FM-94/9's Program Director Claims that 91X Has Cut the New York Band Interpol

FM-94/9's program director claims that 91X has cut the New York band Interpol from 91X's playlist. The reason? According to Garrett Michaels, it's because 91X was "upset that we were being allowed to simulcast their [Interpol's October] concert." He says 91X "threatened the label...saying, 'If you allow this to happen, we will cease to play Interpol.' " The band had been played on 91X prior to the concert.

Interpol is signed to the independent New York label Matador. A recent L.A. Times article claims that Interpol, the Killers, and Franz Ferdinand are three bands destined to become the next arena headliners by 2009. Interpol appears on the April issue of Spin.

Jim Richards, Clear Channel's vice president of programming, oversees what gets played on 91X. He agreed that his station stopped playing Interpol in October. When asked why, he said, "I won't answer.... We play a lot of bands and then drop them."

When asked if he would comment about 91X's boycott, Matador Records' director of national radio promotion, Jeremy Goldstein, said, "I'm choosing not to discuss that."

Interpol had a sold-out October show as well as a sold-out February show, both at Soma. 91X did not play Interpol once since October (according to both Mediabase, an airplay monitoring service, and Richards) even though powerhouse KROQ in L.A. stepped up Interpol's airplay. KROQ plays "Evil" by Interpol 21 times a week. It is their 14th most popular song.