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What has happened to Live365 and internet broadcasting in general?

The licensing standards have changed throwing internet broadcasting into chaos.  More here.

What is happening with the Marconi Experiment?
        The school board has decided to restrict the station to students and staff for liability reasons.  That, unfortunately, does not include me, so the show will no longer be heard on WCVH.  There is little chance of finding another on-air station to host the show, so I have decided to take it on the internet.  I've selected live365.com as a host and can be found at 216.235.91.34:21844.  You can also go to their website and search for me.  Search for "The Marconi Experiment".  I don't know if it's case-sensitive.  The LISTEN link should work..

Will I be able to hear the show for free?
        Yes, but with limitations.  For free, you also get commercials.  I set things up so that they can be inserted without disturbing my intended flow.  A VIP account eliminates them.  

Will I be able to request music?
        Yes and no...  mostly no.  Copyright considerations will prevent me from doing requests, even if I have a way to do it.  You will not have a phone number, but you can send me an email and I will try to get your request on the following week.  As things are now, I record on Friday night and prepare and upload the files Saturday.  The earliest I've got the new show on, so far, has been around 6PM on Saturday.  The latest has been the early hours of Sunday.  Depends on what else I have to do with my time.  Processing has been greatly reduced as I do no analog compression any more.

Will I be able to record it?
        Officially, no.  I realize that there are no totally secure ways to run internet radio so that it cannot be recorded, but that is the intent and it is a legal requirement.  You would be breaking the law to record the show.  Fortunately, that is not my problem.

Will you be playing unedited versions of songs that you used to have to edit for airplay?
        That's my intent.  Since much of the source material has been edited for airplay, I suspect that it will be a while before I purge all the edited versions and play only original ones.  Since the rules are different than they were for on-air radio, you can expect me to be less circumspect in my ravings and language.  Since this was originally written, the purge is complete. I will on rare occasions play a "radio" version, but by intent, not because I have no other choice.

What does it cost to become a VIP member, what do I get for that and who do I contact?
        It costs between $7 and $10 a month, depending on your chosen payment plan.  There's no difference in service between the plans.  You get it cheaper if you pay for a longer subscription.  The $7/month plan requires you to commit to a year.  What you get is unlimited access to the Marconi Experiment and any other stations carried by the live365.com..  You do not subscribe to the Marconi Experiment, but to the host's service and you will need to sign up with the host for this service.  I do get a credit from them for each member I inspire to sign, so mention me when you do it.  Prices haven't been checked for some time and may have changed.

How's the audio quality?
        I'm actually pleased with the audio quality.  I was using 96K mp3 Pro, provided by Live365.  While it falls short of CD quality, despite what they claim, it's better than FM.  I originally tried 64K, but I could hear compression artifacts and that is not acceptable.  I changed to 128K MP3 a while back.  I don't really know if this is better than the 96K mP3 Pro, but it is more compatible.  I had hoped this would increase my listener base.  That hasn't happened, but Live365 increased my storage space to 300 megs, so I will be sticking with 128K.

I have dial-up internet.  Will I be able to listen.
        Unfortunately, no.  I will be running too high a bitrate to allow dial-up listeners.  I have given some thought to a second stream, at a dial-up compatible rate.  It'd double the cost of doing this, so don't hold your breath.

How about a podcast?
        Copyright considerations make it inpossible to provide anything downloadable, including a podcast.  I have considered a talk-only podcast.  That's still just an idea.

Will you always be on?
        Yes.  Since I switched to the "regular" mode, which has the show uploaded to the remote server, it should always be available.  Last Sunday morning, I found that they were doing some sort of maintenance and the service was not available, so there are times that I might not be on.  This seems to be extremely rare.

How will I know when to tune in to hear the show as you intend?
        You really can't.  The length of the show varies by as much as 30 minutes and the upload time can vary by several hours.  The show isn't all that serial, usually.

You can really play anything?
        No.  What I play needs to be licensed for airplay in the U.S.  Some recordings, such as the original Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" which I have on vinyl is not licensed for this.  There are probably also recordings that are legal in other parts of the world, but not here, but I don't think I have any of these.  Everything I play, I heard on the radio at some time, so this should not be a problem.  Some radio stations play the Orson Welles recording, but they have to get permission from the copyright holder and I can't see myself doing that.  So far, I'm reluctant to play really offensive stuff, like the Psychopomp's "Godshit" or Dr. Know's "Fist Fuck".  I'll eventully get over that.

You sound different.  Why?
        The limitations of FM broadcasting make it necessary to use analog audio compression, which makes the signal sound louder and more uniform, but is, strictly speaking, distortion.  Some music takes it very well, while some loses a lot of it's impact when compressed.  I've played with compression and I decided to not compress.  I don't like the way it sounds.  Another factor is that stereo FM does stereo a lot less well than digital.


I heard that there is a phone app that will allow me to listen to Live365 stations on my phone.
    I heard the same thing.  I don't have a phone that supports that so I can't confirm it.  I, obviously, have no idea what the costs would be.  My phone now supports the app but I still don't have it and don't know the price.  C'mon, you can handle doing that yourself, right?

You posted that the Marconi Experiment is now available via a ROKU device.
    Yes it is.  All Live 365 stations are now available this way.  When I tried it, my station was a lot louder than the video I normally stream.  I doubt that's unique to me, but I didn't check any other stations.  It isn't a problem... just be aware of it.