I have already decided what I want to do for my IPP, but I'm not short on other ideas...
KICK FM's internet stream is dead. I'm not sure of the details, but you can't listen to KICK online anymore. I know that the station does not have budget to acquire a new streaming solution at present time. The stream was previously being donated by a local company, but in my opinion, it was shifty at best even when it was up.
Since I have a reasonable amount of experience designing and selling streaming solutions to radio stations, I have a great solution, but it's going to cost some money.
Here is where the IPP idea comes in... KICK supports local musicians and bands like no other. I've seen the day-to-day play-lists, and can say that almost 1 song in 10 is a local artist. As such, it would be easy to get bands to volunteer their time for a fund raiser gig that would serve to raise money to pay for a new streaming solution for KICK.
Here are the details...
The technology part... There's a company in Edmonton, called Streamon that offers a very attractive streaming solution. They supply an appliance that encodes an audio stream, which is then sent to their servers for hosting. The company provides HTML source code for a pop-up player, which makes integrating the stream with a website, or social media sites a breeze.
The music geek part... The stream is delivered using a standard high speed internet connection. The codec that is used to compress and deliver the steam is called OggVorbis, which is a great sounding codec at reduced bit rates (which is important for keeping bandwidth usage at a minimum). The operating system on the streaming appliance uses Linux, which is the Fort Knox of operating systems both in terms of virus and hack security, and up-time, making it perfect for the college's top notch I.T. folks (even they will like it).
The business... The player costs $695 (Canadian funds) and the basic monthly hosting package is $140 (not withstanding a potential educational discount). The appliance is a lifetime lease, so if it breaks, you just send it back and they will replace it at no charge. There is a one time setup charge of $300, which is nice, cause they'll get you up and running without a hassle, or over dependence on college staff.
Not only is the system a good solution for hosting the stream, but it also offers potential revenue opportunity. The pop-up player has a banner spot which can be fed a jpg of an advertisement. And because the station uses the iMediaTouch radio software, it can be integrated with this neat feature in StreamOn. So the station could sell ads that would appear in the pop-up player. And, the player also has a spot for the album artwork, which makes it look really cool.
So, the total cost to get the stream up and running for one year is $2675. That's totally doable. That dollar amount represents roughly 500 tickets sold, at a cost of $5. And once you get people in the door, there's other fund raising opportunities (such as a raffle for a couple dozen local band's CD's). It might not happen in one show, but it could happen in two shows; and if I know the local music scene, Winnipeg bands would love an opportunity to help out. I'm sure some would even sell tickets to the event.
The politics... Aside from the obvious need to get KICK management on board (I'm sure they'd love the idea of getting their stream up and running again at no cost to them), you'd have to get approval from the college's I.T. department, because the streaming appliance would be pushing a stream from their local network (glaven!), to StreamOn's hosting server.
Revive the stream fundraiser.... This part of the IPP is organizing the gig(s). If you love to promote good causes, and organize parties, or events, this part of the IPP will be so fun!!! And organizing fund raisers is easier than commercial endeavors because you can be so shameless about promoting, because it's for a good cause.
So there you have it. You will be known as the student that REVIVED THE STREAM.
Nice of you to do the legwork! If someone does it, you'll have to take credit for the "assist."
ReplyDeleteNo credit necessary. My head is so filled with technical garble related to radio stations that I'd have to give most of the credit to my blog for being a source to let it out (otherwise I'd go mental.... ah, mentaler).
ReplyDeleteBTW, this was not one of the two IPP ideas that I was originally contemplating.
I thought of another one last week, but I'm just going to do it as a fun project. I want to create my own sound effects library, with a sophisticated, searchable database. So I would go out and record every sound imaginable (trains, walking in the snow, ducks fighting etc...), produce them in Pro Tools and then add them to a easy-to-use database of audio.
So fun!!! I could monetize the library by either selling copies of it to video makers, TV producers, or anyone that could benefit from having access to high quality audio sounds of day-to-day activities.
I hope somebody uses the Revive the Stream idea, because I'm way more likely to listen to KICK online than anywhere else.