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The new Yorkshire-based internet radio station has now been running since July 2005, with a growing schedule of current and archived broadcasts. Jacey Bedford brings us up to date on progress:
Radio Britfolk: grass-roots radio sets the pace
There are already folk radio stations out there on the internet, some of them legal, some not. So what's different about Radio Britfolk? Well, for a start it's legal, fully licensed by PPL and PRS and backed by known names in the folk world. In fact it's run by performers, and not just a few performers, either. It's the combined brainchild of performers from Britfolk, the 145-strong, professional performers' email network and is administered by FolkWISE, a national development agency for professional folk musicians.
It's not just performers trying to get airplay for themselves, though; in fact one of the programme makers' rules is that you can't plug your own stuff mercilessly. So what is it? It's a folk festival of the air - a radio station designed to change the boundaries of the way we listen to folk on the radio. With folk programmes from regular 'play good music' shows to folk documentary and workshops, this presents a wide range of (mostly) British folk to the world in general and the British listening public in particular. The management team has recruited the programming executive with a view to including broadcasters and media people from all the corners of these islands (and the middle too): some names you'll know, and some you won't. Radio Britfolk is an offshoot of FolkWISE Performers Network Ltd, the national folk development agency for professional performers from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England (WISE, geddit?). FolkWISE offers support to professional performers in areas such as career development, funding advice, building audiences, showcasing at home and abroad, and touring. Radio Britfolk welcomes input from all, from listeners to programme makers. In fact we positively encourage anyone with a bee in their bonnet to make a radio programme or two for us. We do ask potential programme makers to contact us first with ideas and subject to quality controls we're open to all manner of programmes including documentaries and workshops. All the programme makers' details are on the website. Radio Britfolk went live on 1 July 2005 with fully licensed folk shows supported by additional web content. We've now almost reached the end of our first quarter and we're delighted to say that we're getting between 300 and 500 unique hits per day with upwards of 7,000 people having logged in to listen to the billboard alone, our only paid programming stream. (A very small sum puts your music up there and links to your website.) Listening to the front page of programmes is completely free, and new programmes appear on a weekly basis. Membership is low-cost and members can not only listen to last week's programmes but they can select from around twenty hours (so far, and growing) of archive programmes. So if you want to hear all four beginner's mandolin workshops on line, just join up and play along. Our financial position is secure for the time being; however we do need continuing income from sponsorship and membership subscriptions to enable us to continue paying our copyright licence fees, so we heartily encourage listeners to subscribe. Subscribers also get a free advert in our shopwindow. Please log in and take a listen at http://www.radiobritfolk.co.uk/. You can also check out FolkWISE at http://www.folkwise.org/
Jacey Bedford,
October 2005
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