NYT of Alt Nation

TODAY’S READING ASSIGNMENT: Sirius XM’s Alt Nation is spotlighted as a major player in the breaking of acts by the N.Y. Times. In the piece, writer James McKinley gets some excellent takes from 37-year-old Jeff Regan, who programs the channel, which has played a not insignificant role in the ascents of such bands as Foster the People, Grouplove, Atlas Genius, Blondfire and Capital Cities. “Radio has traditionally been that game where you say: ‘What’s on the charts? That’s what we play,’” Regan noted. “And: ‘What do you play? What’s on the charts!’ [But] We can try things. We swing and miss, and that’s fine. At least we were given the opportunity to swing.” Said Daniel Glass, “Jeff Regan has had an incredible knack of picking talent and songs and bands for the last few years.” Added RCA A&R exec David Wolter, “It’s kind of like the biggest alternative station in the country and it’s definitely a test bed for things. I certainly keep an eye on their playlist.” SVP of Programming Steve Blatter described what he believes distinguishes Sirius from traditional radio thusly: “I tell my programmers if they are finding out and discovering music only through record label promotion people, then they are not doing their jobs. We very strategically are more aggressive than terrestrial radio in the way we identify songs and push them.” (1/16a)