[aayron]

How do internet only stations (like nonstopdance.net) cover their costs?

These internet-only stations don't take advertising and don't charge to listen so how do they survive? (and what's in it for their owners?).

Chris

[casaboy22]

In all likelihood they probably don't. Internet radio is usually done as a labour of love rather than a commercial business as it's almost impossible to sell and very difficult to market. The overheads, however are very low as all you need is a playout system and a broadband connection and it's not hard to voice track a load of links.

[Burstfire]

Originally Posted by casaboy22

In all likelihood they probably don't. Internet radio is usually done as a labour of love rather than a commercial business as it's almost impossible to sell and very difficult to market. The overheads, however are very low as all you need is a playout system and a broadband connection and it's not hard to voice track a load of links.

this

They don't cost much (if anything) to run so therefore they don't need to make anything.
Its done for the love and usually ran by enthusiast rather than as a business.

Be that as it may I have seen some who do make money from advertising. Internet only stations can home in on their listeners more effectively than FM stations so they can advertise more effectively.

[Robbie01]

out of interest, how much does it cost to set up and run an internet radio station? I would have thought it would be expensive but apparently not so?

[Sean Park]

I am aware of one that charges the presenters a broadcast fee of I think £5 a month. Which covers its broadcast fees

[GlobalRadio]

Depends on what software/hardware you want & how much music you already have.

Even after set-up it can still run to a few hundred pounds per year for servers, PPL/PRS and any additional music you buy.

[Hangthedeejay]

It is just for the love of it in many cases

I am currently running trial streams at wwwthewallrockradio.co.uk

The idea is to fill two gaps.

The first is the music. There is not one station in the East Midlands playing AOR

And other than the Beeb locals and a few CR stations there is no station on a regional basis serving the communities

The idea and it maybe a big dream is an on line AOR regional community station.

In seven weeks and without any promotion The Wall has had over 2000 hits and listening figures are not too bad.

Revenue is low but the positive comments coming back are worth a fortune

Hopefully full programming will go ahead in March

There is so much great music out there and and many people who don't want hear 400 songs over and over again

[mysticus22]

I think it's a big generalization to say that all internet radio stations are doing it on the cheap. There are some very organised and popular ones with a fairly large following that try to bring a professionally sounding service.
I myself am on 2 such stations (ARFM and Total Biker FM) and to say that we are hobbyist is not quite right. Specialist presenters is maybe more apt.
Yes we sound different from hamburger commercial local radio, we are creative, play music you don't necessarily hear anywhere else, and most of all we have total respect for our listeners and will never try to dumb them down in the way hamburger radio does.

We have sponsors and advertisers and that generates just enough to cover the copyrights and server costs, but to get to that point you need to have a solid foundation and you must be able to support your claims with actual figures like website hits and stream stats.

[GlobalRadio]

Originally Posted by mysticus22

I think it's a big generalization to say that all internet radio stations are doing it on the cheap. There are some very organised and popular ones with a fairly large following that try to bring a professionally sounding service.

Couldn't agree more, and with the popularity of mobile apps, more internet stations are being tuned to.

It is a long haul to to get to a point that a station achieves a large following.