You Know Altrok Radio Is FREE, Right?

[hubcity]

Folks,

I got a note from someone here on the message board who, while supportive, said something to the effect of "it sounds good, but I won't support a PAY service".

Which is funny, because while you CAN pay for Altrok Radio, you don't HAVE to.

So I figure I've got some misconceptions to clear up.

For the record: Altrok Radio is [b]really, truly, actually free.[/b] No pay necessary. After a certain amount of listening time, Live365 (our streaming provider) asks you to create a login, but that's [b]also free[/b] (and from what I can tell, they're not spammers.)

There [i]is[/i] a subscription program available, which makes the commercial breaks, and in fact all advertising on the Live365 pages, go away, but the VIP program is totally optional. If you sign up for it, it makes me a little money (and I do mean "little") but if it gets in the way of you listening, I'd rather just have you listen for free.

I've got a lot of music you can't hear anywhere else anymore, and a lot more music that needs more exposure now, and I'm not interested in quibbling about filthy lucre, just in getting the music into your ears. Making money will help me do it longer, but my tank's not even close to "E" yet.

Why is money even involved? Because it's a legal web station, in that the songwriters and performers who get played, get paid. At least, that's the RIAA's story, and I'd rather spend a little money on a good stream that isn't in danger of getting shut down by a cease-and-desist order.

Even when you listen for free, it's still CD quality when you listen with MP3Pro, and still quite good in plain MP3. There's a free MP3Pro plugin for WinAmp, and some other players do it natively. If you need help finding one, let me know.

(And to the person on the board who asked: Thank you! You probably hit on what was stopping people from listening! Here I was thinking they just didn't like me...)

-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio - Click Here to listen for FREE!</a>
(Now Playing: Devo, "Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy")

[ben_at_work]

I was the person who inquired about the pay portion of your service and am pleasantly suprised that you went on the record to verify that for me. By the by, Devo isn't playing right now it's Fade to Grey/Gray by Visage [}:)] REALLY, TRULY and ACTUALLY, Thanks a bunch [:o)]

[ben_at_work]

Shit, I actually did just listen to it and Greenday was playing [:(] I Fu**ing hate those Fu**ing sell-outs. Plus they suck. [;)] Sorry Sean, it's back to Nigel for me [;)]


(The above statement concerning GreenDay is just my humble opinion) [:p]

[British]

I never liked live365. Firewall issues at work prevented me from listening there, and I never liked the requirement to register. The best option is Shoutcast's no-fuss "just click to listen" stations. Sadly, 90% of the 80s genre stations there also have 70s and 90s in it. Also, they only play the tired old top 40 junk.

I should get my station up again. It went down due to using too much bandwidth at the colo site.

[ben_at_work]

You should do that British. It's all about the Bandwidth, eh?

[British]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ben_at_work[/i]
<br>You should do that British. It's all about the Bandwidth, eh?
[/quote]

it's about the upstream bandwidth, which, no matter where you are, seems to be the most precious thing in the world, but in the lowest supply. I can't complain though. the site doing the hosting was being hosted for free. We might move it to chicago.

I can try doing it again on my cable modem connection. But I noticed it gets studdery every hour or so. Not exactly an optimal solution. They keep upping the download speeds, but never the upload speeds.

[ben_at_work]

Stupid Technology, be sure to let us know if you give it a shot. [;)]

[British]

I'm listening to the station in question right now. I am getting 1 80s tune for every 10-12 bands I never heard of, that don't qualify as "next wave".

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ben_at_work[/i]
<br>I was the person who inquired about the pay portion of your service and am pleasantly suprised that you went on the record to verify that for me. By the by, Devo isn't playing right now it's Fade to Grey/Gray by Visage [}:)] REALLY, TRULY and ACTUALLY, Thanks a bunch [:o)]
[/quote]

I don't have the cool code that updates what's playing in real-time; it's what was playing when I posted. Thanks for checking it out, though. Incidentally, given most of Visage's pedigree, you might like that I'm adding some '77 Ultravox! (sic) to the oldies starting next week...

-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio</a>

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ben_at_work[/i]
<br>Shit, I actually did just listen to it and Greenday was playing [:(] I Fu**ing hate those Fu**ing sell-outs. Plus they suck. [;)] Sorry Sean, it's back to Nigel for me [;)]


(The above statement concerning GreenDay is just my humble opinion) [:p]
[/quote]

Well...I'd written them off before American Idiot came out, but I thought that was kinda pretty good - though not Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. Ever.

Took them a while to make that a single (I added it last year) and I notice many stations lose the rap in the middle, but I also try not to drop something if I thought it had merit initially. I'll make some exceptions, of course...

Also, that's a recurrent that spent time in the Grinder, which I believe means it gets two chances to get pulled for a playlist, with each chance coming up no sooner than six days after the last play...so after today's playlist (which is eight hours long) you may not bump into it for a while.

-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio</a>

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by British[/i]
<br>I never liked live365. Firewall issues at work prevented me from listening there, and I never liked the requirement to register. The best option is Shoutcast's no-fuss "just click to listen" stations. Sadly, 90% of the 80s genre stations there also have 70s and 90s in it. Also, they only play the tired old top 40 junk.

I should get my station up again. It went down due to using too much bandwidth at the colo site.
[/quote]

Well, y'see, that's why I use Live365 - it costs me little to run it, and all the fees get covered. No guarantees of that with Shoutcast.

Also, I'm more Next Wave than New Wave, since the latter only makes up the first third of the last thirty years of Modern Rock...Buuut, I did just play "Victoria" by The Fall and "Ambitious" by Wire, and I also play new music by both bands.

Remember, the idea is "what would a station who used that philosophy back then be playing today" - I'm not shooting for nostalgia.


-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio</a>

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by British[/i]
<br>I'm listening to the station in question right now. I am getting 1 80s tune for every 10-12 bands I never heard of, that don't qualify as "next wave".
[/quote]

Hm...I have the playlist here, and I think you're right about the 80's...not so right about Next Wave, though. Here's everything that came up after Green Day:

Note: * denotes a power cut, -> denotes a new add.

* Nada Surf - Armies Walk
Mando Diao - Clean Town
-> Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
* Sons And Daughters - Dance Me In
Guided By Voices - Sleep Over Jack
Whitey - Y.U.H.2.B.M.2
* Rakes, The - Strasbourg
Particle Zoo - Dick Clark
Sunshine - Victim Is Another Name For Lover
! XTC - When You re Near Me I Have Difficulty
-> Anemo - Fallout Renegade
Koreans, The - Machine Code
Lismore - This Time
Dead 60s, The - The Last Resort
* Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales Of San Francisco
Posies, The - My Big Mouth
-> Wolf Parade - Shine A Light
Ordinary Boys, The - Life Will Be The Death Of Me
Adams, Keith John - Throwaway
Maximo Park - Graffiti
* Super Furry Animals - Pscylone
! Bush, Kate - Babooshka
-> Alps, The - World At War - Downloadable Single
Beta Band, The - Assessment - Heroes To Zeroes

Really only two from the eighties: XTC and Kate Bush; probably just an artifact of the fact that a "random pick" of all the oldies is as likely to pick from the eighties as the nineties (and the early '00s). Quite a bit of Next Wave, though - Ladytron, Alps, Wolf Parade, Koreans, Sons And Daughters, Whitey, The Rakes, Sunshine. Plus some Indie (Beta Band, Maximo Park, Mando Diao and Guided By Voices).

But if you tune out now, you'll miss ABC, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Ultravox and Ian McCulloch, not to mention Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, Editors, Futureheads and Radio 4, all within the next hour and a half...

-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio</a>

[DayGloJo]

Sean,

I like your station. I've given it a few listens. I even asked my friend to link altrok to her site www.martinivault.com.

Although I agree with Ben at Work, Live365 bites. The DJ who runs Hidebound Radio just dropped them for another host. Big improvement.

DayGloJo

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by DayGloJo[/i]
<br>Sean,

I like your station. I've given it a few listens. I even asked my friend to link altrok to her site www.martinivault.com.

Although I agree with Ben at Work, Live365 bites. The DJ who runs Hidebound Radio just dropped them for another host. Big improvement.

DayGloJo
[/quote]

Thank you, DayGlo! (And I wasn't able to get to martinivault.com, but I like the name immensely...)

As for Live365's reliability, I had more luck than many during the recent megahiccup they had - many lost their online libraries, but since I actually upload a new library every day, I was back up and running pretty quickly. I regard using their servers to hold my files for broadcast as a feature, not a bug, though - that way, I only have to depend on their connection to the Internet, and not worry about keeping up my connection to *them*. (My cable modem service is a bit wonky that way...) That said, I'm curious what service Hidebound's using, because if I come into a little extra money, it might be an option...

-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio</a>

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by DayGloJo[/i]
<br>Although I agree with Ben at Work, Live365 bites. [/quote]

Oh, yeah - I almost forgot:

As a listener, Live365 bites a lot less if you use WinAmp or another MP3 player.

Trust me on that...

-Sean
<a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">Altrok Radio</a>