[cma-l] 'The pirates' view of pirate radio', BBC News, 3 Mar 2009

[Salvatore Scifo]

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7920067.stm

(Please note that this article includes two videoclips and that there is 
a slightly reworked article at 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7919748.stm ('Pirate radio 'puts 
lives at risk') that includes another videoclip, a full feature by BBC's 
reporter Ben Ando, 3'12" long)

The pirates' view of pirate radio
By Daniel Emery
Technology reporter, BBC News website


Drive through any big city, turn on your car radio, and the odds are 
that you will stumble across a pirate radio station.
For some they are the sound of the street and a way of getting new music 
out to the masses. For others, they are a nuisance that can drown out 
legitimate radio stations.
It is 10 o'clock on a Monday morning. In a property in south London, 
Paul Edwards, a DJ for Supreme Dance FM, is filling the airways with 
house, funk and electronic music, with its listeners texting or 
e-mailing the show. The DJ name checks each of them with a 'shout'.
   
For the audience, it is a way of hearing new music before it is even in 
the shops, let alone before it gets played on commercial radio stations. 
For the authorities, the pirate station is breaching the 2003 
Communications Act.
It is thought there are now more than 150 pirate radio stations 
operating across the UK, half of which operate in London and the South 
East of England.
Many stations serve a particular genre of music, or demographic, with 
clear transmission localised to a few square miles.

Ray Gambeno, a record producer from south London, told the BBC that 
pirate radio gave up and coming artists the opportunity for exposure and 
airplay that would be hard, if not impossible, to get on commercial 
radio stations.
"Pirate Radio stations are able to play what they want to play.
"With a legal radio station, they have a set play list, so you're not 
going to get to hear what you want to hear."

Last week, officers from the Metropolitan Police and officials from 
Ofcom pulled the plug on one alleged pirate radio station in North London.
Ofcom had received more than 100 complaints that a transmission had been 
interfering with the commercial broadcaster LBC and the regulator was 
out to "put them out of business".
The operation was supposed to get underway just after 2 o'clock, as soon 
as the adverts on the station had finished, although it was 40 minutes 
before the last advert was over and a new DJ started his set.
It did not last long.

Officers stormed a business centre in Tottenham and, after some initial 
confusion, located a radio studio. Five people were arrested, music and 
broadcast equipment was seized and a considerable amount of money was 
found on the premises.
Technicians on the roof, examining a microwave link to a remote 
transmitter, also found a cable linking to a second alleged pirate 
station, that while not transmitting, contained radio equipment which 
officials also seized.
An unexpected bonus for the officers on the raid.
One of the criticisms levelled at pirate radio stations is that they are 
just in it for the money.

Not all bad
However, Ofcom's head of investigations, Paul Mercer, told the BBC that 
while some stations were purely driven by profit that was not always the 
case.
"As we tune into illegal broadcast radio stations, we become acutely 
aware of some stations that carry lots of advertisements of night club 
events. And those that never seem to have any advertisements
"We take from that there are some stations who seek to serve the 
community, rather than generate some of the vast sums of money that can 
be generated through pirate radio."
So what motivates people to set up and play on a pirate radio station?
Steve, who manages the pirate radio station Ice Cold FM, told the BBC 
that most people did it for the love of music.
"I still have to hold down a full time job. If I was raking it in, I 
wouldn't be getting up for work at seven every morning."

Certainly the people working at Supreme Dance FM appear to be doing it 
for the love of music, rather than trying to make a fast buck. The 
station is remarkably free of adverts and the owners say they do their 
best to ensure the station keeps a clean signal which does not cause any 
interference.

Legality
While those involved in pirate radio acknowledge that Ofcom's job is to 
enforce the law, many are blasé about the legality of their broadcasts.
Speaking to the BBC, DJ Solution - a pirate radio DJ from west London - 
said that the legality had never bothered him.

"I'm not harming anyone, I'm just playing my music. We're not swearing, 
we're not promoting guns or selling drugs."
Ray Gambeno said that many in pirate radio would want to go legal, but 
as long as it did not compromise the music that they wanted to play.
"They must feel bad about it, because they must wake up in the morning 
thinking that not everything they do is completely legitimate."

Of course, there are ways to run a radio station and not fall foul of 
the law. One way is to set up as a community radio station.
Steve from Ice Cold FM said that it was difficult to win a community 
radio station licence.
"I wanted to go legal. We tried to get a community based licence and 
even went off air for a while.
"But once we looked into it, they wanted us to show that we had £25,000 
in sponsorship to prove that we could establish the business for a 
length of time, which is far more than we would actually need.
"Even to apply costs money and Ofcom can still say no, so it's just not 
worth the effort."

Internet radio
Another way is to set up as an internet radio station. You don't need a 
licence, you can play whatever you like and then stream it all over 
broadband.
Internet radio is legal and can reach a global audience
Many pirate stations already stream on the internet, but with the 
majority of their listeners either driving a vehicle, or living in parts 
of the community where a PC and broadband is an unaffordable luxury, 
they are unlikely to put an end to their illegal broadcasts.
Paul Edwards explained why, for now, Supreme Dance would continue to 
broadcast on FM radio.
"Radio is a major part of my life. People can listen to it in their 
cars, it's great.
"You can always have a radio near you, but with the internet, sometimes 
you can't get the access to listen to the music when you want and where 
you want."