An introduction
Back in 2008, internet radio stations were in abundance, but to join one, you typically had to prove your radio chops by way of an audition.
1Radio was to be totally open. No musical knowledge or prior experience was necessary. No need to record a nervous audition or a pilot radio show. You could simply sign up and have a go at broadcasting a show there and then, no questions asked.
In the 5+ years 1Radio was on the air, I cut my teeth on the technical intricacies of internet radio, how to manage a community and had some fun and memorable times. Writing a book seems a nice way to commit the adventure to posterity.
1Radio was a fantastic community and something I’m very proud of. It brought together a mix of people from around the world and helped forge some great friendships. It’s been the source of lots of laughs and a few headaches too. It’s been a community that has been incredibly supportive of each other and welcoming to others and one that has rallied around causes and campaigns. Like any extended family, it’s also been a group that has bickered and argued and failed to get on at times. It’s been a hotbed of ideas and suggestions and a hot tub of rants, raves and rivalry. Ultimately, everyone has got on with each other, like most family members do. I like to think that almost everyone who played a part in the story of 1Radio simply enjoyed themselves at the end of the day. Playing music and chatting. How hard is that?
For over five years, the 1Radio community and station grew together and much music and chat was shared. A loyal band of listeners heard our output and some presenters went on to bigger and better things. We had a few troublemakers along the way. Thankfully these were few and far between, the exception to what was, on the whole, a fun, friendly and respectful community.
1Radio was a true labour of love. It consumed countless hours of my professional time - in developing the station software and building the community - and countless hours of my leisure time, in preparing and presenting shows as well as listening to the amazing diversity of presenters. It was, for me, a creative time of designing posters, banners and ecards, and recording jingles, stings and bumpers.
I’m pleased to say that 1Radio software earned a little money along the way. This allowed me to run 1Radio without concern for costs, asking for membership fees or filling the website and shows with advertising. It also let me fund some other projects as well, including a brand new community radio station with a physical presence and real studio, built entirely from scratch.
But back to now. It’s the first day of January 2014, 1Radio has been off air for some ten hours and I’m trawling my memory on how and why I started this venture.
Posted by Tim on Wed 01 Dec 2021 at 15:41 and viewed 815 times.
Christmas emoticons
