Borough of Oakland Announces New Program to Benefit Local Musicians

Oakland TV, an informative and long-standing public access television channel made available to Oakland’s Altice and Verizon cable customers, as well as Verizon cable customers residing in Western Bergen County, has announced an exciting new program in which local musicians in Oakland and bordering municipalities may submit their original musical content to the Borough to potentially be played on the channel - seen on Altice's Optimum Channel 77 and Verizon's FiOS Channel 45. 

Almost all local access television channels use background music while informational slides are displayed on the air. While most stations use stock and royalty free music, the Borough of Oakland's Communications Commission would like to provide an opportunity for local musicians to showcase their original musical works to the general public. In exchange for the free publicity of the musician’s music to tens of thousands of households and being publicly acknowledged on a slide on Oakland TV’s informational bulletin board, the Communications Commission and the Borough of Oakland, NJ will be able to use any approved musical work, donated to the station royalty free, for the television channel's bulletin board and for other projects the Oakland Television Committee may undertake to serve, inform, and entertain all viewers of Oakland TV. There will be no limit to the number of music submissions that a musician can submit for airing on Oakland TV. The Commission's Bulletin Board Committee will review all music submissions received to determine suitability for air.

"Kudos to the Oakland Communications Commission for initiating this project. During a time when musical artists have limited outlets to perform, we are providing an opportunity for our homegrown talents to be heard and to bring our local and surrounding communities together to enjoy. This is very exciting. Thank you to our volunteers who serve and work hard on the Oakland Communication Commission", said Oakland Mayor Linda H. Schwager. 

Not only does this new initiative reflect the growing arts and culture movement in Oakland, in addition to the surrounding area, but the entertainment industry has especially been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oakland Communications Commission feels that this innovative program will be a benefit to our local musicians, as well as encourage more people to tune into Oakland TV to hear local talent. As the Television Committee aims to provide new and expanded content as the quality of the station improves and becomes a better reflection of the Borough, the Communications Commissions feels that adding local music to the television channel only fuels that new vision and new growth.

"This fantastic music program is a great upgrade to our town bulletin board. This is a wonderful opportunity for Oakland, I am excited for musicians in our area. It is great that we are providing a platform for artists to showcase original music", commented Borough Council Liaison to the Communications Commission Grant Van Eck. 

Submission applications are now available on the Communications Commission webpage located on the Borough Website, www.oakland-nj.org.