Internet Radio and The Number One Job Skill in 2020

Internet Radio and The Number One Job Skill in 2020o 

18th June 2013

What's the crucial career strength that employers everywhere are seeking -- even though hardly anyone is talking about it? A great way to find out is by studying this list of fast-growing occupations, as compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sports coaches and fitness trainers. Massage therapists, registered nurses and physical therapists. School psychologists, music tutors, preschool teachers and speech-language pathologists. Personal financial planners, chauffeurs and private detectives. These are among the fields expected to employ at least 20% more people in the U.S. by 2020.

Did you notice the common thread? Every one of these jobs is all about EMPATHY.

In our fast-paced digital world, there's lots of hand-wringing about the ways that automation and computer technology are taking away the kinds of jobs that kept our parents and grandparents employed. Walk through a modern factory, and you'll be stunned by how few humans are needed to tend the machines. Similarly, travel agents, video editors and many other white-collar employees have been pushed to the sidelines by the digital revolution's faster and cheaper methods.

But there's no substitute for the magic of a face-to-face interaction with someone else who cares. Even the most ingenious machine-based attempts to mimic human conversation (hello, Siri) can't match the emotional richness of a real conversation with a real person.

Visit a health club, and you'll see the best personal trainers don't just march their clients through a preset run of exercises. They chat about the stresses and rewards of getting back in shape. They tease, they flatter -- maybe they even flirt a little. They connect with their clients in a way that builds people's motivation. Before long, clients keep coming back to the gym because they want to spend time with a friend, and to do something extra to win his or her respect.

It's the same story in health care or education. Technology can monitor an adult's glucose levels or a young child's counting skills quite precisely. Data by itself, though, is just a tool. The real magic happens when a borderline diabetic or a shy preschooler develops enough faith and trust in another person to embark on a new path. What the BLS data tells us is that even in a rapidly automating world, we can't automate empathy.

AND it is the same with internet radio! Sure people can subscribe to music streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, but what people really like more is an interaction with a human, yes a DJ (host) on a radio. People WILL tune in more if you have shows where people in the Studio talk, interact via the Call DJ button, in the stations chat-room, but most importantly they want to hear a voice, and that person talking about the music they are playing, what they think, how it makes them feel, taking requests, just having that human connection makes all the difference.

Radio stations on KryKey have DJ's and Hosts, plus the sound quality is the best on the net at 320K+ all at www.KryKey.com 

A big thanks to George Anders, who is a contributing Writer at Forbes magazine for some of this post.

KryKey Fulfills a Long Time Dream

KryKey Fulfills a Long Time Dream
13th September 2012

Let me tell you a story...

Many years ago.. I would have to say that the earliest would be when I was about 5 or 6.. my father took an old 45 record of an artist from the 50's to the local radio station, and they played it on the air. Within a short amount of time, calls literally POURED into the station asking to hear more of that kind of music. The station manager offered my dad a job doing it, and for the next few decades he spent every Sat night spinning tunes to thousands of area residents for 4-6 hours. His following was HUGE. And when I was growing up I would lie in bed listening to the music as I drifted off to sleep, thinking to myself "I wanna do that someday".

Fast forward a couple of decades... I had a dream of having my own DJ business..playing music for parties, etc.. but of course the cost was well beyond my means. I even tried applying to area radio stations in hopes of becoming a radio DJ.. but no luck..

Fast forward again to April,2012. I was at home, browsing the internet, looking for free radio stations to listen to online. My search turned up a site called KryKey.com, that offered people the chance to create their very own radio station online, FOR FREE. 

So, seeing this as my chance to finally do what I had always wanted, I brought my son on board and we uploaded a bunch of hard rock and metal songs to the library, did some quick advertising here on FB, and went live with the show. We had a blast, and made some new friends along the way.

But, I didnt stop there.. I decided to create a website, a group on FB, and a separate FB page for the show. But my biggest thrill was yet to come, when I signed up for Twitter..

People started following the tweets.. including some up-and-coming rock stars in the business. We received station liners promoting the show from 2 artists, and more are on the way. We become very close friends with the band Motion Device from Canada, and even though our listener numbers on the live shows are weak, we have a 24/7 playlist that brings in hundreds of listeners each week. 

So when people tell you that dreams don't come true, tell them to come look at my post.. because my dream is a reality. Yeah, we don't make any money doing this, but we made friends... lots of friends. And that's one hell of a paycheck.. :)

Tim H in the USA
Headbanger's Cafe
(click Here To Listen)

Tells us what KryKey has done for you and we will send you a KryKey T-Shirt

Getting digitized?

As I’ve clearly stated in the past: I’m a vinyl junkie. An analogue dinosaur. In the field of dance music we have often been the very first genre to embrace new technology. Indeed, more than any other musical variety, dance music and audio technology are intertwined. I have watched all this change and although it interests me a lot, when it comes to performance I am an absolute Luddite. Turning up at clubs to watch my dancefloor heroes play on CD decks makes me want to send the sparkling lights and fancy buttons hurling to the ground. Like a nineteenth century cotton mill, the pioneer CDJs 1000, lying in bits would bring a smile of satisfaction to my face. I’m told they’re sexy. I just feel that CD DJing is cheating – not so much the technology aspect, as in principal it is the same technique as vinyl DJing, but that the audience is cheated. I watch with horror as my favourite record shops close down as everyone turns to the cheaper alternative… Anyway – I have stuck to my guns regarding CDs and remain a vinylist.

However, it’s not just CDs that have changed the face of DJing. One of my favourite DJs is Sasha. I remember reading several years ago how he was embracing Ableton for production. I remember picking up a (vinyl) copy of Involver in 2004 and being blown away by the ‘new’ sound. The thick bass, the really electronic feel, floor-friendly loops, perfectly cut vocals… It is an ambition to produce music and I’ve always liked the sound of Ableton. I dabbled with Cubase a few years ago but Ableton seems to be the software daddy. Shock horror – I realised that Ableton could be used for DJing. I was at a gig at the Q bar, Cardiff, and the DJ had a laptop and a complex looking MIDI controller. He was playing an Ableton Live DJ set… I trainspotted for a bit, to check how it all works… DJs are anoraks at heart and get a high watching others at work. It is the quickest way to improve your style, by studying others in action. I started to interrupt the guy by bombarding him with questions. It all looked posh and he seemed a bit snobbish, with all his fancy equipment… He was very vague and seemed to be avoiding my answers. I didn’t appear to be spending much time at all cueing… OK – fair enough… Some DJs don’t need to cue much. I’ve seen Norman Jay cue a record, when someone dropped a glass from the balcony onto the decks at Ministry of Sound, in literally under 2 seconds, without a glitch in the music. Jeff Mills is notorious for spinning about 5 records every minute throughout the duration of a DJ set, bunging the vinyl over his shoulder as he slams in dub plate after dub plate of the most experimental techno. Thing is – as I soon learnt. You DON’T beat match with Ableton. It is all automatic. How can this be DJing? I felt properly cheated. It’s like losing your lifesavings in Las Vegas then realising you have been playing with a marked deck.

It put me off Ableton. I’m a DJ, not a jukebox. However, I continued reading and reading about the program and it seems that virtually all of my production heroes are ranting religiously about its power. I knew that at some stage I would be on board. I’d have to be, if I want to actually make some decent tunes, realise the dream…

I picked up a book and got studying. Ableton 6 landed on my lap and I churned out a couple of tunes. Very basic, very nasty really, but an attempt nonetheless. It is a powerful program, for sure, it just gets very confusing. I let it fester on my PC for a while and decided to wait for a bit of inspiration. The social side of DJing is important. Swapping label notes in a grotty record shop, booth banter, interacting with off-their-face clubbers. I think that the growth of social networks has helped the whole dancefloor community. I have a DJ category for friends on facebook and there are over 200 people in there. I was a self-taught vinyl DJ but always absorbed advice from my peers which proved fundamental. I decided to invest in a bit of MIDI equipment for potential use with Ableton and through a mutual friend, managed to find the local Ableton guru. I needed to get sweaty in the studio with someone, and get shown how it all operates. A few tips wouldn’t go amiss. As boring as DJing may appear to non-musos, it really is an exciting subject and digesting books and technical manuals just isn’t the done thing.

So, I loaded up on tinnies and made my way out to visit Dave Wired, techno legend extraordinaire. When I was a teenager, I used to get off my box at the Muts Nuts @ The White Lion, Chepstow, where Dave usually hammered out the last set of Techno every Saturday night. The White Lion music agenda was very underground and for a sleepy Welsh village to host one of the cutting edge forums for Goa trance, minimal techno and esoteric electronic, was quite a blessing. Dave’s style influenced me in the first place so it was important that he would be my teacher.

DJ Wired’s style can be described, if I had to tag it, as ‘nosebleed techno’ which is pretty far removed from my 130 bpm progressive house or ‘handbag’ as my mates in the pub refer to it. 180bpm beats; four top the floor with some occasional breaks. It is fast stuff and not for the feint-hearted. I don’t play this music, or indeed listen to it much, but I do appreciate it. Dave stopped DJing two years ago. Hung up the headphones. He gigs all over the world – from Europe to South America. It’s all a LIVE Ableton set these days. Not DJing, but playing his own productions. Live manipulation of his own tracks in a set that smashes hell out of global festival audiences in the tens of thousands. To hear him talk, as a sceptic of the digital revolution, I was initially unimpressed. I still cannot get my head around the idea of a DJ not using vinyl. After a few beers, we headed into the studio. This is where I truly began to realise the power of Ableton. As I said, I’ve had a dabble. But – Dave loaded up a live set which was MASSIVE. He started it rolling and I was entranced as I witnessed what could only be described as a high voltage electric storm on his laptop screen. Beats, bass and the odd vocal, all dynamically shifting. It’s hard to keep track with your eyes what’s happening. The bass bins do the talking though. The music comes slamming out and sounds shit hot. Everything is done on the fly. You prepare each individual sound in the studio, load up a host of audio clips and mash them all up. Mixing, although everything is beat synched, takes on a whole new phenomenon. You can start the next track my clipping out, say, for example the hi-hats of the track playing, add in the hats from the next track, and start looping some vocal from your sample library. Ableton has a massive host of plugins and effects which makes the most expensive Allen&Heath mixer look primitive. Autopan the kicks of one track mirroring the one you’re mixing in, flange up the mids and whack in a few breaks to liven it up. Glitch a few beats, reverse them on the fly and some of the most amazingly complex mixes can be made. To be fair – there is no time for cueing up beats. As a DJ I often cite myself as an original artist for blending two tracks together, ‘in the mix’ to create something new. Very often though, I hardly even change the EQs. Seeming tracks together in an Ableton becomes a whole new mixing experience. It provides an endless challenge and the possibilities are infinite.

I am happy in a way as I try to learn this new technology. It will consume my entire life. I can see why Ableton can be classified as a religion and I am still a new convert. The sacrament may be sample editors and MIDI manuals but I think that the future of dance music really does lie with Ableton. I won’t be hanging up my headphones just yet, but the appeal of becoming a producer means that the digital lure is starting to bite. In a world of hypocrites I am just following nature’s path. If you are interested in electronic music then Ableton is the new drug of choice.

Web Radio DJ

The DJ web radio was created to offer DJ's around the world the opportunity to play their mixes if they didn't want to have a KryKey Web Radio Station of their own. This web radio station is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is now looking for more DJ mixes out there.

They currently are playing the following DJ's :

• Wez G from the UK
• DJ Jem from Greece
• DJ Joe Jam from Germany

If you like hearing Dance/House music, and also new styles, then go and listen to web radio DJ at http://www.krykey.com/PublicRadio.aspx?Key=262

Is the DJ an artist?

DJing is a relatively new phenomenon. Sure, DJs have existed for some time, playing song selections on the radio, or providing the soundtrack to weddings and fortieth birthday parties. However, mixing as an art form emerged in the late seventies, early eighties, when DJs such as Frankie Knuckles, in America, started doing live edits to underground disco music, seaming tracks together to enhance the flow of the music and boost their party-hard audiences. This was initially done using tape machines. A pair of scissors and some cellotape and your wannabee jock could splice together songs. It was a rudimentary art form but it worked. Modern DJing was born out of this tape splicing when someone realised that the highend Technics 1200 turntable which had been around since the early seventies, had a pitch control unit which enabled DJs to manipulate songs further, and begin to actually beat match and mix them together. DJing was alive and disco and early house music provided the new soundtrack of a generation. Hip Hop jumped quickly on board and the workability of the Technics turntable meant a whole new form of skilled DJs cutting and scratching tracks. Bodypopping and breakdancing was all to the beat of the Technics turntable. I need not continue with the evolution of dance music. Suffice it to say, it has run hand in hand with innovation and technology.

DJing became a career option. The problem is, as is very often the case with emerging sciences, how do you categorise a DJ? Are they musicians, artists, skilled, unskilled? Are they on the same level of employment in a nightclub as a barman or cloakroom attendant? Surely they are not creative as they just use other people’s artistic skills… Are they artists in their own right? Is a DJ on a par with a violinist or a concert pianist?

When you are in the company of musicians and mention that you are a DJ, scorn is usually poured upon you. You aren’t fit to lace their boots – they are skilled, you are just an operator…. I beg to differ. DJs may use other people’s music for their art (though self-produced DJ tracks are becoming more common during a mixset). Using other people’s creative material is not a new phenomenon in the field of music. Take for example a concert pianist or violinist. Surely they often play symphonies by Beethoven or Mozart compositions. They didn’t necessarily create the material. They add part of their own character to a rendition of an already written piece of music, but they are not being completely original. A DJ may play a record but by manipulating the pitch, by choosing when to cut it with another record, the DJ changes the song and adds part of his personality to the show. It takes skill to pluck a Cello’s strings, or stick to a complex rhythm pattern on a set of drums, but DJing has its own set of skills. Scratching, beat matching, cutting and chopping, pitch blending all form part of a successful DJ’s repertoire. To me the most skilful part of being a DJ isn’t the ’manual skills’ as I refer to them but the ‘mental skills’. A good DJ is not averse to a bit of brainwork and to me set programming is fundamental. A skilled DJ programs his set, his tune selection, with the utmost precision. Each track should follow musically into the next, the music program should be interesting, challenging, entertaining, seamless. It should take the listener on an auditory journey. The difference between a good and bad DJ set very often lies in the set programming. The set of technical skills varies very little between performance DJs. The wheat is separated from the chaff by the occult skills of planning and sequencing tracks.

Consider another form of art. Photography is a relatively new phenomenon in the field of visual art. It involves a new technology. However, photographers are similar to painters. It involves a different set of technical skills to use a camera successfully. But in using his tools a photographer chooses a maybe otherwise dull scene to shoot, capturing the art he sees in that image in the camera lense. He presents the image in a way to portray his feelings, his emotions, his perception of the world. Nowadays, photography is widely accepted as a professional art form and indeed a prosperous career.

I think that DJing is certainly more acceptable these days. Musicians recognise the need for good DJ talent to perhaps compliment their work. DJs such as Paul Oakenfold were touring with U2 and the Happy Mondays back in the early Nineties. We are seeing today independent DJ artists like Mark Ronson or Sasha emerge in their own right as pop stars / music performers.

DJing is the photography of the music world. It is an art form. Often misunderstood it is part of a DJ’s role to define what it is to be a DJ, to be an artist, to be a musician. We should revel in our new science. Our artistic legacy inspires tomorrow’s musicians. New technologies make DJing one of the most evolving forms of music. It has never been a more exciting time to be a DJ. We are tomorrow’s musical artists.

K.A.A.N. (KryKey Artist Airplay Network)

After negotiating with five (5) current KryKey Personal Web Radio Stations, we have started the “KryKey Artist Airplay Network” which will play Artists music on a rotation basis, giving the Artists much needed airplay time. We also have more KryKey Personal Web Radio Stations interested in joining. The current five are located in London (UK), Las Vegas (USA), Sydney (Australia), Red Babe (Belarus) and Amsterdam (Netherlands). Details of these web radio stations below:

• London Web Radio : will play UK artists
  londonwebradio@krykey.com
  http://www.krykey.com/PublicRadio.aspx?Key=14
  

• Desert One : will play US artists
  desertone@krykey.com
  http://www.krykey.com/PublicRadio.aspx?Key=106
  

• Oz Radio : will play Australian & US artists
  ozradio@krykey.com
  http://www.krykey.com/PublicRadio.aspx?Key=243
  
  
• DJ : will play DJ mixes from anywhere on the planet
  dj@krykey.com
  http://www.krykey.com/PublicRadio.aspx?Key=262
  

• Red Babe : will play Eastern European Artists
  info@krykey.com
  http://www.krykey.com/PublicRadio.aspx?Key=3
  

Each Artist is also asked to create a Promo to introduce their music and this is played before the 2 tracks, giving them an extra opportunity to promote themselves.

If you’re an Artist, please contact one of the Web Radio Stations on their email address listed and if you’re a web radio station come and join us and together we KAAN make a difference.

Wintertime Blues

Wintertime winds blow cold the season Fallen in love, I'm hopin' to be Wind is so cold, is that the reason? Keeping you warm, your hands touching me Come with me dance, my dear Winter's so cold this year You are so warm My wintertime love to be Winter time winds blue and freezin' Comin' from northern storms in the sea Love has been lost, is that the reason? Trying desperately to be free Come with me dance, my dear Winter's so cold this year And you are so warm My wintertime love to be La, la, la, la Come with me dance, my dear Winter's so cold this year You are so warm My wintertime love to be [The Doors: Wintertime Love (from Waiting for the Sun album)]

Well - the long cold winter is finally over (unless you happen to be reading this in the southern hemisphere!). Vestal virgins are dancing around the sacred fire in preparations for an exciting summer of music festivals. In the UK at this time of year bands are extremely busy hounding festival promoters in order to fill up their summer calendars. The winter hibernation is over and the whole music industry comes to life. The Miami Winter Music conference has just finished and DJs and dance acts are groggily filling planes across the world, returning with their tales of mayhem, and the tracks which will be lacing the summer dancefloors from the Punta Del Este to the streets of San Antonio. The creative spirit comes alive in spring, as flowers blossom and trees flood the countryside with green luminescence from their returning leaves. Like squirrels just run out of nuts, here at KryKey we are plaguing the landscape in search of new food to feast on as we bask in the sun's rays. At festivals across the globe there is a mad rush by emerging bands and artists to fill the bill in new stages. They need to showcase their music and gain new fans.

We have decided to support these emerging artists and have opened the floor of four prime KryKey radio stations for this purpose. London Web Radio, Desert One, Oz Radio and DJ, are all seeking out music from artists to fill the airwaves. We believe that exposing new talent to the masses is a critical aspect of the music industry. Our growing radio network now has a significant impact on the music industry (there are now over 230 global KryKey radio stations) and we aim to use our new power responsibly. We realise that it isn't perhaps convenient for each individual band to set up their own PRS, so we aim to gather together those individuals and showcase their sounds on the KryKey network. As we scour the social networks for interested parties, we have already struck gold with some excellent artists already submitting material. BenSem, Red Tempa, Lowkey aka Dolce, Viva la Resistance and Rowdee Methodz have all submitted some real quality music to us which is currently being blasted out across the KryKey universe.

If you are a band / DJ / artist, and would like your sounds exposed to a massive global audience, please email the relevant station address with your material in mp3 form, with a short 30s promo advertising your material (also in mp3 format).

Here are the addresses:

londonwebradio@krykey.com (UK & Europe), desertone@krykey.com (USA), ozradio@krykey.com (OZ), dj@krykey.com (Global)

If your area isn't included please just choose the radio station you feel most appropriate for your music and audience. With your music supported by KryKey, we hope that you have a successful summer and manage to fully shake those wintertime blues as you head off to the best festivals and summer parties. Who knows? Maybe you can return to us with tales of your jaunts or maybe even record some live sets? One thing is for sure, we share your excitement for a bright future and hope that KryKey will be laying down the sounds of a great summer.

KryKey Personal Radio - Additional Options for DJs' Personal Radio Stations.

There is a multitude of personal radio stations (PRS) on KryKey. They are from all corners of the globe. KryKey offers the web radio listener many options and opportunities to receive quality broadcasts from many different cultures in many different languages. If you are already a PRS owner you are probably aware of the KryKey system. It is easy to set up a PRS. All you do is create a free account and begin uploading (correctly tagged) mp3s from your hard drive. You can then create playlists for your radio station (which has a specific KryKey domain address so that listeners can tune in). In addition to the music you upload you can also add promos, advertisements and podcasts. A lot of the more successful stations make money through selling advertising space for their stations. While the music is playing you have the option to 'talkover' the music, direct from your computer, using the inbuilt (or external) microphone.

In essence KryKey provides a radio studio which gives you the capability to broadcast direct from your own home. In this blog I wish to discuss the features which are also available but which may not seem obvious. I realise that not all DJs are content with the automix mp3 system, which autocues direct from the playlists so that there is no gap between songs. Some of you may be 'performance' or 'live' DJs and desire to actually mix your tunes. The new version of KryKey (v 2.0) is about to be released which allows a line-in feature so that you will be able to connect your mixing desk direct to the PC and do live broadcasts direct from your record / CD players. This feature will also appeal to live bands who may wish to broadcast their jamming sessions, or even their live gigs. There are a lot of DJs with longer recordings of their DJ mixes or podcasts. Using the standard upload system these mixes are in general too large. However, don't despair! We can add larger podcasts to your music library, direct from our admin console. The easiest way to do this is for you to upload the mix in mp3 format to a filesharing platform like mediafire, then supply us with the link information. If you have trouble converting files to mp3 format, there are many decent free mp3 convertor programs available. I personally use a program called xilisoft.

As a house music DJ who mixes records, I have benefited from this feature and have a station (wezgradio.co.uk) which streams my mixes constantly. Another point to mention here which may not seem obvious, is the ability to set up your own domain names and forward these domains to your KryKey PRS address. It is handy to do this as it makes life easier for your listeners and also enables you to list your stations in search engines and therefore potentially increase your listener base. We are always open to ideas and feedback from you, the KryKey users. We are an adaptable company and encourage you to propose new ideas. We want to deliver the ultimate web radio platform and be industry leaders. Should you wish to contact me regarding any of the features that are mentioned here, or any additional services that you want to see on KryKey please email wez@krykey.com Tune in, broadcast, spread the word about KryKey to your friends and, most importantly, ENJOY!

I'm an addict!

I have an addiction. A proper addiction. It’s untreatable. There is no cure. I am a junkie. I hang around in darkened alleys, change jingling in my pocket, waiting for the dealer’s shop to open. I rush in and start filtering through the shelves. I am a vinyl junkie and record stores are where I score my fix. It’s a strange addiction, I know. People laugh and don’t recognise the condition. But it exists, I swear. Black plastic gives me a buzz. Has done since I was ten years old. All of my spare money goes on this disgusting habit. But it’s beautiful. I love needles in the groove and the sound of dustmites crackling in the speakers. Vinyl is not just a habit, it is a passion.

People think that DJing is all about glamour. They read in their glossy clubbing magazines about Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and John Digweed, touring the world, hanging out in swanky nightclubs and getting paid a small fortune for doing so. I tell you – they suffer the same craving as any other proper DJ. They like nothing more than getting their hands dirty, flicking through record racks, in search of that ultimate rarity. The picture disc, the deleted album, the white label. DJing isn’t just a technical ability. As a technical skill it’s actually quite easy. If you can count you can beatmatch. Simple as. Anyone can flick a crossfader. The art of DJing is to inject passion into your skill. Selecting tunes for the audience, to educate and entertain is the artform. Danny Tengalia wrote quite a few years ago about ‘finding the groove’. He performed marathon ten hour DJ sets and therefore should truly understand a dancefloor. It’s all about seaming tunes together in a constant groove. To do that, you need to know your music inside out. A DJ I once worked with, Anthony Pappa, impressed me a lot. He had risen to stardom by winning the DMC Mix championship. I warmed up for him and was pleased to do the honour. He arrived, same as any other professional DJ, courteous, nice greeting, appreciative nod to the sounds you were spinning. He then cast open his box, to prepare his set. DJs are nosy animals and I couldn’t help looking at his tunes. They were all marked up with stickers. I’d seen BPM labelling previously, but Pappa’s was different. They were all colour coded and Key marked. At an advanced level of DJing, to help stitch the groove, you not only beat match, but also key mix. It was a new concept to me. It seemed a bit anal but on chatting to Pappa he explained to me the reasons. You generally have a feel for what tunes sound similar and how they mix together. Most DJs rely on chance for this, but not Pappa. Certain keys mix with certain other keys musically whereas other keys clash. However, as I soon learnt there is slightly more to it than just that. I had gone home and banged out the keys on my sister’s piano and marked up my vinyl with letters. However – you get on the mixer and try blending, say a ‘D’ with another ‘D’ and it doesn’t quite sound right. Beats are Ok and you’d presume the keys too, but what happens is that as the pitch of the record shifts for beat matching, the key also migrates. To truly understand the theory of key mixing you have to be able to calculate the effect of BPM on a record’s pitch and then match up the vinyl. Listen to Pappa. He’s a DJ’s DJ and is musically superb.

The message I’m trying to send out is that DJs are obsessive. They love their work. In order to be a good DJ you have to respect your tools. These tools, the ones that separate you from the next jock, are your records. It takes years to build a vinyl collection. Years of dedicated shopping. Of searching high and low for the unique sounds that distinguish you and enable you to deliver to the dancefloor. You may wonder why I emphasize vinyl. Surely these days we have moved on. Technology has improved. We have digital formats. We are in the ipod revolution. MP3s, computer music , Pioneer CD decks. Oh no! I cringe when I hear the ignorance blasted out by pretend DJs about how vinyl is outdated.

For technology to improve, the old format must be surpassed in every way. Digital formats were announced to be superior quality to vinyl. This is an urban myth which the music companies have now admitted to being a marketing ploy. CDs were introduced and vinyl was supposedly obsolete. For years DJing kept the vinyl factories in business but then pioneer released their replica technics model CD decks and CD DJing became all the rage. Download sites like Beatport pushed out mp3s, and DJs burned up their CDs and suddenly an entire collection could be built overnight. There is a fundamental flaw in this, well several in fact.

There is an art in itself to building a collection. You appreciate vinyl a lot more when you have starved a week to get the latest import. That part of your collection has a certain significance. I browse through my records and each sleeve tells a story. The record has a soul, a character that emits itself when I place the tune on the decks during a set. Each tune has memories, lovingly attached to it. How can you develop such a bond with something that has taken 10seconds to download and exists in a single-sentence data file on your hard drive. It isn’t as romantic. Yes, vinyl is more expensive, and perhaps more difficult to track down, but at least you get something solid for your money. it is an investment. The weight, the sleeve artwork, the labelling, the peculiarities (is it warped? Is there a misprinted label? is it a picture disc?) The generation of CD and MP3 DJs are missing a vital part of the essence of DJing. The rush of shopping for vinyl. I cannot see how a ‘new’ DJ can become knowledgeable about DJing, missing out on such an important part of the lifestyle. As well as the purchasing there is a whole social aspect to record shopping. You meet other DJs, other ‘trainspotters’, pick up tips on hot remixes, rarities, quality gigs, available work and so forth. Until you can purchase mp3s in the dimly lit streets of SoHo I cannot agree that MP3 DJs will ever emulate the emotion of a vinyl DJs work.

The biggest myth buster of all has to be that the actual quality of digital music is poorer than its analogue counterpart. Try it for yourself. Get the same track on vinyl, cd and mp3 and play them one after the other, preferably on a loud sound system. The digital formats eliminate the high and low frequencies of a tune. The sub bass lines and ultra high vox disappear in digital. The sound is condensed. Music producers nowadays are unaware of the intricacies of true sound production as they are working without a true sound spectrum. Not only are DJs being cheated by this, but also the listeners. I have been reliably informed that DJs aware of this who use cds and mp3s for mixing, are buying vinyl, then recording it themselves onto digital format, rather than buy purchasing it in digital format, just so they can replicate the true sounds of a record. There is a backlash and last year saw the first rise in vinyl production since the dip induced by the introduction of the CD. Bands are releasing on vinyl again, realising that it sounds better. It is still an industry in dire straits, however. We need to turn back to vinyl. To keep it alive. Record shops are closing down in their droves. It brings tears to my eyes to see maybe 75% of my favourite stores now shut. Tag in Soho, Woosh in Cardiff and Bang Bang in Bristol. They no longer exist. My most regular haunt, Plastic Fantastic of Covent Garden, are now an online only service (http://www.plastic-music.co.uk) I wish to preserve the art of DJing, to teach a new generation of the wonders of this exotic and mysterious world. I want to see a new generation of junkies, lurking about dark alleys, seeking their fix. Vinyl is sexy.

KEEP VINYL ALIVE! SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE!


You can listen to DJ Wez G at http://www.krykey.com at http://www.wezgradio.co.uk and http://www.shuffleradio.co.uk

What is KryKey?

What is KryKey?

In a world of music that the ipod has turned upside down, the market of computer music products is full to the brim and highly competitive. MP3 sales is now the standard marker for a music artist’s success. Music in the digital age is pegged to tech developments. KryKey is a disruptive technology that has the potential to set the new standard for music listeners and makers alike.

Web radio is the ‘in-thing’ in the tech sector. The recent annual tech show in Las Vegas was full to the brim of internet radio products. A study has predicted the ‘web radio’ sector to draw in $900 million revenue this year. There is an expected compound annual growth rate of 29.7% That web radio is the fastest growing area of the World Wide Web is in no doubt. What the sector has lacked until now is a platform to incorporate potential broadcasters to supply the channels necessary in the radio boom.

KryKey is the perfect platform for the Web Radio Station. It simply allows you to create your own PRS (Personal Radio Station) where you can invite other people to act as DJs. The KryKey software incorporates an easy-to-use MP3 streaming interface, where you create playlists of MP3s you upload. Today in a terrestrial radio studio, it is normally a similar digital interface that is used to play the music. What KryKey does is reverse the traditional radio barriers, of it costing so much money to set a studio up and being incredibly expensive and tightly regulated to conduct a broadcast, which has certain broadcast limits. You can set up and run your KryKey PRS from your own living room or office, with DJs not even having to be present with you but sat in the comfort of their own homes.

How is the station funded? People initially told about KryKey suspect that it is an ‘under-the-counter’ pirate radio broadcast service. Sure there are places on the net where you can set up internet pirate radio, but the quality of the stream is appalling, there are server issues and no guarantee of station stability. KryKey uses incredibly powerful US servers and one of the most important feedbacks received is that customers are very satisfied with the volume and 128 bitrate quality of the KryKey stream. KryKey earns its revenue through advertising on the station. One of the options for PRS owners is to create their own advertisements or promo dittys. If, as a station manager, you are unhappy with having short advertising intervals there is a subscription service available to ensure your broadcasts are advert free. The station needs revenue as according to radio laws it has to pay royalties to artists that are played on the KryKey network.

KryKey is a truly globalised service. Involved in the running of the company are Americans, Australians, Belorussians, Indians, British & Bulgarians. Web radio stations can employ DJs from all over the world. Presently there are over 130 KryKey PRS running on every continent, with growth rates of PRS creation becoming exponential.

The service is still in its Beta test format and new features are becoming available to increase the facilities for broadcasters. Hot new developments include a live broadcast facility where a mixing desk can be linked to the PC. Enhanced studio features and customizable homepages are due and also a chat and phonein facility to enhance audience participation in shows. Unlike other competitors in the computer music world, KryKey is not just a music streaming service. It allows real live radio. There is a microphone option so each track can be introduced and broadcasters will have to ensure that their shows are well-presented if they want to retain listeners. KryKey truly is innovative and has the potential to really bring the world of web radio to the websurfers feet. The hardware for web radio will sweep the market over the next few years and as portable listening devices incorporate web radio streams, it is most certain that the world of radio has never been a more exciting place to be. Get yourself KryKeyed and set up for the revolution!

Internet Radio - The future?

Internet Radio – The future?

Radio was a communication technology that completely changed the world during the twentieth century. Before the age of television, radio was the most popular entertainment medium. Where would the Rock n’ Roll revolution of the Sixties be without the dedicated broadcast channels streaming the new sounds to bedrooms across the globe? The age of television saw a decline in radio’s impact, though the market for radio continued to grow. People listened in cars, on the hop, portable devices emerged too. The advantage of radio over television meant that the same levels of user concentration weren’t required. Radio can be background as well as thoroughly engaging. To many people radio provides the backdrop to their day’s work in factories or offices. One of the most important aspects of radio is the interactivity between programmers and their audiences. Phone in shows and audience feedback is significantly greater for radio than its televised cousin. To me one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century was the clockwork battery-less radio which was cheaply and widely distributed throughout Africa and the developing world, providing maybe the first link to the outside world in many areas.

What has changed today? Satellite TV is rampant and viewers across the world have the widest selection ever available. Radio is still a huge draw though and in the internet communications era, our listening habits are changing yet again. Podcasting is a term that has entered the glossary and these subscription downloads are basically prerecorded radio shows. MP3 players such as the Apple Ipod have increased the use of portable audio devices to levels previously never imagined. Podcasts are easy to distribute and are a growing broadcast medium but the appeal of live radio still seperates podcasts from its transistor sister. Radio services on Real player, Windows Media Player and other media player devices have been available but in general have been still run by corporations with studios and massive finance. There is a gap in the market for proper home broadcasting, done live, and directly competing with traditional radio, just without all the massive startup and maintenance costs. This is where the new KryKey service enters the market. http://www.krykey.com is a convenient easy to use service which sets up the simple home broadcaster with realtime radio potential. The user can create their own radio station and broadcast direct from their own home with little more than a miked up laptop and their internet connection. The next question arises – how can internet radio seize the market of traditional broadcast radio and will it make it obsolete?

The world of radio has recently experienced a massive revolution with the advent of DAB (Digital) services. The new dawn is fast approaching however and portable devices such as ipods and phones, car radios and home entertainment systems are emerging on the market offering internet radio listening capability. FM and AM waves with their limited range and even the new DAB radios are a thing of the past in today’s global internet environment. Soon, people will be able to truly have a global entertainment experience wherever they are in the globe. Eskimos will be tuning into Australian rock stations, and China will be dancing to the beats of the Caribbean. A few years ago the Rolling Stones performed the first live internet concert. Internet radio will completely reshape the entire broadcast landscape. The market will be flooded with new DJs and bands at a scale that the Sixties rockers never had. Web radio is the largest growing internet trend and recent technology shows in Las Vegas and San Francisco were awash with new tech gadgets awaiting the biggest broadcast revolution ever seen. We live in exciting times and web radio is about to explode. If you are a potential broadcaster, now is the time to take a dip in the waters of life...