What are your thoughts on a user-driven, officially unofficial radio station for Lemmy?

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.

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
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!

downpunxx,
downpunxx avatar

WNZI? All Antisemtic Jew Baiting, All the time?

Psythik,

lol no

OpenStars,
OpenStars avatar

Oh no, am I going to have to look backwards at this day as the one where W-Nazi started? :-P

(/s btw...I hope!:-D)

MiddledAgedGuy,

Sounds interesting! I’ll check it out.

How’d the show go? Looks like I stumbled on this too late to catch that.

owsei,

I’ve been thinking of hosting a site for a while, may I ask what hosting service are you using

and if you are using custom server software (which is what I want to do)

Psythik,

000webhost runs the website, and AsuraHosting for the stream.

sanguinepar, (edited )
@sanguinepar@lemmy.world avatar

Quick question - is there a limit to how many songs a person can request on the Auto DJ?

It’s a brilliant feature (and if you’ve been enjoying R.E.M., Beastie Boys, Fleetwood Mac and Ice Cube in the last few minutes, you’re welcome!) but seems like something that could be abused if someone selected hundreds of different songs.

Will be checking out your show at midnight (GMT), good luck!

EDIT to add another question…

Have discovered that you can stream the station in VLC (probably elsewhere too) using this link: https://a2.asurahosting.com:7010/radio.mp3

This is great, but doesn’t pull through the artist, song title, artwork, etc - is there an alternative link that does? Not a huge issue, but it’d be cool :-)

Psythik,

There is a system in place to prevent a song from playing more than twice per day.

That said, every time I upload a new listener suggestion, the backend running the station resets the playlists, which can cause tunes to play more often than they’re supposed to. Currently working on a fix.

sanguinepar,
@sanguinepar@lemmy.world avatar

Really cool idea - and I love that when I clicked the link just now, the first song that was playing was Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae.

Good job 👍

Nihilore,

There’s already radio free fedi for the entire fediverse

Psythik,

Send me the link and I’ll contact them to see what they think about merging or doing a collab

deeznutz,

Cool! Any interesting things in the tech stack, OP? I’ve been meaning to set something like this up for my family, local only.

Psythik,

I’ve been getting so many ideas that it’s hard to keep up with them all.

Right now I’m focusing on fixing bugs and getting as many listener suggested tunes on the airwaves as soon as possible. Keep checking the community for updates! !radiolemmy

XbSuper,

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

Breezy,

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 😂

Takios,

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,

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,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

How much is the fees per song?

Psythik,

deleted_by_author

    •
    1984,
    @1984@lemmy.today avatar

    Why wouldn’t you have exact numbers? I’m interested in knowing how much the fee is per song, since I don’t know. Give me a ballpark number?

    Psythik,

    Because the way I understand it, it depends on which songs are being played and how many people are listening.

    ShitOnABrick,
    @ShitOnABrick@lemmy.world avatar

    Prehaps it might be worth having patron to cover expenses

    Psythik,

    Coming soon.

    rar,

    Good luck everyone, it’s going to be tough moderating something like that.

    eatham,
    @eatham@aussie.zone avatar

    Cool project

    Sunhealer,

    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,

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

    AMillionNames,

    That it will have to compete on its own merits and that the whole lemmy tag adds nothing to it. Not to be too sarcastic but just to drive the point home, what are your thoughts on a user-driven officially unofficial radio station for IMAP/POP3.

    thegiddystitcher,
    @thegiddystitcher@lemm.ee avatar

    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 radiofreefedi.net as well! Music from actual fellow Fedizens, it’s kind of great.

    Psythik,

    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,
    @thegiddystitcher@lemm.ee avatar

    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 :)

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