Internet Radio is a mess/impossible hobby (RANT)
Not gonna lie I'll probably delete this later i just wanted to vent before officially declaring my radio dead.
I wanted to start a lil internet radio station annnnnnnnnnnnnd;
- UK music licences alone? £600-700ish a year
- Hosting website, domain, radio? add on some more 100s a year
- Want listeners outside the UK? Tough shi. Go get a license in those countries as well mr money bags
- Live365? $60 a month for US, Can & Mex only. Want UK? Another $20. That's $960 a year. Great value wow
- Just broadcast anyway? Maybe nothing happens. Maybe I get a massive bill. Fun gamble
- Ask artists directly? Cool until you start asking who owns the masters, whether another DJ can have the files, and unless you get like 300 songs, your auto Dj and your actual shows are basically re-ordering the same old songs.
- AI slop music station? I'd rather die
I completely understand artists deserve their slice of the pie, but if jimbob is broadcasting to 3 people and his cat every week, why does it cost nearly £1000+ a year just to do it legally?
No wonder the internet radio scene is basically dead on arrival now, they NEED to simplify it for hobbyists and small time fish
So yeah throwing in the towel. and it wasn't because I got bored, it wasnt because i lost motivation. it's because it's just impossible without having literally thousands of disposable income. I just can't justify spending this much money on a station before I even know if anyone will even tune in.
RIP my radio and my dreams :( I'm going to do one final broadcast and play whatever the hell i want to send it off