiSS is changing and, unfortunately, we were informed that we won’t be part of this new chapter.”
In protest, the station has played “Killing In The Name” nonstop. When a listener called in and asked for something else, they agreed — and then played “Killing In The Name.” When a fan called in to request “Killing In The Name?” They said, “Stick around – I don’t know when we’ll be able to play it but we will play it.” Then they played the song.
As noted by Consequence of Sound, this is a practice known as “stunting,” in which employees a radio station basically decide to bring it down in flames to protest layoffs and reformatting.
That said, this might be the most attention they’ve ever gotten, so hey, maybe they’ll turn into a metal station!
Anyway, you can tune in to KiSS FM right now. We don’t know what’s currently on, but last we checked, it was Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name.”
