What’s the vibe with internet radio?
(Disclaimer: The views in this post are those of the blogger, not the companies he represents. Anything he says or writes that may or may not have been affected by excessive electrocution, unlicensed wrestling or bribery with shiny products are not the fault of Smartaboutwhat, but rather a result of his loose moral compass and tainted upbringing.)
As a 20 something Cape Tonian Caucasian, I really only have two choices of radio station to listen to. I don’t count Cape Talk as a radio station – it’s a glorified soapbox on which people call in and give their zero value input on the rehash of issues that were covered in the previous week’s Carte Blanche episode (Easy, it was just a joke dad, Cape talk is very informative). From the few short stints I’ve had in Jo’burg, moving north only really adds Highveld Stereo into the mix, and while I was kind of impressed with the setup, it hardly offered me with a unique approach to contemporary radio.
The crux of my issue with FM radio is this: the songs are all the same and somebody neutered the DJs (I don’t blame the DJ’s for this btw).
Nobody has figured out how to separate rock from Hip Hop from ballads from R&B – these days, everything seems to be “pop”ular music and irrespective of the genre, whether its Prime Circle or Eminem or Kei$ha, you can be sure the mainstream radio stations will be playing it at some point in the day. I can only listen to Katy Perry for so long before I can stop forgiving the rubbish melody because her legs are fantastic and she claimed to have kissed a girl.
The DJ’s themselves are not bland – getting into their profession means they are more than likely good fun to be around, but just when you get the feeling that they are going to say something meaningful (like, “dudes, I reckon you might want to switch stations while we play the new Justin Bieber that this really important record label just sent us”) you can almost hear the gears grinding in their head, reminding them that a “little” selling out can do wonders for their long term careers- it’s not like SA radio DJ’s are cruising around in Bentleys sipping Chrystal and I don’t blame them for towing some sort of imaginary line.
At such times of sadness and despair, I had previously wished that there was an alternative to the mediocrity which stalks the FM frequencies in this country. For those who don’t yet know it, there is now a very tangible solution.
The Plan
Improvements in technology and bandwidth have offered more than just unlimited amounts of lol cat pictures and Paris Hilton movies. They’ve also given us access to online radio.
Many of our readers will be familiar with the blog site, 2oceansvibe.com, which generally cleans up at blog awards and has a readership of loyal followers who would be inclined to do pretty much whatever Seth Rotheram asked them to. From the beast that is 2oceansvibe blog, came the birth of 2oceansvibe radio –the first commercial internet radio station in the country.
After having worked at university radio stations, and having heard some rather unsavoury stories about some local stations, I presumed that the life of an internet radio DJ was one fraught with hardship; occupying lonely, dingy studios with rats and manky equipment. I envisaged a world where studio managers held authoritarian control over material, and where dead air was speckled with the painful pop of creative talent dying.
With this in mind, my visit to 2oceansvibe Radio was sort of like discovering DSTV when you’d be watching SABC 1 your whole life – sure, it was just a different station, but holy crap, it’s just better in every way. EVERY way.
What’s up with Internet Radio? It was hardly the kind of answer we needed planned. I went to visit the studio and sat in the background. I lurked. A lot. In between lurking I asked some questions. The video is the collection of the chats we had.
The Answer
The studio, surrounded in 100% see-through Perspex , is floored in that super cool astroturf that every wannabe businessman insists that he will have on his office one day when ‘he makes it big’ (but then somehow loses sight of when dreams become reality). Quality coffee is shipped in there by the gallon, and the interior decoration is akin to an exhibition I once saw in the Tate Modern. Did I mention it’s very much like the entire product range of Apple is on show in there? Having 13 Apple products in one room basically guarantees cool –I think it might be in the constitution actually.
The microphones are best described as ‘pimping retro’ and the walls are decorated with flat screens that display the real time Twitter conversations that are happening around the topics on the show.
The format of the show is hardly cast in stone – the guys just sit in the studio and talk about the finer things in life, adding pearls of wisdom when they have them and sneaky little gems when appropriate. Sure, they get paid for advertisers to put stuff on their show – but someone has to pay the Windowlene bills.
Celebs stroll in and out – Triumph Models in their latest garb, big time musicians looking to spend a little face time with the team – that sort of thing. Bob Skinstad popped in to talk sport and cure Seth’s back problems. Then there were some more models walking past again, and again..but I digress.
Look, it was a tough day, but slightly less painful than being choke-slammed by a behemoth or getting electrocuted while trying to simulate a burglary.
The Verdict?
I think I know what I want to be when I grow up.
FYI:
If you’re keen to give it a try now, the Boys at 2ov.fm have a frikkin real time (as in LIVE) iphone app too – check it out here:
Tycoon 
Wow what an awesome initiative Good luck to Seth and the team at 2oceansvibe radio as they journey to change traditional media