|
|
This makes up the Kitchen Radio playlist. At this point, I have over 2000 tracks of Independent Artists in a 24/7 loop and still have many more to add. The playlist is quite random at this point and bounces from genre to genre. There are no ads except for station ID's and I have managed to get Kitchen Radio plugs from some well known people ie: Trailer Park Boys, Patricia Conroy, Jason McCoy, Bob Mcgrath (Sesame Street) and numerous band members.
Before being added to iTunes, I had many people tuning in to the station. It has always been a hobby of mine and all I did was turn it on some years ago and kept a close eye on it. It has never been advertised or put on a site but some how people still found it. I have a web page (kitchenradio.ca) that is nothing more than a contact email and the link to tune in and I have received numerous emails from random people around the world telling me how much they love the station. They hear music they have never heard and often times, people say that they enjoy this random style format where they don't hear the same mainstream songs repeated over and over.
How does it work?
I have two programs that allow me to broadcast on the net. I run a Macintosh platform and use MegaSeg.com as my main radio station tool. I then broadcast the signal using a program called NiceCast (rogueamoeba.com).
The thing to remember and this is the most important feature: whatever program picks up the stream (be it iTunes or Real Player or whatever) it also displays the name of the artist, and track name. If people tune in using Live365.com there is also an option to click to buy the track. So, if you have your music on iTunes or Amazon (through CDBaby), the public can actually purchase your music or at least google the name or track and find you on the net.
Why is iTunes so exciting?
Well, since being added to the Radio Presets on this monster program, I have seen a major influx of listeners. At the time of writing this letter there have already been thousands of people stop by for a listen in a matter of a few days. The fact that it is in two genre categories is an advantage and I also broadcast two quality levels in each. This means that there is a high quality broadcast (128 Kbps) which is an FM stereo quality and a lower bitrate (64 Kbps) for dial up or cell phones.
iTunes has become the most popular internet streaming program and boasts that 75% of all music downloads on the internet is done through this program. This means that there must be quite a few machines around the world with the iTunes application on it and it also means that there is a possibility for many people to find Kitchen Radio.
Big whoop, what's in it for me?
Here's the pitch.
What I propose is to help to promote independent musicians (or any for that matter) in a number of ways. I would like to increase my collection of music made by my fellow musicians of today. This means I would like to have music sent to me whether it's via the net in mp3 form (I have an ftp site) or preferably in hard copy to my local post office. But I would also like to propose something else.
My house lies 5 km's west of the number 2 highway and 40 km's north of the Trans-Canada. I have a fully functioning recording studio and although I can't boast that it is a professional studio (yet) I can confidently say that the buttons all work, it's a relaxing environment to track, and the audio recorded here doesn't sound that half bad if I may say so myself. Everything that runs in my studio is patched into the station. I have a reel to reel, eight track, cassette tape, 2 turntables, mini disc, 16 track Cubase recording studio and the entire internet patched in. This means I could host artists in my studio, record a live session, give an interview, throw it all on Kitchen Radio and have the artists walk away with everything on a CD.
My next step will be to have a slick website with a 'now playing' list from the station as well as the past 20 tracks. On this site I can have artist information, tour dates, and even sell product. This is of course just an option to anyone who doesn't have their own online store. Check out polyjesters.com and go to our online store and click on kitchenradio.ca CD's for an example.
Well what's in it for you then big shot?
I get an increase in my archives of music made by people I know or people I'm about to know. It allows me to start formating the station into sections, shows, and genres.
I also am hosting the second annual Mountainview Music Festival in my home town of Carstairs on August 11th. I have recently purchased an FM transmitter and am legally allowed to broadcast 28 consecutive days leading up to the event on 104.7 FM. This means that your music will also get actual radio play in the county of Mountain View.
I am also switching gears in my musical career. Although the Polyjesters will always perform, we have decided to stop the train for awhile to record new material and stay in one spot for longer than a day. This frees up my time to focus on different aspects of this crazy business and try to help others through our own experiences. I would like to open the doors of my tracking studio, help promote bands and perhaps have a suedo company that can help distribute artists into todays new market: the internet.
I don't trust the internet, can people download my music?
Good question. I hear a lot of musicians expressing their distrust of this slightly new system. I can only explain this from analyzing my own situation. The Polyjesters are a relatively unknown band in the big scheme of things. We are getting some popularity from touring but this is really only one small town at a time. They are building up but as we all know it takes a long time to reach any level of mass recognition. Most of us are not main stream and I have a feeling that some of us might be in a similar boat on this. The internet at our level is not dangerous. Search your own name in Kazaa, Limewire, Napster, or any other P2P program and chances are (I hope I'm wrong) you're not in there. It's really only the big dogs that are getting ripped off in this fashion. I have spent the better part of 7 years exploring the internet as my aid and tool to distribute our music and I think it is working. There are hundreds upon thousands of sites to do this, one of the main ones these days being myspace.com. We receive random emails from people all over the world that have found us from some site or through a friend that found us or they heard us on an internet radio station or whatever. Our online sales get better and better as do our digital distribution sales. If you sell your product through CDBaby you know that with your permission (although not everyone knows this) they can digitize your music and distribute it in mp3 form to iTunes and a bunch of others. The more people hear our name, hear a track, read a blurb, blog, or review the higher the chances are that SOMEone will buy a tune, or a whole CD.
People cannot download your music directly off Kitchen Radio.
Well, the really geeky smart ones can but who cares. Anyone can rip, steal, burn, share anything these days with some knowledge of hijacking. But this is not new, people have been making copies since the wheel. I'm telling you, from my experience, at our level, this is a good thing.*
*Disclaimer: This is opinion, please don't send hate spam.
Let me play your music. Please don't hesitate to contact with me.
Jason Valleau
Box 1214
Carstairs, AB
T0M 0N0
Canada
(403) 869-7659
jason@polyjesters.com
|
|
|
