Happy 13th Birthday RadioNowhere!

Some say 13 is an unlucky number.  In my experience it has been quite the contrary.  The gate I walked through to come live in Europe just so happened to be gate 13. The plane didn’t crash.  I met an amazing girl at a gig on the 13^th and we actually still talk to each other. The very first test broadcast for RadioNowhere was on the 13^th of April 2002 in Walthamstow, London and 13 years later I am sat here writing this and we are still on the air.  A lot has changed since those early days, technology being the biggest.  On the 11^th of November 2002 we launched our 24 hour stream which has not been interrupted since.  The very first song ever played on RadioNowhere was Transmission by Joy Division.  It seemed appropriate being that we were in Macclesfield then and that Ian Curtis once lived just a 5-minute walk from our studio.  Back in those days one was constricted to a PC or Mac to get the full RadioNowhere experience.  It would be another two years before ex-MTV VJ Adam Curry would launch his Daily Source Code, which the Guardian would later label and the world would refer to as ‘podcasts’.  Apple released iTunes 4.9 in June 2005, which supported podcasts and RadioNowhere applied to Apple that autumn to be added to its podcast subscriptions.  Hurrah! We were accepted, and released our very first podcast, The RadioNowhere Live Request Show in May 2006. It featured a then unknown Texan singer/songwriter by the name of Sarah Jaffe who just so happens to be a pretty big deal now and in 2007 a singer/songwriter of some note by the name of Bruce Springsteen penned a song called RadioNowhere.  (We had no idea you were a fan Bruce!  We love you too!!)  So here we are, close to 1000 podcasts later and on this 13^th Birthday we are raising a glass to all those who have joined us on this musical journey.  Sadly we are constantly on a knife edge of going silent forever due to increasing financial constraints and the seemingly unlimited outlets for discovering music such as KEXP, 6Music, NPR, Apple Radio etc etc.  The list is virtually endless.  The one thing that we are most proud of though is our listeners.  Those who still crave the experience of listening to music via an actual human being, not through a myriad of platforms like Spotify who use algorithms as their tool to discovering music, not passion, experience and genuine human emotion.

In the past 13 years we have been recognised by The New York Times, The Guardian, ABC Australia, and The New York-Boston-Philadelphia editions of Metro. However it is the words of RadioNowhere listener Jason Stephens that probably said it best…

It’s Eclectic It’s Eccentric It’s RadioNowhere!  That’s the motto for the online radio station broadcasting from the UK that as it describes: was started in 2002 as a reaction to the lack of support commercial radio was giving to unsigned and deleted artists.  In fact all the stations I listen to (WDCB, klassik radio, BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music, 91.1 The Avenue and fip) aim to do the same in some respects but RadioNowhere has made it its mission. Great music shouldn’t be put on a pedestal, only associated with fame and mass popularity.  Some of the best music is the most unknown music.  While scouring record shops, one may find music that you never heard of before but due to the recommendation of a friend or cool album cover, it turns out to be the best music you ever heard!  Listening to RadioNowhere is like scouring a record shop through each genre and is like a friend offering recommendations of their favourite records.

If you feel the way Jason does about RadioNowhere, please donate and help us to continue to stay on air and bring to you music won’t hear anywhere else!

Thank you to Ley, Jessie, Piney, Alex, Polly (J6), Ruby, Jenny, Mark, Rachel, Peta, Tim (Ten Yen), Herick (Bigif), Mariola (Ola), Vanessa, Patrick and Judy.

You made my dreams come true and I love you all!

Christopher