alternate for streaming...

[sa]

by visitors i assume you mean page views, not actually individuals?

As far as live365 is concerned, you'd have to talk to them and see what kind of listenership they have. you'd probably be able to put on more of the music from the spotlight artists (not just stuff done in the bfn studio) which would probably up the listenership just because of the fact that it's another outlet for alternative music that alot of cities (like Philadelphia....) don't have any longer.

Perhaps this is a better question for Bob, but did you have trouble or limitations on getting into the studio? It seems like with the live365 you can do the show from wherever you have a web connection and do live shows as frequently (or not) as you like.

Contrary to what it might look like, I'm not trying to hawk their wares... just looking to see if there's an easier way for you to get to more people.

[JVH (f/k/a Bob Dubilina)]

Here's a basic fact we all must accept: There is no money in BFN. I know Dave likes to wax poetic about making this a dream gig, but THAT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN! NEVER! Wanna know why? Because THERE IS NO MONEY IN RADIO! AM/FM radio DJs barely get by as it is -- hell, most jockeys work two jobs just to put food on the table -- and you honestly expect someone out there is going to start forking over barrels of cash so BFN can chatter away ONLINE? I mean, it's not like Y100 just came out of nowhere and blew up on the internet scene. They were an established rock station in a major metropolis with a HUGE fanbase -- they were bound to convince some percentage of their audience/sponsors/groupies to follow them into the Wild, Wild Web. But do their DJs make any money -- NOOOOO!

Listen, I'd love to say that the glory of BFN will transform us into rock stars, but we're in a tight spot. We're an online radio show that's too dirty for the FCC. We can't stream our Spotlight Artists without a.) express permission from their label or b.) a big fuckin' royalty check made to the watchdogs who hound us every step of the way. Satellite radio is lucrative, but like any independent radio project, you need to BUY time to get your foot in the door. Even if we did find a producer/station manager/sponsor who wouldn't force their two cents on us every step of the way, we're still not in the clear. With 7000 choices at the listeners' fingertips, it would take years to build a fanbase. And even then, we're still broke!

You know how many "Best of BFN" CDs we've sold? Two. That's it! TWO! One went to Chad's buddy at Apple; the other was Crockett, who kindly turned down his freebie and generously paid for his by sneaking the cash into my backpack while I wasn't looking! (Oh, that sneaky, sincere fuck!) You know how much money we've spent making BFN CDs over the past five years? My estimate: $1200! And that's not even including all the hours we've spent networking/producing/editing/arranging/mastering/stamping/streaming/posting/webmastering. But you know what? I'd spend ten times time that -- even more! -- just to get where we are now. You know why? Because it gives us the chance to CONNECT with EACH OTHER!

And that's what BFN Networks has always been about. When this first started, I was dropping out of college and didn't want to lose touch with Chad, so I asked him if he'd be interested in being my co-host. When we were putting our demo together, I realized that I would be an idiot to keep Dave out of the loop. I recruited two best friends on this venture because I wanted an excuse to enjoy their company at least once a week. I've been having the time of my life ever since. Look at the friends who became our fans! (SAARENE!) Look at the fans who became our friends! (SARAH DUNN!) I am absolutely floored by the love we get for locking ourselves in the radio studio for two hours every week and ranting about women, cracking dick/fart/cum jokes and lambasting current events.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: BFN is about our collective feedback. True, without me, <with feeling now> there is no BFN. But without you guys, BFN is for shit, too. I'm lucky enough to stumble upon two of the most talented co-hosts I could ever want. One is a whiz with design and the aesthetics that go with it; the other has the gift of tone, pitch and balance (in lots of things). And both are funny! We might not always agree with everything, but look at everything we've done in the meantime! And all by ourselves, too! Without any outside money!

Just remember this: the moment we start looking at this as our cash cow, it becomes a JOB. A menial-paying one at that. Jobs aren't fun; jobs are work. If we're making money, that means we're not our own boss. We become obligated to carry out whatever tasks our "employers" set forth. And if you think I'm demanding, just wait until we have actual deadlines. Don't you think I ride you guys enough as it is with the late night phone calls and the constant e-mails? You'll get it even worse. Sure, having enough change in my pocket to do my laundry would be great, but not at the expense of BFN (and our friendships). Not now.

That said, if we really want to do this for ourselves on our own terms, we need to remember the basic formula for success: We make our presence known by being a known presence. Simply put, we need ONLINE WORD OF MOUTH![/size][/b] UIC Radio's DJ Hammurabi builds his listenership by booking gigs and playing for live audiences. We don't have that luxury. That means we have to wander out into that Wild, Wild Web and make our voices heard.

To answer Chad's question, we get the most hits from Lucero because we have an actual link on the fuckin' Lucero page! That's done wonders for us! Now, I've been in touch with many bands regarding posting our link on their site, but that doesn't always get a thumbs up. So you know what we do? We find a way to post our link! Storm their forums. Leave feedback about our BFN interviews (with links included) on the sites of the artists we've interviewed. Leave our link anywhere you can! The more we post, the more traffic we generate, the more word of mouth. That simple.

All this comes in cycles. At the close of our 11th season, Dave will have all the shows prepped. In turn, Chad will do a massive update by make them available. Thanks to Knuckle Sammich, I've been in touch with a lot of old contacts and paving way for more interviews. More interviews, more traffic. More traffic, a better excuse to purchase a professional webstreaming service. As always, we're building momentum. We've had more interviews and more visitors to our site this season than any other. And we'll do even better next. You better fuckin' believe it.

I'm not against thinking big. I just don't want money to become a factor. As far as I'm concerned, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Until then, let's just do what we do best: promote great music, keep our listeners close, our groupies closer and -- last but not least -- laugh our goddamn asses off. Now quit fiddlin' about and fetch me some Frosted Frakes!

Spread the WORD!
BobbyDobbyD

P.S. I LOVE YOU, SAARENE! I'm going to get in touch with Y100 just so I can tell them how you are without a doubt the town crier of great radio!

[sa]

*meow! hissss!*


wouldn't at least breaking even be nice?

I wasn't trying to suggest that you spend MORE money, I don't know how much it costs for Chad (etc?) to be running the servers (or if the stream is separate) and if live365 is only like 10$ a month to take care of the streaming audio, let alone the fact that you could do more live shows, *shruggs*.

I also didn't spend much time looking into what's required for broadcasting there, did you? Could the money you spend to be a broadcaster cover whatever royalty fees would be necessary to play some music?

if it makes you feel any better, the one time I did a Google search for "om prad ma pood" (one of your knuckle sammiches....) BFN was the first site listed.....

perhaps you could go to the message board for y100 and start suggesting some of the spotlight artists to be played, or for people to come and check out BFN shows and hear some great music there. have a mailing list, let us all know when something has changed on the website (like updated spotlight shows.....), or if there's going to be a special guest in the studio...

and, not that this has anything to do with the rest of this, but... I think it's really cool that you have pics of yourselves at shows of/with spotlight artists.

as far as spreading the word... building a community makes a big difference. encourage your fans to share their concert experiences. the more people feel that they are a part of something, the more they will put into it.

just look at me posting all over here.....

[JVH (f/k/a Bob Dubilina)]

For the record, I have absolutely no problem with spending more money on BFN. In fact, I look forward to it! I just can't stand the oh-so-convenient suggestion of "we should be making money off this." Yeah, we probably should be making money, but the chances of making money without overloading our site with tedious web banners is slim to nil. We're an ONLINE COLLEGE RADIO SHOW -- we should be enjoying ourselves. I don't know about you, but trying to figure out a grand formula that will make us cash isn't fun -- it's accounting. I've said it once before and I'll say it again: you want money and call your own shots in this industry, you need leverage. How do you get leverage? 1.) Blackmail a program director or 2.) ACQUIRE A STRONG LISTENERSHIP! What route do you think we should take? (Actually, I might be up for both . . .)

All in all, it's easy to suggest that we turn this into a money-making operation. Doing it, however, is quite another thing. I'm just being pragmatic when I say, "Don't hold your breath." My best example of this would be Dan Savage, Sex Advice Columnist Extraordinaire. (His column "Savage Love" -- featured every week in the Seattle alternative The Stranger -- is currently syndicated worldwide and read frequently on BFN.) Savage once said that he gets a slew of e-mails every year from wide-eyed college graduates looking for tips on how to turn their stint as sex advice columnist for their student newspaper into a full-time career in the real world. His general response: Find another career, and quick. The world has enough advice columnists as is, and they won't be going away anytime soon. Now, I'm not saying that BFN is incapable of carving its own proper niche in this business, but if we're going to take this show to a bigger pond, I want to do it on our own terms, not that of our sponsors or -- even worse -- the "Powers That Be."

So, in conclusion, I like Saarene's idea regarding Live365 (or another professional webstream) and will look into it with Chad over the summer. I also welcome everyone to share their concert experiences or Spotlight Artist suggestions on our forums. That why we have forums in the first place, damnit, so start posting!

Rawr!
BobbyDobbyD