SomaFM

SomaFM
Industry Internet radio
Founded February 2000
Headquarters San Francisco, CA
Key people
 Rusty Hodge, Founder
Website SomaFM.com

SomaFM is an independent Internet-only streaming group of radio channels, supported entirely with donations from listeners.[1] SomaFM originally started broadcasting out of founder Rusty Hodge's basement garage in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, as a micropower radio station broadcast at the Burning Man festival in 1999. The response to the project was sufficiently positive that Rusty Hodge launched it as a full-time internet radio station in February 2000.

SomaFM takes its name from Soma, the "perfect pleasure drug" from Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World, and the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, known colloquially as SoMa. SomaFM's twelve channels reached a peak listenership of 10,000 concurrent listeners by 2002, and now reports nearly 6 million "listener hours" every month.[2]

List of channels

ChannelGenre/themeYear added
Drone ZoneDrone2000
Groove SaladDowntempo/chillout2000
Secret AgentLounge/jazz with a 1960s spy theme2000
Indie Pop Rocks!Indie pop/indie rock2002
cliqhop idmIntelligent dance music2002
Beat BlenderHouse/downtempo/chillout2002
Boot LiquorAmericana2003
The TripClassic trance/progressive trance. Formerly known as Tag's Trip.2004
Xmas in FriskoEclectic Christmas-themed music2005[lower-alpha 1]
Space Station SomaAmbient space music2006
Illinois Street LoungeLounge2006
DoomedIndustrial/dark ambient2006[lower-alpha 1]
Sonic UniverseAvant-garde jazz2008
LushFemale-driven vocal downtempo2008
DigitalisSelf-produced indie rock and electronic music2008
Suburbs of GoaDesi/Arabic-influenced worldbeat2008
Underground 80sEarly 80s British synthpop and new wave. Formerly known as Nu Musik.2008
Christmas LoungeChristmas themed lounge music2008[lower-alpha 1]
Mission ControlAmbient music mixed with the sounds of NASA's mission broadcasts and live shuttle coverage2009
PopTronElectropop/dance-rock2009
CoversCover songs2009
Black Rock FMThe broadcast for 102.3FM in Black Rock City for the Burning Man Festival2010[lower-alpha 1]
BAGeL RadioAlternative rock/post-punk/indie rock/noise pop. Formerly known as 480 Minutes.2011
South by SomaMusic by artists from the SXSW Festival2012[lower-alpha 1]
SF 10–33Ambient music mixed with the sounds of San Francisco public safety radio traffic2012
Dub Step BeyondDubstep, dub, and other bass-driven electronic music2012
Folk ForwardIndie folk, alternate folk, and the occasional folk classics2012
Christmas Rocks!Christmas themed indie/alternative rock2012[lower-alpha 1]
DEF CON RadioMusic from DEF CON's chill room, provided by SomaFM2013
Iceland AirwavesMusic by artists from the Iceland Airwaves festival2013[lower-alpha 1]
Deep Space OneDeep ambient electronic, experimental, and space music2013
Seven Inch SoulClassic soul music2014
Left Coast 70sMellow album-oriented rock from the 1970s2015
FluidInstrumental hip hop/future soul/liquid trap2015
ThistleRadioCeltic music, was previously broadcast as The Thistle & Shamrock on NPR2015
Metal DetectorHeavy metal2015
Jolly Ol' SoulChristmas-themed soul music2015[lower-alpha 1]

Awards and credits

Elise Nordling, music director and curator of Indie Pop Rocks! and Folk Forward, was awarded the San Francisco Bay Guardian's "Best DJ of the Bay" award in 2005, 2007, and 2009. In 2007, they wrote that "DJ Elise is renowned for her impeccable taste, encompassing everything from bleeding-edge unsigned bands to classic small-label favorites... Because of this pioneer's curatorship, Indie Pop Rocks! has become required listening on a global scale."[3] The San Francisco Bay Guardian also awarded SomaFM a "Best of the Bay" award in 2005 for "Best Way to Avoid the Top 40."

Conflict with SoundExchange

In May 2002, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel rate ruling came into effect, requiring internet broadcasters to pay a per song per listener royalty to SoundExchange for the performance of the sound recording, retroactively through October 1998. Hodge estimated that the channel could have been forced to pay over $1,000 USD per day to continue operations. The royalty was later reduced by half, but that rate still would require payments by SomaFM that exceeded their revenues.

In June 2002, SomaFM ceased broadcasting. Hodge was one of several webcasters who testified before the U.S. Congress in 2002 in the hopes of reducing the royalty rate.[4] Subsequently, Congress passed the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002 (SWSA) on November 15, 2002,[5] which enabled small webcasters to negotiate a lower rate with SoundExchange.[6] SomaFM resumed broadcasting in late November 2002 under this new royalty structure.

On June 26, 2007, SomaFM participated in the "Internet Radio Day of Silence"[7] [8] in protest of the Copyright Royalty Board's decision at the time to raise royalty fees for internet radio stations.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Only available seasonally.

References

  1. ↑ Hodge, Rusty. "Donate to SomaFM! Support Commercial-Free Internet Radio". Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  2. ↑ "somafm.com/about". somafm.com. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Poll Positions". 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  4. ↑ "Testimony of Mr. Don Henley". United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. 2002-05-15. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  5. ↑ "Senate, House Pass Bill To End Webcasting Crisis". Archived from the original on 2010-02-03. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  6. ↑ "Notification of Agreement Under the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002". United States Copyright Office. 2002-12-24. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  7. ↑ Jake Ward (2007-06-25). "The Sounds of Silence Will be Heard By Millions" (PDF). SaveNetRadio. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  8. ↑ "The Sounds of Silence Will Be Heard by Millions". PR Newswire. 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
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