About SomaFM SomaFM is a listener-supported, commercial-free internet radio station. Launched in February 2000 from a warehouse in San Francisco, we started with just one channel, playing “ambient” music, and developed a small but dedicated audience. By 2001, we’d increased the number of channels to seven. Our audience was small by broadcast standards – our AQH ratings were under a few hundred. Interest in our station continued to grow and we now have over 16 channels – all focusing on niche genres rarely if ever heard on commercial radio. !anks to the hard work of our dedicated music directors and the generous support of our listen- ers, our high-quality MP3 and aacPlus internet broadcasts are now enjoyed by people all around the world. With over 5 million “listener hours” a month, SomaFM is one of the larger independent in- ternet-only broadcasters. Groove Salad, our most popular ambient/chill channel is the most listened to “chill out” station on the internet, with over 600,000 listener hours a week. At any given time, our station has between 5500 and 13,000 listeners, with an AQH of 7500. We have over 500,000 unique listeners a month. SomaFM plays music for a huge, previously ignored audience. Over-the-air commercial radio, now dominated by just a few corporations, plays formats geared towards mass appeal. With limited play lists, and limited genres, they seek to reach the most people with the least e"ort and risk. !is model assumes an unsophisticated and captive listener. Today’s listeners are neither. !e real listener has internet access, wildly eclectic taste, and is eager to discover new music. SomaFM’s stations, playing thousands of songs, with new songs constantly being added, are the antidote to mainstream radio boredom. It is not simply the number of songs that makes our stations work. With record stores and the inter- net providing access to an almost unlimited amount of music, anyone can have a huge song collec- tion. What makes our stations successfull is the passion of the music directors. !ey love music. !ey have collected thousands of albums and CDs, and most importantly, culled through them to #nd the best songs. Finally, they choose amongst those great songs to #nd those that work together to create a strong station play list. Too many internet stations are simply “data dumps”– all the top songs from an era (the same old songs we’ve heard a thousand times), or every song from an era (all the same songs plus the worst songs by the same artists). !ere are no shortcuts to #nding great music and creating compelling presentation. listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative internet radio broadcasting from San Francisco Another factor in the success of SomaFM is the broad range of artists we have access to. In addi- tion to famous names and labels, we play music from small record labels and unsigned artists, out of print pieces, and rare unpublished recordings. We literally search the world for great music, and artists from everywhere send us their work for consideration. A great song from a local unsigned band or artist has no chance of being heard on a big over the air station, but we play hundreds of these tracks. Finally, SomaFM is a success because of our dedication. Not only to great music, but to the infra- structure that allows it to sound great. Too many internet “radio stations” load up a bunch of song #les onto a server and send a playlist to the listeners media player to playback in sequence. !is has given internet radio a reputation for having a poor “quality of presentation”. SomaFM understands that music needs to $ow together, audio levels need to stay consistent, and the tone of tracks can’t vary too much from song to song. !at is why we use real broadcast automation systems that pro- duce tight and smooth segues, Optimod audio processing, and high-quality audio encoders. You can easily hear the di"erence. SomaFM is thriving. We will continue to work hard to #nd great new and overlooked artists and genres for our listeners. We will continue to investigate and deploy new technologies for broadcast- ing. Most importantly, we will continue because we love the music and our audience can tell. listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative internet radio broadcasting from San Francisco 6#6+105 4118'#.#& 0+%'.;%*+..'&2.#6'1(#/$+'06$'#65#0&)4118'5T $IJMMFEPVUFMFDUSPOJDBGFBUVSJOHBSUJTUTTVDIBT,SVEFS%PSGNFJTUFS 'JMB#SB[JMB %I[JBO BOE,BNJFO "ѫFSMJGF ;FSP4FWFO /JHIUNBSFT0O8BY 4IBOUFM (SPPWF"SNBEBBOEBSUJTUT PO1PSL3FDPSEJOHT 8BWFGPSN3FDPSETBOE$BGFEFM.BSSFDPSEJOHT '%4'6)'06 *'5170&64#%-(14;17456;.+5*X/;56'4+175X&#0)'4175.+('T "OFDMFDUJDCMFOEPGDJOFNBUJDEPXOUFNQP TUZMJTIMPVOHF TBNCBTBOEFBTZUFNQPTJYUJFT &VSPQFBOQPQNVTJDXJUIBOBEWFOUVSPVTë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ѮF1JYJFTBOE#VJMUUP4QJMMUPUIF"SDBEF'JSFBOEѮF%FDFNCFSJTUT UIFTFUSBDLTBSF BMMXJOOFST '#6.'0&'4 .#6'0+)*6$.'0&1(&''2g*175'#0&&1906'/21%*+..T #FBU#MFOEFSJTBQFSGFDUCMFOEPGNJEUFNQPBOENPSFVQCFBUFMFDUSPOJDB GFBUVSJOHBSUJTUT TVDIBT#VMMJUOVUT ѮF7FSCSJMMJ4PVOE #BCZ.BNNPUI ѮJFWFSZ$PSQ #PBSETPG$BOBEB 3PZLTPQQT BOE-UK#VLFN#FBU#MFOEFSXJMMLFFQZPVBXBLFCVUOPUTUSFTTZPVPVU #)54#0%'4+2 41)4'55+8'*175'f64#0%'T 5BHT5SBODF5SJQJTEFEJDBUFEUPUIFQVSFTUGPSNPG5SBODFQPQVMBSJ[FECZ1BVM7BO%ZLBOE )BSEëPPSBTXFMMBTDVUUJOHFEHF1SPHSFTTJWFUSBDLTGSPNBSUJTUTMJLF7PZBHFS %FFQTLZ (1BM +POEJBOE4QFTI BOE/BWFFO( .+3*12 .+250$''25$#%-'&/156.;9f$'#65T 06'..+)'06#0%'75+%T &YQFSJNFOUBMUFDIOP BMTPLOPXOBT*OUFMMJHFOUEBODFNVTJD *%. ѮJTJTNVTJDDPNQPTFE EJHJUBMMZ DSFBUJOHTPVOETGSPNCJUTSBUIFSUIBOXJUICJUTBOEUIFJOTUSVNFOUPGDIPJDFPG NPTU*%.BSUJTUTJTBMBQUPQDPNQVUFS5ZQJDBMBSUJTUTJODMVEF5FMFGPO5FM"WJW #PBSET0G $BOBEB "VUFDISF "QIFY5XJO .V[JR #MBDL%PH $FY 6MSJDI4DIOBVTT BOE"MCVN-FBG )4118'5#.#&5'%4'6#)'06&410'<10'+0&+'21241%-5^%.+3*12+&/$'#6$.'0&'46#)564#0%'64+2 Staff Rusty Hodge General Manager and Program Director Rusty Hodge is the founder, general manager and program director for SomaFM. His !rst radio station was a carrier current AM he operated during high school. Seeking a wider audience he started producing daily programs and making them available over the telephone. In no time, he had people !lling several phone lines at all hours listen- ing to his talk/music programs. Rusty got involved with computers when, while managing his college radio station in the early ‘80s, he developed so"ware on an Apple II for handling station playlists. His professional experience includes work at radio stations in the Los Angeles area, developing so"ware for broadcasters, mul- timedia, and founding a company to put radio and TV stations on the web. It was only natural that eventually Rusty would start his own internet radio station. Rusty has been collecting records since the mid ‘70s, bought his !rst ambient record in the ‘80s, and latched onto electronic ambient music right away when it started !rst appearing in the early ‘90s. Many of the records in his collection are now out of print and extremely hard to !nd. With the launch of SomaFM in 2000, Rusty’s dream of his own station became a reality. Elise Nordling Music Director, Indie Pop Rocks! Elise Nordling has been the Music Director and DJ for Indie Pop Rocks! on SomaFM since 2001. She came to SomaFM a"er many varied years of experi- ence in the music industry, from record shop girl to editor/reviewer at the now- defunct Addicted To Noise/SonicNet internet music magazine. In 2007, Elise was awarded “Best DJ: Satellite/Online Radio” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, citing how she is “renowned for her impeccable taste” and that “Indie Pop Rocks! has become required listening on a global scale.” She delights in introducing friends and listeners to new music, and SomaFM provides her with the perfect way to do just that. Roy Batchelor Music Director, Boot Liquor Roy Batchelor stumbled upon the format that comprises Boot Liquor via a circu- itous route. Graduating from high school in the late ‘70s, radio stations through- out the country labeled his beloved music “classic rock” and conspired to play the same damn 20 songs over and over until he screamed in pain and was forced to !nd a new musical listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative internet radio broadcasting from San Francisco home. Fortunately, he discovered #e Beat Farmers and, while mining all their various in$uences, realized that “country music” had been given an undeserved bad rap. Boot Liquor is proud to serve up songs about life, death, misery, broken hearts and broken bones. Shawn Blosser Music Director, Beat Blender Shawn Blosser started BeatBlender in the waning days of the dotcom boom of the late 1990’s. Coworkers loved the music he played in his o%ce at work, CDs from his collection by artists such as Bullitnuts, #e Verbrilli Sound, Baby Mammoth, #ievery Corp, Boards of Canada, and others. In response to their enthusiasm, Shawn set up an o%ce Shoutcast server so they could enjoy his musical selections around the clock. Surprised to see about 30 people connected