Is there a per-hour-of-actual-broadcasting pricing option?

What can we have instead?

PRON PLZ

No. We're on the cheapest plan available. It costs $32.50 a month, and that's the absolute minimum I've been able to find for both the radio streaming and the licencing.

Given the prevalence of mixtape websites around at the moment, my thinking is that we can push people towards using that instead.

I can promise to do at least 2 hours/week. I'd love to promise more, but it'd be stretching it.

Your timing is... well... appropriate. I just threw something together out of a feeling of "why is this going to waste?" If I don't get more than a couple listeners tonight, I'd definitely agree with cutting it loose.

I could also promise to do at least a couple hours a week (if that's the direction that we decided to take it, I mean).

Oddly enough, I started putting together a show this afternoon. I haven't played recently because I was waiting for a particular disc to arrive; I've since found out that it was actually sent to an old address.

I don't know what to say. I enjoy broadcasting, but I think I average about two listeners per show. If it's not panning out, it's not panning out. I'd definitely miss it, but life goes on.

Here's a (perhaps stupid) thought: would it be worthwhile for people to have a regular slot? Kinda like an actual radio station. I don't know if anyone wants to commit to that - although I see on preview that a couple of people have done virtually that very thing. So...

It would be an interesting experiment to get a few folks to sort of "pledge" to broadcasting a couple of hours a week on a some sort of loose schedule. I think more people would listen if they ever knew when it was going to be on. I've been meaning to do a broadcast lately, even made up the playlist, but then never got around to it (esp. after losing my DSL over most of the weekend).

If the experiment doesn't come together, then cancelling it would probably be the best idea. It's not like you couldn't re-start later if people start missing it, right?

(I know I'm not supposed to compare us to 'other MeFi spinoffs' but...) some of the simians at MonkeyFilter and its irc channel did a similar radio setup and tried for a while to be on-air 24/7 (totally insane)... currently they're doing between 7 and 24 hours a month, (including me re-running a couple shows I did here). So, maybe a merger might be in order to provide some outlet for the b-casters in both communities...

It was hard for me to justify putting much effort into it when I could only pull 1 or 2 listeners. My song selection and sequencing probably sucked. My ego is easily bruised. But some other people here have put on great sets that I've really enjoyed. Was it JanetLand who did that neat 50-60s set with some Sam Cooke? Regular time slots might help me plan better for listening in.

Even without 'regular' timeslots, just a pre-announced schedule might be good. So often, I've checked in here after a couple hours away and find I've missed an entire show.

Note that "Radio Fee Mofirc" used Google Calendar for a public 'show schedule' which has fallen into cobwebs...

I think something muxtape-based would be cool and require no expense. Maybe we could have a "random user muxtape" link on the front page, or something? If it gets dusty, so what?

Well, for what it's worth, I'd be down for a random hour or two a week, although I can't guarantee either time-slots or quality. Lord knows I sit at the computer a lot with iTunes running while checking various things.

Oddly, I've no idea how to do it. Is there a walkthrough or something, somewhere?

Here ya go, ufez.

And yeah, I'd be good for a couple of hours a week.

I've been radio-ing for about an hour now and everytime I check, my audience is 0. Maybe it's just me; I never claimed to have good taste in music...

At this point in my shift, I can't turn the speakers on. There's just too much traffic past my desk. Otherwise, I'd be there.

bmarkey, that's an argument right there in favor of switching to a muxtape-kinda-thing.

I've actually been working on my promised "Definition of Noise Folk" show but actually resolved to put it in mixwit format.

People's energies might be better spent if they were producing hour-long mixtapes per week than an hour long broadcast. I do love the idea of live broadcasting, but there's a lot that's not practical about it in this era.

Note that "Radio Fee Mofirc" used Google Calendar for a public 'show schedule' which has fallen into cobwebs...

To be fair the calendar was going great and then just died on us. The whole previous and current schedule got wiped. One of the fircers was working on a separate site but then got too busy with work to find an alternative which is why we went to direct scheduling in irc instead.

NO FUCKING WAY ARE WE GETTING RID OF IT.

I will immediately start broadcasting on a regular basis again if it means we can keep it going. I will put up money also if that's what's needed.

I will download winamp asap and Lipstick's Library will be back on pronto!

The cool thing about the radio is that everyone is listening to the same thing at the same time, when people generally don't do anything at the same time anymore, with tivo and dvds and podcasts, etc.

I never listen. . my understanding is that you need to listed to it "live" and I am never in the position, either at work or home, to sit at a computer and listen to music.

So, at least one vote to save the money, but it's only one vote. . .

Now that you mention that, danf, I'm curious as to how many people around here regularly use their computers to listen to music.

I never listen either, for the same reasons as danf. I vote that we re-direct the money to double the wages of mods.

I do regularly listen to music on my computer at work, but don't have the ability to stream music without being sacked.

I vote that we re-direct the money to double the wages of mods

I second that. I have a kid in college, ya know.

This is me, favoriting ethylene's comment really hard.

I used to listen a lot back in 2006 when I was also spending time in irc. There'd be a bunch of us, including the broadcaster, listening together and talking about the music. That was fun.

But that was when we had an official irc channel, with participants in the sidebar. I think we had "who's broadcasting" on the sidebar too, but someone else can probably remember for sure.

Things are different now. Long live chat sessions rarely work for me, so I rarely pop into #bunnies anyway. From what I've seen when I do, communal music doesn't seem to play that kind of role any more.

It seemed like a cornerstone of the community back in those days, and if only because I'm sentimental I'd be sorry to see it disappear without one last effort. But if mixtapes work better for everyone nowadays, so be it.

I too would like to keep the radio station. I didn't get to listen too often but it's always such a treat to come here and see that someone's 'on the radio MeCha' (as someone always says - I love the wording).

DarkForest, I really liked your playlist. You should keep it up.

Let's see.

$32.50 x 12 equals . . . damn, almost $400 a year for something that draws maybe one or two listeners for a handful of hours a month.

That's not good.

I second that. I have a kid in college, ya know.

So, you'd get $1.50 per annum then? I'll get back to you on that.

Thanks, iconomy. I really seem to need kind words these days.

The cool thing about the radio is that everyone is listening to the same thing at the same time

Yeah, just like American Graffiti, only everyone's driving laptops.

I've actually geared up to playing shows lately. I went ahead and forked over for Nicecast and starting organizing things, one of the reasons being for the purpose of doing shows.
I always try to sell them in IRC, but no one seemed to give a shit. I never thought that it was because of some disconnect between Mecha and IRC, but that could be.

Also, I don't know why I never thought of this before, but Metachat already has a 24/7 radio station. Maybe it could go below the broadcasting link. This would do at least two things: get people interested and listening to "Mecha music" and then, having a taste for it, when someone's show came on, they could switch over to said show. Maybe. I'm listening to it now, it's a pretty good listen. Also, the more people that listen, the more the station gets honed, as you're allowed to skip songs, which is effectively a "vote" for them.

I'll reply to this tomorrow when I have more time to compose my thoughts, but perhaps regulated time slots may be in order. Also a poll on people who would like to listen but don't, and why. I'd hate to see it go, and was just recently thinking about the sudden dearth of 'casters. I hate to see money chucked down the drain too. More later.

Yeah, just like American Graffiti, only everyone's driving laptops.

The only thing making me not listen in these days is that usually, it's late. Really late. I'm hella sentimental about the radioshow but it's expensive......

I'm happy to play between 12:30 and 2 AM PST (which I gather is a fairly reasonable time in Europe). Now, whether you want to hear what I play is another thing entirely.

Huh, lost post. Well, anyway, what I said was, while I'd miss Radio Mecha, it would be mostly nostalgia. I hardly ever listen anymore because I'm hardly ever on a computer at night anymore and I haven't DJ'd in like two years (I am just totally lame, yeah.) However I really like the idea of going in halves with the monkeys. Half the money and twice the music sounds good to me - but if that doesn't work out and it goes away, well oh well. Sic transit gloria mundi and all that. It's too much money for the way it's working now, I think.

I think if the radio had more listeners I'd be more likely to listen -- I get into weird self-induced guilt trips if I'm the only listener, or one of two listeners, and I start to dislike the music, because I feel like I can't turn it off because I'll hurt the DJ's feelings. So I don't tend to tune in at all, because I don't want to put myself in that bind. (Yes, I know this is my own baggage, not an institutional problem, but I thought I'd toss it out there are a reason some of us may not be listening. (Just me? OK then. (Though, thinking about it, maybe there's a way to kill the "X/10 listeners" thing? (But only if other people are bothered by it, too.))))

Also, I would be more likely to listen during the (West Coast) workday, or early on weekend mornings. I'm a total tv addict in the evenings, or else I'm eating dinner and kind of picky about background music that won't interfere with reading.

So those are my probably-totally-idiosyncratic reasons for not listening more. I do love that there is a radio feature, and I've mostly liked the stuff that I have tuned in for.

I absolutely love the idea of the radio. I love hearing what others are listening to, love being introduced to new music.

However. The timing just never works out for me (I think I've been online at home when a show was going only two or three times ever). It makes me sad, but I figure it's the problem with living in a different time zone - I'm more likely to listen around 8 or 9pm AKST (9 or 10pm PST, 12 or 1am EST).

i think i may be ready to shell out for nicecast, in which case i would try to do a regular set for stuff i have and but haven't listened to yet or much, just to make me.

I've been MeCha lite for the past month or so, but I remember when I last looked into dipping my toe in the broadcast waters it seemed like all of the good slots were taken. Either I was sadly mistaken or things have really slowed down. I'd still like to try my hand at it. RadioMeCha was one of the cooler ideas I had heard, and the show I've heard have all fun worth hearing, so I'd hate to see it go. Now I feel sad that I've neglected it.

I'd just add this. I've never been able to connect to mecha radio from the links. That goes for Opera, IE, and Firefox. A number of other folks have mentioned the same problem including taz I believe.

If you can't connect via the links given use this address directly. http://kara.fast-serv.com:9320

I'm late to this, for the same reason I haven't been playing anything lately -- I'm freakin' busy at work, it's the busy time of year for me, crazy overtime, and when I'm home I don't have the energy to put together a set. I enjoy doing it, though, and if Radio MeCha is still around when my work hell ends I will be doing some more broadcasting.

Well, I'm so lame I can't even post when I say I will, let alone do radio.
I would definitely put myself down for two shows a week, whether they be 1/2 or 2 hours.
So, we have Hellbient, box, bmarkey, ufez, LT, and myself who'd be willing to go on a regular basis, and perhaps JanetLand, in a while.

ethylene's got a really good point, and the radio can generate some really good discussions in the threads.
When there are listeners.
I count myself pretty lucky if I get two, and if there's no one listening, well... at least I get to hear how the playlist came out. Sure, it's discouraging, a bit, but you're taking a chance that someone's home and able to listen and not doing something else. To circumvent this, play music that you want to listen to right now, and if someone else wants to listen, then cool! If not, you've got music to make dinner to, or whatever.

We have the times that people are able to listen, thanks to bmarkey's post, and we can probably work in playing times around those. I'll see if I can't come up with something nice and visual instead of guessing at converting time zones. It'll have to wait for the weekend, tho.

Ok, I've said all that. Now, is 6 (7) dj's enough to warrant paying for the server? No. Is 6 (7) dj's playing to 11 people enough? Quite possibly. True there are a lot of people who aren't listening, but then there are a lot of people not on IRC - not everyone will use everything. Of course, no one has to pay for IRC. I suppose it comes down to what the mods think, and perhaps, by extension what the community thinks. I have avoided LastFM for some reason I've forgotten, so I'm not sure if that can take the place. Doing podcasts is an alternative... putting together hour-long sets of mixes which is probably frowned upon by the RIAA. But screw them anyways.
I vote for keeping it, provided that we can get something constant going. If you've got a lot of stuff that people like and a regular slot, then they're more inclined to make space to listen. Well, I'd hope, anyway. If this can't/doesn't happen then, well, that's that then, isn't it?

Thoughts & comments, please.

Since the radio's not pulled yet, I'll broadcast some more Shadow radio plays tomorrow, probably about 8pm PST.