Internet streaming gives DJs freedom to play without a radio
station
Boston Globe | December 1, 2008
It takes about a week of computer work in his Dorchester home for Tessil
Collins to create the urban, gospel, classic soul, and jazz streams for his
Internet radio station at www.sun-music.net. On nights and weekends, Collins uploads to
his streaming media provider's server music that he gets from promoters or from
his vast record collection. The tunes in the November urban stream ranges from
"If You Leave," the tortured love song that unites Musiq Soulchild with Mary J.
Blige, to "Chemical Reaction" by the up-and-coming soul singer-songwriter
Chaz.
"It's a lot of work," says Collins, 56, a senior coordinator of the Arts,
Media, and Communications Technology Industry Cluster for the Boston Public
Schools, "and I do it all."
While most people rely on broadcast radio for their music, a growing number
are turning to their computers for uninterrupted streams of songs. Collins runs
his webcast independently, but many hobbyists choose to operate their stations
by becoming paying members of Internet radio networks such as Live365 or
Pandora. Internet radio listeners often hear artists who may never get radio
airplay, and sometimes those artists ultimately achieve mainstream success.
Many believe that the fledgling Internet radio genre has the potential for
exponential growth. According to an Arbitron/Edison Media Research report
released this year, 33 million Americans listen to Internet radio each week. But
some argue that Internet radio's development is being stunted by an increase in
royalty rates that the Library of Congress's Copyright Royalty Board proposed
last year, which would have more than doubled the old rate to 19/100 of a penny
per song per listener by 2010.
The increase may not sound like much, but it would have made an already
expensive hobby prohibitively so for some webcasters. Collins says
SoundExchange, which collects royalties for digital music transmission,
estimated that he would have had an annual minimum fee of $2,500 if the new
royalty rates had stuck; he declined to say how much he was paying before the
announcement. Copyright holders and Internet radio entities are negotiating the
initially announced rates.
"Initially, I decided I was going to shut down my station," says Justin
Scott, a 30-year-old Weymouth resident who started his emo, punk and ska station
Angry Monkey Fight on Live365 two years ago, but has had stations at other sites
for about 10 years. "I was concerned I was going to be nailed for previous fees.
I got a lot of fan mail, had people donate money. There are a lot of people who
want me to keep it going."
If the royalties issue is resolved, the number of Internet radio webcasters
and listeners could rise dramatically. "If we can get this done in a logical and
equitable way," says Paul Maloney, editor of the online Radio and Internet
Newsletter, which has covered Internet radio for almost 10 years, "that will
open things up. I think the potential is great."
SUN-MUSIC.NET
WEBSITE: www.sun-music.net
Hip urban soul, jazz fusion, classic soul, and gospel are the music genres on
Tessil Collins's sun-music.net.
His experience informs his station. Collins has been in the radio business since
interning at WILD in high school; he also worked as a regional music marketing
manager for RCA/A&M.
"He knows the really good old songs you don't hear on the radio every day,"
says Pamela Jones, 32, a Mattapan resident who began listening to sun-music.net two years ago at work
and at home. "When I want to hear the R&B songs from the '80s and '90s, I
can go there."
Collins started the website in 1999, after his dream of owning a traditional
radio station fell through. He estimates he has an average of 1,000 to 5,000
listeners monthly from around the world. The website includes advertisements
from Netflix and Overstock.com, which Collins believes could lessen his
overhead - at least until he can purchase a broadcast radio station.
"There comes a point in time when you say, 'This is not cost effective,' "
Collins says. "By that time I hope to have a radio property."
ANGRY MONKEY FIGHT
WEBSITE: www.angrymonkeyfight.com
LIVE365 ADDRESS: www.live365.com/stations/..djknockout
MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/..angrymonkeyfight
Justin Scott, 30, of Weymouth operates the emo, punk and ska station Angry
Monkey Fight through Live365. The music stream, which Scott says attracts more
than 200 listeners per day, has received an "editor's pick" citation from
Live365.
Twice a month Scott, a data analyst for a market research firm, spends two
hours updating his playlist. He devotes an hour daily to listening to
submissions from music promoters, record labels, and fledgling bands. Since
Live365 allows listeners to interact with webcasters, he also relies on fans. If
Scott receives a suggestion to play a particular band, he'll listen to a cut to
see if it's a good fit. He began playing Karate High School because a listener
recommended the group. He didn't like the song suggested, but he did begin
playing other cuts from the album. Scott will also remove songs to which
listeners respond negatively. He most recently struck out when he added
Copeland's cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun."
HITZ103.COM
MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/hitz103
WEBSITE: www.hitz103.com
Antwoine Alford was working as a weekend DJ at the downtown Boston club Aqua
when he came up with the idea for Hitz103.com almost three years ago. He used the site to promote
his DJ skills, but soon friends such as DJ Chubby Chub and DJ Dru Nyce wanted to
get in on the action. Today Hitz103.com, based in Mattapan, attracts as many as 300
listeners a day clamoring to hear hip-hop and R&B, he says.
Alford has a live show at 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. DJ Al.Gee airs
Mondays through Fridays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. DJ Big's program airs at
4 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. The project pays for itself since Alford charges
the DJs fees to appear on the station.
Listeners chat online while the music streams. Aspiring musicians can upload
their demos to Hitz103.com's
website. The songs air daily at 10 p.m.
"Now I'm at the age where I need to start giving back to the community," says
Alford, 32, who sees Hitz103.com
as a way to keep kids off the violent streets, "but there are not people like
that anymore. I think that's why the young ones are confused and don't know
which way to go."
ROCK FROM THE BEACH
LIVE365 ADDRESS: www.live365.com/stations/..jgrandmont
WEBSITE: www.rockfromthebeach.com
Buzzard Bay's Jay Grandmont grew up listening to Top-40 and progressive rock
stations. "Music has always been my passion," he says.
Eight years ago he began Rock From the Beach on Live365. The music focuses on
classic rock artists such as The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, and John
Mellencamp, and contemporary artists who mirror the genre such as Coldplay or
Jack Johnson.
This isn't a doppelganger of the classic rock stations on broadcast radio.
Grandmont's idea is to include songs that people won't hear on mainstream radio.
He'll dig deeper into catalogs to play not only the Who but also tunes by lead
singer Roger Daltrey.
Grandmont works for Cape Cod Broadcasting in Hyannis, announcing the news and
weather on Sundays. Rock From the Beach, ranked 17th among Live365's 353 classic
rock stations, allows him to take his radio aspirations one step further.
"I've always had a dream of owning and programming my own radio station,"
Grandmont, 53, says. "This seemed like a good way to start." 