Drive time radio in the 2010s (Part 1)

If you are a regular Interent radio listener, you are probably aware of the seemingly endless array of desktop radio listening options. You are probably also aware that as the Internet has grown and matured, it has transformed the very idea of what radio is. As the visionary Marshall McLuhan stated in 1964, "the medium is the message."

One "message" of the Internet radio medium is that high quality speciality programming has a chance of finding a sustainable audience, due to the sheer volume of potential listeners that are available. The thought that a specialty station like ours would be capable of drawing an audience the size of a small market AM or FM station was inconceivable a decade ago.

That said, one thing I loved about AM/FM radio as a kid was that each station I listened to was an expert at creating its own vibe through live DJ's, DJ selected music, news about the artists and concert info, etc. I loved picking up on that vibe as I rode to and from school as a kid or did my daily commute as an adult. But as Internet radio has come into its own and as AM/FM radio has moved into its senior years, it seems as if everywhere I turn, a computer is picking the music from some focus group driven algorithm. AM/FM radio DJs seem (and often are) just prerecorded. Nothing seems live!

At mountainchill.com we don't yet have the resources to have DJ's live 24/7, but we do often pop into our studio for a live set and we *do* pick the music in our playlist by hand. Spread the word and help us build our audience and I'm sure you'll be hearing even more live DJs.

As the Interent has matured it's content may increasingly be accessed through cell phones and other wireless devices. Yes, your cell phone *is* a radio in the most conventional sense of a wireless receiver and transmitter. And as an Internet radio receiver it can outperform other digital radio formats such as HD radio and satellite radio in several ways. (We'll examine that aspect later). But for now, we invite you to listen to us on your mobile phone, and, in the next few articles I'll outline how I listen in the car on my Android phone via our mobile page. The page loads automatically on most mobile phones. Stay tuned.