ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END AGAIN

I'm sad to say that there has been a change in the royalty situation in the US with our provider (or as we Brits say, a bit of a dust up!). We use a company called StreamLicensing that aggregates coverage with the following US operations - 

  • ASCAP, BMI and SESAC - Composers
  • SOUNDEXCHANGE - Performers.

Unfortunately ASCAP have terminated their agreement with StreamLicensing and dutifully informed us that to continue coverage we would have to pay $200 for the next year in additon to what we already pay StreamLicensing. Although this is a discounted rate this still adds to the costs. I also have concerns that this may tip the hand of other organizations and we end up back at square one. We were hoping the two companies could have resolved the issue by the end of July but unfortunately there was no sign of this as I write this. StreamLicensing have offered to indemnify us however I'm somewhat tired, jaded and no desire to be the punching bag in the middle!

With that in mind, I'm sad to report that Atlantic Oldies 2NG closed down quietly this Sunday 30th July at 7pm EDT (0000 UK) in the evening after Classic Retro Chart, Eastern time. No big show, we just "faded away".

There are some other reasons at play. 

  • I relocated to Atlanta late last year and my new job is demanding
  • My children are at a fun age and it's neat to spend time with them
  • I've noticed an increase in "stream rippers", users basically recording my stream automatically and seperating the songs into individual files. One Sunday I booted nearly 50% of connected "listeners". Someone has to pay for that. It's basically theft!
  • I'm tired and jaded! It's been fun but there are so many other great oldies stations! Pandora, Spotify and others are increasing in presence (and funnily enough not making money either!). 
  • I could have started running four minutes of commercial breaks an hour but having listened to some of those, there are so many Geico and Progressive commercials I can tolerate in a couple of hours!!

IT WAS FUN

We had twelve great years. In our peak we had hundred's of listeners and great feedback. We had and still do have some great shows. DJ's/Presenters who loved this station and loved creating their own shows for love, not money. I was very picky about who had shows on the station, and we had the best. 

WHAT NEXT

There are many other oldies stations worldwide and these can be found in various directories such as TuneIn, iTunes etc. Many of our DJ's/Presenters also do shows on other stations and we will let you know where to find them in due time.

Please feel free to ask any questions. 

All the best, Richard.