Radio Free Pensacola – Now Filling the Internet Airwaves
Not even officially launched, Radio Free Pensacola is managing to gather quite a following. It is an internet based radio station that hopes to cover a lot of ground, including putting local music in the spotlight.
In a nutshell, “We strive to play music that people want to hear, talk radio, call in shows, provide news that’s unbiased, and give you a chance to have a voice in what’s really going on.”
Right now, the best way to listen is through their facebook app. (Don’t worry – you don’t have to have or log into your facebook for it to actually work.)
So what is Radio Free Pensacola? We checked in with them and got the rundown.
When did RFP form?
RFP formed earlier this year officially, but in reality it is still forming because we haven’t even officially launched yet. We’ve been trying to build up our live shows and initiate a buzz amongst local musicians and music lovers who want to be a part of the station so that when we do officially launch, listeners will have something to listen to. This has been a time of show building and troubleshooting, but surprisingly we’ve been getting a good deal of listeners already just from the social media and word of mouth.
What is the primary goal?
The primary goal of Radio Free Pensacola is to give people a voice. Back in the early 2000’s a group of us tried to champion an LPFM station to broadcast what people wanted to hear in Pensacola with help from Prometheus Radio, check them out, they’re awesome. Unfortunately, the FCC began trying to shutdown any hope for anyone to obtain any new LPFM licenses and instead only allowed big broadcasters to get radio wave broadcasting privileges. With the help of Prometheus Radio we fought it for a while, but then laws passed that forbid anyone in Florida to obtain rights to new LPFM broadcasting licenses. Now, with our connectivity to the internet and the ability of willing listeners to connect to our station via their computer and/or mobile devices, we can circumvent these laws which are frankly, unfair. We strive to play music that people want to hear, talk radio, call in shows, provide news that’s unbiased, and give you a chance to have a voice in what’s really going on.
How are artists considered?
As far as a submission process to have your band heard on air, there’s no official protocol to follow at the moment. Email it to us at rfp@inweekly.net, hit up a DJ, become a DJ, it’s all about connecting with one of us. Where you get put in may be a different story, this is a co-op of sorts and every DJ has their own thing going on so your song may not fit in everywhere, but a lot of us play local, indie and unsigned bands so you’ve got a good shot talking to any of us. Or like I said, become a DJ and you can play whatever you want.
Do you operate out of a singular location? Especially in regards to people interested in being a DJ…?
Nope. We all, so far, operate from different places. Some people from their homes, one group does a live broadcast of their weekly event from a local venue. We also have a DJ in Chicago, one in New Orleans, one in Tampa and one that’s not quite yet established in Argentina. That’s the beauty of the interwebs.
Learn more at:
https://www.facebook.com/rfpensacola
https://twitter.com/RFPensacola
850 Music & Entertainment 