It's Halloween and guess what will shortly follow? Christmas music on the radio. When I was growing up and when I began my career in radio, holiday music would not begin until after Thanksgiving. A Christmas song would be heard once an hour beginning the week after Thanksgiving and increase as we got closer to Christmas Day. Today, some radio stations switch to all Christmas music shortly after Halloween. Why do they do this? The answer is ratings and advertising. Typically

What kind of microphone hook-up are you looking for, USB or XML? If you’re new to internet radio or podcasting, I recommend sticking with a USB microphone. USB mics are extremely easy to get started on your computer, with little or no software required. They are also a good choice if you have limited space. I use a Yeti mic and it does a nice job. Should you buy a dynamics or condenser microphone? Some consider this a preference decision. Dynamic microphones typically provide

Thinking of adding a news service to your radio station. Running a station is hard work and making things effective but yet simple is a goal that we broadcasters always want to achieve. Associated Broadcast Consultants have put together popular news services from Internet and LPFM radio stations. IRN / Sky News Perhaps the most well known radio news service, IRN/Sky deliver a ready to air hourly bulletin 24/7. The service also includes regular audio and scripts on entertainme

We've discussed this several times over the past few months. This is very dependent on the format you're programming and the audience your'e programming to. Several days ago, I "popped" on our local LPFM station here in Rehoboth Beach. They are now starting to include some local programming in their format. There was the parking or transit commissioner on (I believe that was her title) talking about parking problems and plans for the future in downtown Rehoboth Beach. I kept

When you run an internet radio, there really isn't much down time if you want to run a quality station. Sure you could set everything to run through your automation system and let it go on endlessly. You should be always thinking of ways to keep your programing. fresh. This could be just updating the imaging from time to time. changing the music rotation periodically, adding new music, or doing some advertising. Programming should be consistent but should also sound fresh. Ke

As radio internet radio broadcasters, we rely on getting our stations listed in as many directories as possible in order to get the word out. Tunein and Itunes are one of the biggest internet radio directories. If you're a new station, you cannot submit your station to Tunein or Itunes until further notice. The reason is very unclear at this point. It you've been on the air awhile and are listen on Tunein or itunes, your station will remain in their directory. You can still m

As new music takes over the radio landscape and we grow older,the older songs have become a rarity on the radio. When I was growing up, we listened to top 40 radio and my parents listened to what was known as "middle of the road." These were stations that played primarily pop vocals like Andy Williams, Jack Jones and Steve Lawrence but also played pop standards like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. These formats also thrived during the 50s and 60s along with r

Under a change adopted by the FCC last fall, stations will no longer be required to abide by the decades-old main studio rule. In a 3-2 vote in late October 2017 the FCC approved the reversal of the 1939 decision that has required stations to operate a main studio within 25 miles of a station’s city of license. It also did away with the requirement that the main studio have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours. The trade off for that flexibility

Today, I bet you that you cannot name one single radio personality on a music station that you must listen to everyday. Sure there are many hate spewing crazies out there that I'm sure you could name if you're into "hate radio." Growing up in the 60s and 70s, the air personalities playing my favorite songs were extremely special individuals. Why? Because they had the ability to entertain without being sarcastic, demeaning, shocking etc. They pulled their audience in by their

Over the years, Internet broadcasters were always faced with high payments to the PROS for the use of musical recordings. A few years ago Live 365 one of the largest services for internet broadcasters had to shut down their operations because of these rising and somewhat unfair costs. On Wednesday, the President signed the Music Modernization Act which can cause an additional rise in our costs. The new law is supposed to ensure that artists get paid for their work. One new ad