Following on from the celebrations of a triumphant 1st year since Mixcloud’s launch, we thought it would be appropriate to shine the spotlight on another fine new proponent of the internet radio revolution; Seeks Music.
We aimed the classic questions at Station Manager Rich Martin, who filled us in on the who, what, when and why…
Can you give us a brief history of the station?
We started Seeks Music as a bunch of music fans, bloggers and creators who were pretty dismayed when the BBC started talking about closing down the only decent music station out there, BBC 6 Music. We thought that if they weren’t gonna do it then somebody has to, and it may as well be us. Our remit is slightly different to theirs however; there is no point in duplicating what they do (as if we could) so we try to be a little bit more obscure, whilst remaining accessible.
Why did you choose to put the station on Mixcloud?
We knew that we wanted to start an internet radio station, but at the same time we knew that a linear stream of music in itself wasn’t enough. It’s not the only way we listen to radio any more. If we’re near a computer we’ll time shift; using listen again services and downloading podcasts.
Mixcloud was the only viable solution for us to provide a listen again (or rather listen when you like) service. The option to embed the shows into our site meant that we designed our site specifically to take advantage of Mixcloud’s great looking embedded players.
The other key factor was that they took care of the royalties for us. We are proud to be a legal station and it’s only right that musicians get paid if we broadcast their music. Licensing and logging is a minefield, and we’re delighted that Mixcloud takes the pain away for us.
How have you tried to make use of recent advances in online technology and social networking?
We have a Facebook and Twitter presence where we are pretty active, we promote our shows there and interact with our audience. It works well and we’d be on there anyway so it’s a natural part of our online lives.
What are your opinions on the state of web radio in general?
I think that there’s a lot of static out there, and it’s tough to cut through the noise of people trying to make a buck out of music online. Our strategy is to be reliable, consistent and distinctive. It’s fortunate that we’re driven by our passion, rather than a need to make a livelihood.
That said, I think that the only way is up. Mobile internet can easily cope with streaming music. DAB is a lame duck, and the general public will switch from their precious FM radios straight to internet based radio, in all of its rich and varied forms.
What more would you like to see from the Mixcloud service, how can we improve?
Move away from flash – I’d like to see iPhone/iPad functionality, but more than that I think that Mixcloud could exist happily on the new generation of wi-fi enabled radios, with something akin to Facebook/insights to let us know who is listening and where.
What’s going on at the station and website in the next few months?
The site’s in beta, so we’re still learning how to run an internet radio station, but it’s all exciting. We’re continuing to build our roster whilst trying to maintain our ethos of great eclectic radio as we grow.
We’re talking to some high profile blogs about having shows, and we’re talking to artists about giving some exclusive sessions, and the like. But if it’s all the same to you, we’d rather not jinx it for now.