How do you take the best from a legendary radio station and not only try to mimic it, but improve on it in some areas? The answer can be found in new media, satellite and Internet radio. [Can we call this "cloudcasting"? Did I just coin a new word?] Here is an Internet broadcaster that Seattle radio listeners are “re”-discovering.
The newest radio station in Seattle might have a familiar ring to many old school rock fans although you can’t tune it in on any AM or FM radio and it’s broadcast from the owner’s home office/studio. The X – KXRX.net – Extreme Rock of Seattle is the brainchild of Jayden Prince, an Internet entrepreneur and native of the Pacific Northwest who says owning and operating a radio station has always been a dream of his.
“I just got tired of listening to the cookie cutter corporate radio being played out on AM and FM dials and thought there must be something else out there.” said Prince.
What he discovered was a very rich and diverse Internet radio community broadcasting from all corners of the globe — that is what got his creative wheels turning. With web enabled mobile devices becoming mainstream independent Internet radio is a very viable alternative to terrestrial radio specially in a city as wired as Seattle and it offers almost an unlimited variety compared to it’s terrestrial counterpart.
Having grown up in Seattle, Prince has fond memories of the now silent KXRX 96.5 FM which was the major rock station in Seattle from 1987 – 1994 and one he spent his youth listening too. Prince says “That station broke the mold, they were edgy and always seemed to play just outside the lines and I really wanted to pay them homage in some way because it was KXRX that gave me my love of rock and radio.”
KXRX.net has been broadcasting since November 2009 and Prince says their audience has been nearly doubling every 30 days despite being primarily voice tracked through all day parts. He says they recently have begun to add live programming to the station and have begun broadcasting The Marty Riemer Show. Marty is a familiar voice in Seattle radio, it was Marty Riemer who was first to report Kurt Cobains death during his show on KXRX 96.5 FM.
Prince says that they will also be carrying the DubRRadio Show hosted by Rick “Double R” Robertson who recently left the BJ Shea Morning Experience on KISW 99.9 FM.
Rock journalist Tina Peek’s “Big Rock Show” runs weekends on the station and Prince says that they plan to be very active with live broadcasts and events in the upcoming year.
The X playlist comes directly from Prince’s personal music collection and covers a wide variety of rock /metal music. On any given day you might hear Saving Abel, Linkin Park, Drowning Pool, Three Days Grace, Seether, Flyleaf and any number of other current rock bands, but what you also get are deep cuts and enough classics in the mix to make KXRX.net appeal to rockers of all ages.
Prince says “There is so much good music that never sees the light of day on terrestrial radio because it didn’t poll high enough to make it onto most stations very tight playlist or the DJ’s aren’t given the liberty to play tracks that they themselves would want to hear..” he added, “About 15% of our monthly spins are given to new and unsigned artists who rarely if at all get the chance to be heard on commercial radio which makes us very unique.”
Internet Radio: the Next Big Thing
