this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023

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What are your thoughts on a user-driven, officially unofficial radio station for Lemmy? (radiolemmy.com)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Psythik@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

120 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For the past few weeks I've been working on creating my own public radio station (it's been a dream of mine since I was a kid). Well now it's up and running but I don't know what to do with it. So I thought I'd see what Lemmy thinks about the concept, before I go all in and start investing in licensing fees, better servers, and more listener capacity.

If you're interested, we'll need curators to add songs to the rotation when no DJ is on air. It's simple and straightforward. Just click "Suggest" on the top right of the website and enter the Artist + Song Title on the form.

We will also need DJs and presenters to volunteer any freetime you're willing to give up and help make this happen. Click "Join" to get started.

All styles and genres are welcome. Hop on the airwaves anytime you want. Take requests, or don't. Mix and scratch, or just play one tune after another. Host a talk show/podcast if it suits you. Up to you. You can either use your own DJ/broadcasting software, otherwise there is a Web DJ interface for those with no software/experience.

https://radiolemmy.com | Temporary URL if the first one isn't working

Click Join to sign up to be DJ/presenter, or Suggest to submit your own song suggestions for regular rotation (no signup required to suggest a tune).

FAQ for potential DJs
Lemmy Community: !radiolemmy@lemm.ee
Discord

EDIT: Thanks for all the song submissions so far! I've added them to the rotation. Feel free to suggest any tunes for removal as well.

EDIT 2: Looks like I'm going to have to upgrade web servers sooner than expected. If you're having issues connecting, try the temporary URL

EDIT 3: Gonna take awhile to go through the applications. I'll take care of as many as I can tonight. Check your inbox (and don't forget the @ in your username when applying. I can't reply if I don't know what instance you're using.)

EDIT 4: All DJ applications have been processed so far. Check your inboxes! Gonna spend the next few hours uploading more of your song suggestions. This takes awhile because I have to manually check every tune to make sure it's suitable for airplay! Upon approval, your tune(s) will play at regular intervals. It may take a few hours for it to play for the first time. BTW, remember to use the "Submit" button. "Request" is for one time requests when a DJ is live. I'm brainstorming ideas on streamlining this so that the tune always goes to the right place.

EDIT 5: Well this blew up bigger than I could have hoped for. Gonna call it a night, but I'll be back tomorrow to upload more of your suggestions!

Also I'm going to dust off the turntables and do a live show tomorrow @ 7-9pm EST (00:00-02:00 GMT, check the schedule on the website). Requests accepted. Catch you on the airwaves then!

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[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 65 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Can I just say how proud I am of you fellow Lemmies for not rick rolling us.

[–] DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago (3 children)

You know that some guest DJ is going to play Rick Astley all hour long.

[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think that falls under the annoying category, lol. I think we should vote that rick rolling can only be done once a month or something.

[–] kablammy@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How often for What's New Pussycat?

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[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago

lol I'll be monitoring shows from every new DJ. Everything is recorded. Eventually we'll have mods to watch for trolls.

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[–] Gentoo1337@sh.itjust.works 44 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Nice, now I can share obscure indie underground music like taylor swift with the rest of the world

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

lol go for it. Play whatever you want, so long as it isn't annoying or supports bigotry.

[–] Gentoo1337@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah dont worry lol. Also how do you plan to deal with trolls who post annoying or hateful music?

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Good question! At the moment I will be personally monitoring peoples' broadcasts at random intervals. If I suspect foul play, I can pull up a recording of their show to check for the offending content.

Everybody makes mistakes, so you will get a warning at first. If need be, I can kick a DJ off immediately. You can report any foul play either in the Discord, or by messaging me here on Lemmy. Eventually I will have moderators to handle things, but for now it's just me.

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[–] XbSuper@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago

I have absolutely no interest in this whatsoever, but I hope you and those that do, enjoy it.

[–] thegiddystitcher@lemm.ee 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is a cool idea and I'll be submitting some songs as soon as I'm back on my laptop.

But in the meantime, since this thread is full of people who apparently appreciate both internet radio and the Fediverse, you should check out https://radiofreefedi.net as well! Music from actual fellow Fedizens, it's kind of great.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Damn, and here I thought I had an original idea. Maybe we should get together and do a collab! Their website could use some modernization.

[–] thegiddystitcher@lemm.ee 13 points 10 months ago

You're not wrong there! Yeah I didn't mean to draw attention away from your thing, it sounds like a very different project so they're not really competitors, just wanted to put it out there to support Fediverse artists :)

[–] nieceandtows@programming.dev 23 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is so cool!

[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Right? The weirdness of the songs and their diversity makes it cool.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago

Glad you like the variety. The goal is to play anything and everything (within reason, of course). Keep those song submissions coming!

[–] DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

This is a wonderful idea! I'll definitely be following this project.

[–] Shocker_Khan@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I submitted a song and also submitted a form to be a dj. I'm a musician and did a radio station on twitch for a while (I really should start that up again when I have time).

Mostly I'd be spinning synthwave, industrial, electro, future pop, etc if accepted. Stuff like that.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Sweet. I'll process the form tonight. Keep an eye on your inbox.

[–] plistig@feddit.de 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This website is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

If I was a lawyer, I'd say that this sentence could be interpreted in a way that the audio stream is licensed as cc-by-nc-sa, too, i.e. you are sublicensing the songs to anybody. This is even more illegal than simply broadcasting music without licensing it. It's a fun and games until RIAA comes to break your knee caps.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Good to know. I thought the "this website is licensed" part would cover it, but maybe I should just remove the license for now...

FWIW there is a system in place to track plays for music licensing purposes. I will be paying this out of pocket.

[–] Dettweiler42@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I know of a service that helps with this. I don't know how well it will apply directly to this scenario, but I've seen some small groups sign up for Sound Exchange as a non-intersctive music service.
https://www.soundexchange.com/service-provider/licensing-101/

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[–] antrosapien@lemmy.ml 13 points 10 months ago (3 children)

"Works best in Firefox"

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[–] Takios@feddit.de 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What's the legal basis around this project? One can't just hop on as a DJ and start broadcasting the newest Taylor Swift songs without getting DMCA'd, can they?

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 24 points 10 months ago (2 children)

There is a system implemented that tracks every song played for licensing purposes. Anyone can jump on with their own music and I get sent the bill afterword. I'm more than happy to pay for the licensing fees for the time being. I'll probably start begging for donations eventually.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

How much is the fees per song?

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[–] ShitOnABrick@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Prehaps it might be worth having patron to cover expenses

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[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago

Make it so

[–] Cyrilfiggis@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is so cool!! It's a great initiative, people need to take back control of their live and its individual initiative like that are part of the solution.

We cannot expect any thing from big Corp or government, it will have to come from us. I really see a decentralised future. I wish it was that easy to find comparable alternatives for other areas of lives.

Thanks OP it might just be a radio station , but it's really inspiring.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 8 points 10 months ago

Exactly! You get it. Big radio will just play the same 10 songs over and over, all day long, for always and forever. My idea for the station is to escape from the corporate BS and play what people want to actually hear.

[–] Breezy@sopuli.xyz 12 points 10 months ago

I managed to get wifi on this long haul international flight and it sure made my whole 18 hour flight to hop in right as Ass-N-Titties was played. Gave me a great laugh, thanks for that person who suggested and you for allowing it 😂

[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Okay, I request that you not play the same song or similar version for at least 2 hours. Too many take on mes.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Already implemented due to legal reasons. So IDK why Take on Me keeps playing.

Thanks for making me aware of the issue. Fixing now.

[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

reminds me of an irc-connected system i wrote once.. used some kind of audio casting (spatial audio and some winamp casting plugin).. but you could request/search/dedicate/query current status from the website or irc channel etc

this was ~1999

whats old is new again

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago (4 children)

FWIW, it's cause I've been planning this exact concept since 2002 lol. Finally worked up the courage to make it happen. I remember the days of using Winamp and running the entire thing off your own PC. We've come quite a long way.

Speaking of which, there is a way to request tunes from the database when no DJ is connected. it's kind of hidden, but if you scroll down to the bottom of the webpage, you'll see a "send an Auto DJ request" link just below the live DJ request form.

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[–] Hubi@feddit.de 11 points 10 months ago

Cheers to whoever suggested Insomnia (Monster Mix) by Faithless - great taste! I was about to suggest it myself!

[–] DefyTheLegends@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I joined the Discord. Now, let's see if I can spread my garbage music taste.

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[–] TheWeirdestCunt@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ngl sounds super interesting and I want to host something but idk what I’d even do.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago

You don't have to do much. Just share your favorite tunes with the listeners. Hop on the mic every few songs to announce the song title if you'd like. Since we're just getting started, I don't expect much. I just want you on the air!

[–] SadSadSatellite@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I may be interested in being a dj/random song info guy. I'll have to think about it for a few days, and see if I can make a regular appearance.

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[–] Dettweiler42@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This looks pretty fun. I used to dabble this shoutcast radio broadcasting for an old roleplaying server in San Andreas Multiplayer.

I've used b.u.t.t. for NeosVR shows, and it's really easy to use.

I'll have to sign up for some night time EDM slots. :)

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[–] 1984@lemmy.today 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I love the initiative. This sort of thing feels REAL and I will absolutely submit some songs from my Playlist :)

I really like radiostations as well, not just for music, but the way people can talk over radio in a anonymous way (at least before caller id) . I don't know if you watched the show Midnight Caller but it was one of my favorite ones growing up.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0094510/

[–] moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Get ready, I have ~250 songs, and too much free-time.

the comment is joking

both of those things are true, but I'm not going to add all of them as I'd rather spend my ludicrous free-time playing rimworld

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[–] CommunityLinkFixer@lemmings.world 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !radiolemmy@lemm.ee

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago

good bot. done.

[–] Sunhealer@feddit.dk 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Would it be possible to get your station added to RadioGarden? It's essentially a collection of radio stations which you can browse by spinning a globe where all the stations are geolocated. Having it on RadioGarden will make it much easier to listen to the station from a phone! They have a submission form under Settings > Submit a Radio Station, and here's a direct link. I love the idea of unrestricted request radio stations, looking forward to requesting some favorites myself at some point! I myself listen to Rainwave every now and then which also streams 24/7 random music, though this one's strictly videogame soundtracks :)

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago

Saving this comment so I can look into it. Thanks for the suggestion. I'd like to get as many ears as I can!

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