What a long, strange trip it’s been.

After 3,600 miles, 60 hours in the car, 15 tanks of gas and one unreasonably high traffic ticket, I completed my third round-trip drive from Iowa to Los Angeles and back over spring break. As usual, there were the obvious comparisons between a rural state like Iowa and the bustling landscape of southern California — the constant traffic, gorgeous beaches and diversity of people are pretty hard to miss.

But one subtle, important difference between this visit and the last nearly escaped my attention. To my delight, I discovered Los Angeles now has a new radio station: Indie 103.1.

Talk about false advertising.

Indie 103.1 isn’t really an independent station at all. The station is owned by Clear Channel, the same media conglomerate that owns more than 1,200 stations across the country, including several in Central Iowa.

For many years, the differences between undiscovered and has-been bands were decided in SoCal. But as payola-friendly playlists replaced disc jockeys and generic announcers eliminated what remained of recognizable names and voices, independently-owned radio — especially in southern California — lost much of its clout as a trendsetter in the music industry.

However, one Los Angeles radio station has swayed very little in its fight to escape the Clear Channel monopoly. The Infinity Broadcasting-owned “World Famous” 106.7 KROQ, although no longer a technically independent station, has always maintained its reputation as an authority on up-and-coming musicians. While many would argue the station’s ethics and playlists took a definite downturn during the nu-metal infestation of the late ’90s, a band’s record label and commercial viability have rarely determined if a band gets airtime on KROQ.

In a market where up-and-coming bands live or die based on radio play, KROQ plays a vital role as the guardian of the independent musician in southern California. So what could be better than a second indie radio station?

Although the playlists of KROQ and Indie 103.1 may be similar, there is a danger in playing independent music on the sister stations of Top 40 radio. Although the goal of independent music isn’t necessarily to remain obscure, turning such music into a product weakens its ability to break new musical ground. Rather than innovating, musicians will instead try to fit into whatever subcultural trend is popular at the second. Original, creative music will take a backseat to latching onto a money-making sound that just happens be different than Britney or Justin.

In essence, independent music will cease to be the least bit independent.

It may seem like one radio station, located halfway across the country, could hardly have a negative effect on the Midwest radio market. To think like this is a misinterpretation of Clear Channel’s power and purpose. Unfortunately, independent music, just like rock, pop, hip-hop or country, is marketable. It has its own demographics, psychographics and, of course, paying consumers.

Driving from Iowa to California is like stepping into a different universe. If the piratization of independent radio continues, however, the endangered airwaves of Los Angeles radio won’t seem alien for long.