Flex has been granted licence

[nrglcb2016]

Having listened to dance music pirates for nearly 25 now must admit it has changed over the last ten yrs or so . Not so bothered if a pirate sounds professional though as surely if you wanted to listen to a station like that then there are the obvious choices , there have been a few pirates that have done the job well i.e pulse 90.6 which was all about the music vision , force etc . Also another thing about pirate radio is community , bringing people together - maybe not so much nowdays as its world wide on the web but a core of the listeners will still be in your local area.

[bristolpirates]

The old stations were as slickly presented as the legal stations...

Well, not all of them were. Whilst the more pro sounding pirates were popular, people also liked the ones that sounded less like the legal stations, less 'Smashy and Nicey'. What YOU think is unlistenable, is exactly what other people prefer to hear. You hear a DnB show on 1xtra, and it's OK, nothing really wrong with presenting a DnB show in that manner, but it's not very exciting and it's not the only way to do it.

DJs can mix and present the show at the same time. It does mean talking over the music, because the music is continuous. However, if it's done carefully and with some consideration of which sections of music you can talk over, without it becoming irritating to the listener, it works. Obviously, not every DJ will put that much thought in, but to be honest, their audience probably don't care that much anyway. Let's not forget, your Smashy and Nicey DJs will also talk over the music, usually over the intro, timed to finish before the vocal starts. That can be just as potentially irritating.

Another way, and the way it's done on the pirates often, is exactly the way it would be done at a rave or a club. The DJ doesn't present the show, he just does the mix. The MC not only provides the presentation, which is borrowed from rave culture rather than a traditional radio style, but also provides part of the music. A lot of people want to hear that as much as they want to hear the tracks the DJ is playing. They want to feel as if they are at a rave, especially if they are broke to or too young to go out raving.

Both of the above are perfectly acceptable ways of presenting a show, and there are more ways on top of that.

Rock never really went out of fashion either, look at the big Indie resurgence of the 00's. OK, it wasn't actually Indie, it was just pop dressed as Indie, but kids were into guitars then. Since then, tastes have probably broadened, DnB with a pop slant hits the charts regularly, dance music in general is a bit more popular again.

There's a 21yo girl in my office who loves hip hop, dubstep, dnb... and finds it exciting to tune into the pirates on journeys to London. She sees pirate radio as "important". Maybe not your typical young woman, but don't ever think that there isn't any youth interest in this any more.

[bristolpirates]

Also funky seems to have lasted so far also in2beats

SWU will hopefully join BCFM, Ujima and BSR in Bristol soon. A pure dance community station, influenced mainly by Rinse.

[Effemm]

Mate...I would drop everything back in the 80' & 90's to record a show a certain DJ was
Gna be presenting/ mixing because back then it was just the music that mattered, apart from the Pager days of which a shout which was fun...Your right, many DJs knew when to talk over a track, knew when to mix in the next record n let it roll at least 30 seconds together beat perfect n that's entertainment. I hear clowns now who just freeze the track into the next ffs, pathetic, nearly as bad as the Ministry of Sound compilations ...u can't beat a good mix, listen to jellybean, red alert,Tony Humphreys, Barry b lwr, there's tonnes of examples out there...they took time to put the effort into what they were doing...now it's a computer run bizniz

[bristolpirates]

Mate...I would drop everything back in the 80' & 90's to record a show a certain DJ was
Gna be presenting/ mixing because back then it was just the music that mattered, apart from the Pager days of which a shout which was fun...Your right, many DJs knew when to talk over a track, knew when to mix in the next record n let it roll at least 30 seconds together beat perfect n that's entertainment. I hear clowns now who just freeze the track into the next ffs, pathetic, nearly as bad as the Ministry of Sound compilations ...u can't beat a good mix, listen to jellybean, red alert,Tony Humphreys, Barry b lwr, there's tonnes of examples out there...they took time to put the effort into what they were doing...now it's a computer run bizniz

Yeah, of course, it's about the music too and how it's put together in the show. That's part of the skill of a real DJ, as opposed to a presenter, which is all you get on most daytime legal radio.

As far as general DJing is concerned, since a lot people dropped vinyl there's less skill on display. Sometimes a raw chop from one track to the next, if done skillfully, is the right way to do it, but if it's all the time then that's no good.

[chesney79]

Heard that Flex have been granted 93.0 fm is that correct? or is someone talking Belgium waffles again!!

[famefm]

Clearly a joke it would be in the mix with radio 4 93.2 from crystal palace

[DJ KRIME]

Mate...I would drop everything back in the 80' & 90's to record a show a certain DJ was
Gna be presenting/ mixing because back then it was just the music that mattered, apart from the Pager days of which a shout which was fun...Your right, many DJs knew when to talk over a track, knew when to mix in the next record n let it roll at least 30 seconds together beat perfect n that's entertainment. I hear clowns now who just freeze the track into the next ffs, pathetic, nearly as bad as the Ministry of Sound compilations ...u can't beat a good mix, listen to jellybean, red alert,Tony Humphreys, Barry b lwr, there's tonnes of examples out there...they took time to put the effort into what they were doing...now it's a computer run bizniz

Yeah, of course, it's about the music too and how it's put together in the show. That's part of the skill of a real DJ, as opposed to a presenter, which is all you get on most daytime legal radio.

As far as general DJing is concerned, since a lot people dropped vinyl there's less skill on display. Sometimes a raw chop from one track to the next, if done skillfully, is the right way to do it, but if it's all the time then that's no good.

A big issue is exactly that, with modern DJ equipment it is very easy to mix thanks to the Sync button! You don't even need to leave the house to get the latest tunes, simply download them to a memory stick and your away! Load it into what ever software the station uses and everyone is Carl Cox!
Not for me personally but that seams to be the way it is.
Now I must admit I have gone over to using Traktor but as a Turntablist is still use decks and vinyl(DVS) but love the advantages this brings in having my music on the laptop which opens up a whole new skill level in setting cue points loops etc. I simply couldn't do my style of mixing on a controller or CDJs but on radio apart form the scratching etc would this matter to the average listener?

[zoostorm]

Flex is crowdfunding to fit out their new premises, including studios and office.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/flex-fm-radio

[famefm]

Only £210 at this late stage? Does not look good

[Albert H]

If they're that stuck for money, they're not going to survive. Rumour has it that their frequency will be 106.5......

[Southyorkshireunderground]

Begging for money?? It is these same people that were driving around in £50-60 grand cars on the TV doc? Or was that done to make them look cool lol....Ten bob millionaires!

[Albert H]

They'll be like Choice and Kiss - they'll sell out in 3 months - when the money runs out. Nobody will bother booking any advertising time with them - their demographic has no spending power. This is the problem that all these silly little stations have found.

[famefm]

I prefer the present output on 106.5

[zoostorm]

They'll be like Choice and Kiss - they'll sell out in 3 months - when the money runs out.

It's a community licence. The likes of Global and Bauer won't be interested in a not-for-profit enterprise.

[famefm]

I think Albert ment going more commercial with music to atract a wider audience to get more adverts rather than selling the station? Let's hope it doesn't come to that

[4therecord]

If you pledge £50 you get a T-Shirt and a CD!!!!

[MC Spanner]

If you pledge £50 you get a T-Shirt and a CD!!!!

waste_of_money.jpg

[WestflexWF103]

[s2000]

Hahahaha