I've thought about starting a web station from time to time but it seems the music licensing restrictions are draconian, especially compared to over-the-air broadcast. I've thought about doing talk but at heart I love music. It seems there's no way to make money doing streaming because of the music restrictions as well as you can't really reach as many people with a stream like you can with over-the-air, even a small A.M.! So, should I even bother? Thanks!
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Should I even bother?
- Thread starter N1WVQ
- Start date
M
Marathon Don
Guest
I've been at this for almost 10 years. My current station is 5 years old. Do it for the love of broadcasting, for the music, for the cause, whatever. Don't do it for the money, 'cuz there ain't much. You will meet some great folks as they discover your station and become regular listeners. You'll learn stuff about computers, networking, websites & licensing that you didn't know existed.
It's not cheap, but it is rewarding. If I shut down my station tomorrow (not likely) I'd have no regrets for the money or effort expended.
It's not cheap, but it is rewarding. If I shut down my station tomorrow (not likely) I'd have no regrets for the money or effort expended.
If you are going to start streaming with the idea to "Get rich" ... don't do it.. it won't do nothing but disappoint you at this point.
However, If you want to broadcast, love to be creative, have fun and do your thing.. Go for it.. Look at some of the options such as Loud city for licensing (you bring your own shout cast host), or something like Live365 if you want to do a web based jukebox.
Have fun with it and if you put out content that people aren't doing elsewhere or something unique / creative.. You may just well find a nice listener base.
It's possible to do quite well with listeners.. I have a friend who has no real formal radio experience running a high listenership country music station on live365.
However, If you want to broadcast, love to be creative, have fun and do your thing.. Go for it.. Look at some of the options such as Loud city for licensing (you bring your own shout cast host), or something like Live365 if you want to do a web based jukebox.
Have fun with it and if you put out content that people aren't doing elsewhere or something unique / creative.. You may just well find a nice listener base.
It's possible to do quite well with listeners.. I have a friend who has no real formal radio experience running a high listenership country music station on live365.
I second xmusicmatt's words. It's an expenditure that will likely never yield any profit and you'll thank your lucky stars to break even.
Back 13 years ago when Live365 was new I had a great deep oldies webstream with authentic PAMS jingles, loads of original promo edits of songs and a good group of voicetrackers who regularly updated their work. I also did a live request show on Saturdays which worked really well. I still don't know if it was due to the folks I knew at Apple at the time but I was one of the first group of stations listed in the iTunes tuner. That forced me to up my listener slots.
As time went on, the costs went up and the rewards went down. Seven years later I pulled the plug and went back to terrestrial radio. It's fun if you have the dough to blow.
Back 13 years ago when Live365 was new I had a great deep oldies webstream with authentic PAMS jingles, loads of original promo edits of songs and a good group of voicetrackers who regularly updated their work. I also did a live request show on Saturdays which worked really well. I still don't know if it was due to the folks I knew at Apple at the time but I was one of the first group of stations listed in the iTunes tuner. That forced me to up my listener slots.
As time went on, the costs went up and the rewards went down. Seven years later I pulled the plug and went back to terrestrial radio. It's fun if you have the dough to blow.
Great responses to the question.
I have been at it for nearly 12 years. I have been using Live365, primarily due to the
inclusive royalty package. I have primarily been a country station, but due to local market changes
(loss of classic country, oldies, and soft AC) I have tweaked my format to a hybrid of these. Listenership has doubled since I did this.
I am a PRO on Live365, allowing me to insert my own ads. I am at almost break-even but it is still not earning me a living. I would just be too bored if I didn't have it.
My PRO package for up to 500 simultaneous listeners, plus all the royalties and licensing, runs around
$110 per month. When the listener hours go up, so do the costs, so the system is flawed in that it penalyzes success. The overage changes are cheaper than a higher package, though.
I am hoping to be able to take my format to local LPFM.
It is definitely a labor of love.
I have been at it for nearly 12 years. I have been using Live365, primarily due to the
inclusive royalty package. I have primarily been a country station, but due to local market changes
(loss of classic country, oldies, and soft AC) I have tweaked my format to a hybrid of these. Listenership has doubled since I did this.
I am a PRO on Live365, allowing me to insert my own ads. I am at almost break-even but it is still not earning me a living. I would just be too bored if I didn't have it.
My PRO package for up to 500 simultaneous listeners, plus all the royalties and licensing, runs around
$110 per month. When the listener hours go up, so do the costs, so the system is flawed in that it penalyzes success. The overage changes are cheaper than a higher package, though.
I am hoping to be able to take my format to local LPFM.
It is definitely a labor of love.
I've been Internet broadcasting for almost 7 years now. I did start off with Live365 until 2009 when I stopped with that station and moved on to another. In 2011, I decided to "revive" the Dance/EDM format under a different name and currently still am with it using Reliastream, then switched over to DJC Media. I decided to brand it as a "local feel" to my region and promote it the old fashioned way (bars and clubs, malls, beach towns, etc) with flyers, CDs, bumper stickers, any source other than Facebook to get the word out. Two years later, I'm a weekly resident at a Seaside Heights venue and had a door opened to me at a new venue. I make enough to cover the royalties and run my stream commercial free, any extra I get is beer money. And to think it all started with my passion and love for my genre and broadcasting. If you're expecting to roll in $$ like a terrestrial station, it's not gonna work that way.
I basically say the same as the other posters. The only real way to make any real money would be to have many stations under one umbrella but you would be competing with the established players.
I started around 8 years ago on Live 365, renamed, then went my way with Loudcity seven years ago, and haven't looked back. At its peak, I did runaway with costs when I was one of the select stations on iTunes (took 8 months to get listed). I had to stop the station about 5 years ago, then I was bored, so brought it back but now that directories are well saturated, I limit my listener count to keep costs under control!
I still love doing the station, & it's a labor of love. I have some DJ's that provide weekly shows and have done for over 4 years, as well as some syndies.
Somedays I feel I ought to call it a day. but then I wake up and carry on loving it more....
I started around 8 years ago on Live 365, renamed, then went my way with Loudcity seven years ago, and haven't looked back. At its peak, I did runaway with costs when I was one of the select stations on iTunes (took 8 months to get listed). I had to stop the station about 5 years ago, then I was bored, so brought it back but now that directories are well saturated, I limit my listener count to keep costs under control!
I still love doing the station, & it's a labor of love. I have some DJ's that provide weekly shows and have done for over 4 years, as well as some syndies.
Somedays I feel I ought to call it a day. but then I wake up and carry on loving it more....
I've been broadcasting for over 5 yrs now. I started with SWCast and was ripped off. I then moved to LoudCaster when it was alive and loved the fact that you had a nice 10GB AutoDJ when your Internet or power failed. Now I use RadioLoyalty for stream hosting (100% FREE) and allows unlimited listeners using their icecast server. I earn money through the ads that I force RadioLoyalty to play at 15 Minutes past, 35 Minutes Past and 45 Minutes Past each hour. I made $25 this last month to offset my $38.95 licensing cost. StreamLicensing or to get a cheaper rate http://startinternetradio.tk is one of the only providers that is compatible with RadioLoyalty. Plus RadioLoyalty will allow TuneIn.com listing allowing you to gain more listeners earning you more money but as was said you don't get rich.
On top of that I do have a Shoutcast server through FastCast4U allowing 100 slots at 128K and love it as well. To back up my station so it can run 24/7 I use LiveWebDJ wich is way better than LoudCaster ever was. Its 100% stable and has a 20GB storage and can be upgraded to 100GB's of storage great for Progressive Rock stations or Progressive Country or any station that is not Top40 as these formats are for Audiophiles.
I wish you the best of luck.
On top of that I do have a Shoutcast server through FastCast4U allowing 100 slots at 128K and love it as well. To back up my station so it can run 24/7 I use LiveWebDJ wich is way better than LoudCaster ever was. Its 100% stable and has a 20GB storage and can be upgraded to 100GB's of storage great for Progressive Rock stations or Progressive Country or any station that is not Top40 as these formats are for Audiophiles.
I wish you the best of luck.
Thanks! I had an internet station back from 2001-2003. I wanted to use it to feed radio stations, like a Barix can do now. Because of the RIAA/DMCA I shut down (it was on Live 365 & Shoutcast). I am opposed to paying for "performances" that are just pressing play, so it may be Talk radio is the only way to go. Too bad as I'd rather play music.
Hi there N1WVQ
You could always go the independent artist route and creative commons and you don't have to pay to play. There are a lot of great new and established artists taking that route. Just be sure that even with CC that the artist/band is not also associated with a label that isn't independent and above all get everything in writing!
Cheers
You could always go the independent artist route and creative commons and you don't have to pay to play. There are a lot of great new and established artists taking that route. Just be sure that even with CC that the artist/band is not also associated with a label that isn't independent and above all get everything in writing!
Cheers
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