Do any internet stations actually make money. I know it requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual site?
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Money & Internet stations
- Thread starter ZelenRecords
- Start date
M
midwestclubber
Guest
> Do any internet stations actually make money. I know it
> requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these
> stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual site?
>
Their are very few net stations that actually make money. By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream, Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the already established stations that exist. I have been the PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners, lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how good your station is, Some listeners will just find anything to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he can tell you all the ups and downs of Net broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but I definatly know the downsides.
> requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these
> stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual site?
>
Their are very few net stations that actually make money. By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream, Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the already established stations that exist. I have been the PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners, lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how good your station is, Some listeners will just find anything to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he can tell you all the ups and downs of Net broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but I definatly know the downsides.
A
apco25
Guest
> > Do any internet stations actually make money. I know it
> > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these
>
> > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> site?
> >
> Their are very few net stations that actually make money.
> By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to
> break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream,
> Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your
> Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard
> to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
> already established stations that exist. I have been the
> PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
> radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
> very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
> lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order
> to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how
> good your station is, Some listeners will just find anything
> to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
> www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it
> took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he
> can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but I
> definatly know the downsides.
>
This guy put alot of money into this let alone the time. If it's that hard to make money with an internet radio station, I can't believe he's making a profit with all the servers he's got running. Plus the publishers license.
Would you say the top broadcasters in each genre that are on Live 365.com are making any money? What are more of the downsides.
> > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these
>
> > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> site?
> >
> Their are very few net stations that actually make money.
> By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to
> break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream,
> Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your
> Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard
> to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
> already established stations that exist. I have been the
> PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
> radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
> very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
> lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order
> to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how
> good your station is, Some listeners will just find anything
> to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
> www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it
> took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he
> can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but I
> definatly know the downsides.
>
This guy put alot of money into this let alone the time. If it's that hard to make money with an internet radio station, I can't believe he's making a profit with all the servers he's got running. Plus the publishers license.
Would you say the top broadcasters in each genre that are on Live 365.com are making any money? What are more of the downsides.
M
midwestclubber
Guest
> > > Do any internet stations actually make money. I know it
>
> > > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into
> these
> >
> > > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> > site?
> > >
> > Their are very few net stations that actually make
> money.
> > By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky
> to
> > break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream,
>
> > Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit
> your
> > Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard
>
> > to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
> > already established stations that exist. I have been the
> > PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
> > radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
> > very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> > listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
> > lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in
> order
> > to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how
> > good your station is, Some listeners will just find
> anything
> > to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
> > www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it
>
> > took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he
> > can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> > broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but
> I
> > definatly know the downsides.
> >
>
>
> This guy put alot of money into this let alone the time. If
> it's that hard to make money with an internet radio station,
> I can't believe he's making a profit with all the servers
> he's got running. Plus the publishers license.
> Would you say the top broadcasters in each genre that are on
> Live 365.com are making any money? What are more of the
> downsides.
>
Even using live 365, and having them pay all your licenses and BMI fees, you still have to pay Live 365 something like 395 dollars a month. Plus, using Live 365 you are not aloud to have advertisments on your stream, or website, and plus, most listeners wont sit through the interupting live 365 ads, or sign up for premium membership, their are too many free stations to choose from, and the listener numbers will be considerably lower, so no, I wouldnt say 365 casters are making little, if any cash,,,, Probably just going broke, to entertain their hobby.
>
> > > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into
> these
> >
> > > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> > site?
> > >
> > Their are very few net stations that actually make
> money.
> > By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky
> to
> > break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream,
>
> > Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit
> your
> > Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard
>
> > to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
> > already established stations that exist. I have been the
> > PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
> > radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
> > very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> > listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
> > lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in
> order
> > to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how
> > good your station is, Some listeners will just find
> anything
> > to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
> > www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it
>
> > took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he
> > can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> > broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but
> I
> > definatly know the downsides.
> >
>
>
> This guy put alot of money into this let alone the time. If
> it's that hard to make money with an internet radio station,
> I can't believe he's making a profit with all the servers
> he's got running. Plus the publishers license.
> Would you say the top broadcasters in each genre that are on
> Live 365.com are making any money? What are more of the
> downsides.
>
Even using live 365, and having them pay all your licenses and BMI fees, you still have to pay Live 365 something like 395 dollars a month. Plus, using Live 365 you are not aloud to have advertisments on your stream, or website, and plus, most listeners wont sit through the interupting live 365 ads, or sign up for premium membership, their are too many free stations to choose from, and the listener numbers will be considerably lower, so no, I wouldnt say 365 casters are making little, if any cash,,,, Probably just going broke, to entertain their hobby.
A
apco25
Guest
> > > > Do any internet stations actually make money. I know
> it
> >
> > > > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into
> > these
> > >
> > > > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> > > site?
> > > >
> > > Their are very few net stations that actually make
> > money.
> > > By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually
> lucky
> > to
> > > break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB
> stream,
> >
> > > Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit
> > your
> > > Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo
> hard
> >
> > > to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
>
> > > already established stations that exist. I have been
> the
> > > PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
>
> > > radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
>
> > > very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> > > listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
>
> > > lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in
> > order
> > > to actually make money in the long run, and no matter
> how
> > > good your station is, Some listeners will just find
> > anything
> > > to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
>
> > > www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but
> it
> >
> > > took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and
> he
> > > can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> > > broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do,
> but
> > I
> > > definatly know the downsides.
> > >
> >
> >
> > This guy put alot of money into this let alone the time.
> If
> > it's that hard to make money with an internet radio
> station,
> > I can't believe he's making a profit with all the servers
> > he's got running. Plus the publishers license.
> > Would you say the top broadcasters in each genre that are
> on
> > Live 365.com are making any money? What are more of the
> > downsides.
> >
> Even using live 365, and having them pay all your licenses
> and BMI fees, you still have to pay Live 365 something like
> 395 dollars a month. Plus, using Live 365 you are not aloud
> to have advertisments on your stream, or website, and plus,
> most listeners wont sit through the interupting live 365
> ads, or sign up for premium membership, their are too many
> free stations to choose from, and the listener numbers will
> be considerably lower, so no, I wouldnt say 365 casters are
> making little, if any cash,,,, Probably just going broke, to
> entertain their hobby.
>
WHAT! 395.00 dollars a month? Where did you get that figure? I only pay 19.95 for a live or relay stream, or 29.95 for 10 hours of bandwidth for archiving a month.
As far as advertising....you let your web page do that. They can't stop you for reference to your web site for advertising or donations. And yes, you are aloud to have a web site? They even provide a link for you with the player for listeners to look it up.
Just don't put an agency commercial on there. And why would you want to do that? The 365 ads come on once an hour or when you have to turn on the player again after it stops for 1 hour. It's not so bad.
The difference between free stations and the many on Live 365, is that the free are usually professionally programmed like terrestrial stations without the commercials, and the Live 365's are amateur, free formed and provides a unique wider variety then satellite, podcasting , and cable radio can provide.
You have everything among the imagination.
You'll get more listeners then running a part 15 station.
> it
> >
> > > > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into
> > these
> > >
> > > > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> > > site?
> > > >
> > > Their are very few net stations that actually make
> > money.
> > > By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually
> lucky
> > to
> > > break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB
> stream,
> >
> > > Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit
> > your
> > > Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo
> hard
> >
> > > to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
>
> > > already established stations that exist. I have been
> the
> > > PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
>
> > > radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
>
> > > very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> > > listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
>
> > > lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in
> > order
> > > to actually make money in the long run, and no matter
> how
> > > good your station is, Some listeners will just find
> > anything
> > > to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
>
> > > www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but
> it
> >
> > > took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and
> he
> > > can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> > > broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do,
> but
> > I
> > > definatly know the downsides.
> > >
> >
> >
> > This guy put alot of money into this let alone the time.
> If
> > it's that hard to make money with an internet radio
> station,
> > I can't believe he's making a profit with all the servers
> > he's got running. Plus the publishers license.
> > Would you say the top broadcasters in each genre that are
> on
> > Live 365.com are making any money? What are more of the
> > downsides.
> >
> Even using live 365, and having them pay all your licenses
> and BMI fees, you still have to pay Live 365 something like
> 395 dollars a month. Plus, using Live 365 you are not aloud
> to have advertisments on your stream, or website, and plus,
> most listeners wont sit through the interupting live 365
> ads, or sign up for premium membership, their are too many
> free stations to choose from, and the listener numbers will
> be considerably lower, so no, I wouldnt say 365 casters are
> making little, if any cash,,,, Probably just going broke, to
> entertain their hobby.
>
WHAT! 395.00 dollars a month? Where did you get that figure? I only pay 19.95 for a live or relay stream, or 29.95 for 10 hours of bandwidth for archiving a month.
As far as advertising....you let your web page do that. They can't stop you for reference to your web site for advertising or donations. And yes, you are aloud to have a web site? They even provide a link for you with the player for listeners to look it up.
Just don't put an agency commercial on there. And why would you want to do that? The 365 ads come on once an hour or when you have to turn on the player again after it stops for 1 hour. It's not so bad.
The difference between free stations and the many on Live 365, is that the free are usually professionally programmed like terrestrial stations without the commercials, and the Live 365's are amateur, free formed and provides a unique wider variety then satellite, podcasting , and cable radio can provide.
You have everything among the imagination.
You'll get more listeners then running a part 15 station.
S
SamBuca
Guest
Oh, boy
Everyone seems to be missing the point of internet radio. Interruption based advertising DOESN'T WORK with net radio because the market is so saturated with freebies.
The reason it works on terrestrial radio is because you're very limited in your choices...most markets get 2 choices--not by saturation, but by FCC adjacency rules. There just aren't enough airwaves. You either deal with the spots in order to hear the premiere of a brand new song and catch the traffic report or you fire up your ipod and miss it. That's the attraction.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
Everyone seems to be missing the point of internet radio. Interruption based advertising DOESN'T WORK with net radio because the market is so saturated with freebies.
The reason it works on terrestrial radio is because you're very limited in your choices...most markets get 2 choices--not by saturation, but by FCC adjacency rules. There just aren't enough airwaves. You either deal with the spots in order to hear the premiere of a brand new song and catch the traffic report or you fire up your ipod and miss it. That's the attraction.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
R
russhaney
Guest
> > Do any internet stations actually make money. I know it
> > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these
>
> > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> site?
> >
> Their are very few net stations that actually make money.
> By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to
> break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream,
> Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your
> Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard
> to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
> already established stations that exist. I have been the
> PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
> radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
> very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
> lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order
> to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how
> good your station is, Some listeners will just find anything
> to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
> www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it
> took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he
> can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but I
> definatly know the downsides.
>
Hey MWClubber..
"By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to break even."
"Some listeners will just find anything to B.tch about."
Very true indeed. It's amazing how it's ok for sites like CNN, ESPN, MySpace, MTV, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc to have ads and banners, but god forbid if a net radio station sells banner space on their website. When listeners visit the sites I just listed above, do you think they write to the webmasters of those sites and complain about ads? Of course not.. but they sure as hell do with net radio stations.
"Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream, Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your Day Job."
From my experience, I don't think the <u>average</u> listener cares much about broadband streams. For one, the majority of listeners tune in from work, and I dont know many work environemts that allow their employees to blast music out of their surround sound speakers all day. Most work computers have the basic speaker set up, so there really isnt a difference between bb and dial up sound quality. Plus, companies dont mind employees listening to a 32k stream all day as compared to a 128k bandwith hog stream all day. Our 32k stream receives 95% more listeners than our 128k streams. As you can probably tell, our streams are optimized for 32k streaming.. I'll be the first to admit, our 128k's dont sound that great.. I mean they sound a little better than 32k.. but it's hard to optimize a station for both... It's possible to do, but it can take up a lot of CPU processing, which is more needed than an amazing sounding 128k stream.
"Its very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners, lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how good your station is"
This is where internet radio stations make their first mistake... You cannot promote an internet radio station on the internet... there are too many stations and communities that people are already loyal too... you have to hit the outside world.. meaning promote the station to people that have NEVER heard or tried internet radio. That's what we are doing down here in Miami and Tampa.. and things are going very well. When they first discover Internet Radio.. they are BLOWN away by it.. That's the number 1 way to get a LOYAL listener base.
Also, dont try to sound and act like a real FM station... people listen to FM all day when they are not in front of their computer... THEY DONT LIKE FM RADIO. They dont like hearing the same song twice in a day... You gotta have a very loose rotation. Depending on the audience... there are some (the more mainstream crowd) that likes sweepers between each song.. there are some audiences that only want the music.. no sweepers no nothing.. just music... depending on your station's format(s)... you gotta know what your audience wants.
Last but not least... do your own hosting.. dont get a 3rd party company to host your streams.. they are a total rip off and very very shady. Not to mention, most of them own their own internet stations, so they actually dont mind seeing you crash and burn.
"but it took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he can tell you all the ups and downs of Net broadcasting"
You are absolutely right. It is very expensive and a lot of hard work... there are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more downs than ups. It's not very fun dealing with people hacking your site 15 times/day, or servers going out, or routers going out, etc... but once you can overcome the growing pains... and sit back and actually have the time to program the station.. and communicate with your listeners... it's the best job in the world
Best of luck!<P ID="signature">______________
www.1club.fm</P>
> > requires a lot of bandwith, music, and time put into these
>
> > stations. Is it all on the ads that are on the actual
> site?
> >
> Their are very few net stations that actually make money.
> By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to
> break even. Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream,
> Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your
> Day Job. Ive tried this a few times, and its soooooo hard
> to even pick up a few listeners, especially with all the
> already established stations that exist. I have been the
> PD, and MD, as well as promotions director of 3 NET ONLY
> radio stations, and it is just a lot of hard work. Its
> very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal
> listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners,
> lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order
> to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how
> good your station is, Some listeners will just find anything
> to B.tch about. You should talk to Russ Haney, over at
> www.1club.fm He has a very successfull net staion, but it
> took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he
> can tell you all the ups and downs of Net
> broadcasting,,,,,He knows WAY more about it than I do, but I
> definatly know the downsides.
>
Hey MWClubber..
"By the time you pay all of your bills, Your usually lucky to break even."
"Some listeners will just find anything to B.tch about."
Very true indeed. It's amazing how it's ok for sites like CNN, ESPN, MySpace, MTV, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc to have ads and banners, but god forbid if a net radio station sells banner space on their website. When listeners visit the sites I just listed above, do you think they write to the webmasters of those sites and complain about ads? Of course not.. but they sure as hell do with net radio stations.
"Even if you charge listeners for a BB stream, Which very few people will pay for, you still cant quit your Day Job."
From my experience, I don't think the <u>average</u> listener cares much about broadband streams. For one, the majority of listeners tune in from work, and I dont know many work environemts that allow their employees to blast music out of their surround sound speakers all day. Most work computers have the basic speaker set up, so there really isnt a difference between bb and dial up sound quality. Plus, companies dont mind employees listening to a 32k stream all day as compared to a 128k bandwith hog stream all day. Our 32k stream receives 95% more listeners than our 128k streams. As you can probably tell, our streams are optimized for 32k streaming.. I'll be the first to admit, our 128k's dont sound that great.. I mean they sound a little better than 32k.. but it's hard to optimize a station for both... It's possible to do, but it can take up a lot of CPU processing, which is more needed than an amazing sounding 128k stream.
"Its very very hard to pick up, even a handfull of loyal listeners, and trust me, it takes hundreds of listeners, lots of promotions, and a vey professional set up, in order to actually make money in the long run, and no matter how good your station is"
This is where internet radio stations make their first mistake... You cannot promote an internet radio station on the internet... there are too many stations and communities that people are already loyal too... you have to hit the outside world.. meaning promote the station to people that have NEVER heard or tried internet radio. That's what we are doing down here in Miami and Tampa.. and things are going very well. When they first discover Internet Radio.. they are BLOWN away by it.. That's the number 1 way to get a LOYAL listener base.
Also, dont try to sound and act like a real FM station... people listen to FM all day when they are not in front of their computer... THEY DONT LIKE FM RADIO. They dont like hearing the same song twice in a day... You gotta have a very loose rotation. Depending on the audience... there are some (the more mainstream crowd) that likes sweepers between each song.. there are some audiences that only want the music.. no sweepers no nothing.. just music... depending on your station's format(s)... you gotta know what your audience wants.
Last but not least... do your own hosting.. dont get a 3rd party company to host your streams.. they are a total rip off and very very shady. Not to mention, most of them own their own internet stations, so they actually dont mind seeing you crash and burn.
"but it took alot of Money, and hard work to get that way, and he can tell you all the ups and downs of Net broadcasting"
You are absolutely right. It is very expensive and a lot of hard work... there are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more downs than ups. It's not very fun dealing with people hacking your site 15 times/day, or servers going out, or routers going out, etc... but once you can overcome the growing pains... and sit back and actually have the time to program the station.. and communicate with your listeners... it's the best job in the world
Best of luck!<P ID="signature">______________
www.1club.fm</P>
- Status