The number of online radio stations has increased over the years, primarily because it's relatively straightforward to start one. Technically, all you need is a computer or a laptop, a strong internet connection and live broadcasting software. Because web radio streams over the internet instead of traditional AM or FM bands (which are broadcast from masts and then mutated into sound by radio receivers), it's an accessible way to build your own radio platform.

Web radio stations have both thrived and struggled in an ever-changing landscape. Just this January, Lisbon's Rádio Quântica launched a GoFundMe to stay afloat and cover staff salaries and equipment, while London's Balamii introduced a monthly subscription to help cover costs and support emerging artists. In 2022, Gilles Peterson's Worldwide FM posted a statement about "re-evaluating the next phase and financing for the station."

Some expenses, like renting a space or investing in technical gear, can be anticipated, while other expenses, like subscription fees for software and paying for technical repairs, can come later down the line. Everything adds up, but if a station implements a robust business model, this can help them to survive. In spite of such foreseen challenges, stations like Refuge Worldwide, Oroko, HÖR and others have all managed to establish themselves in recent years and become a mainstay within their communities.

Most radio stations start with a desire to highlight alternative scenes and subcultures.
We surveyed five across the globe, including Dublin Digital Radio (ddr.), Rádio Quântica, Oroko in Accra, Skylab in Melbourne and Threads in London to provide some tips on how to do it yourself.

Rádio Quântica broadcasts from a studio in central Lisbon.

Establish a Guiding Ethos

Why do you want to start a web station?

Community and connection are often the driving forces behind starting a web radio station. Some stations want to foster local, lesser-known artists, DJs, producers or presenters. Radio residencies often act as a way for emerging talent to connect with others and contribute to a cultural space for like-minded individuals. Kikelomo Oludemi, the cofounder of Oroko, said her involvement with Cashmere Radio in Berlin was how she "found the people that were my tribe, essentially" when she moved from the UK.

The first step for Oroko Radio, which broadcasts remotely from Accra in Ghana, was coming up with a manifesto and ethos. This was key to creating a solid foundation. So, Oludemi and the station's other cofounder, Nico Adomako, registered Oroko as a not-for-profit, meaning that any money earned from the project went straight back into the station. Depending on the country, not-for-profit organisations are usually, but not always, exempt from paying tax. "Obviously, we need money to sustain the station," said Oludemi. "And our objective is also to create an ecosystem where we can compensate people for their work but overall, community is our first objective and being clear and transparent."

Oroko's ethos involves empowering African and African diasporic creatives through conversation, collaboration and community. "I think there's dated, stereotypical and often racist notions of what it means to be African," said Oludemi. "People still have this notion of Africa as a monolith in today's day and age, and a lot of the time, people's narratives are twisted or put through this Western lens. We just wanted to give this opportunity for our community to represent themselves and their music and their artistry in their own light."

On the other side of the globe is Dublin Digital Radio, known as ddr. in Ireland. DJ and producer Brian McNamara AKA Breen and journalist Sean Finnan founded ddr. in 2016, inspired by the now-defunct platforms of Berlin Community Radio and Rabble (a non-profit, volunteer-run newspaper in Dublin).

Ddr.'s steering committee member Emily Carson explained that "the community was the main thing that was built around the station, and a huge amount of goodwill was generated." McNamara and Finnan called in several local favours which led them to ddr.'s original home, a social centre called Jigsaw. There, they set up a broadcasting area in what was effectively a cupboard. They were also able to borrow decks and find a volunteer website designer from their local community, before doing a call out for more help. This "led to a thriving ecosystem of residents, events, collaborations, bookings and ideas which has sustained the station and helped it expand its impact from those early days," Carson added.

The station's original manifesto and identity has shifted over the years. Ahead of getting incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (or essentially, a not-for-profit) in 2020, ddr. led strategy workshops with volunteers and did more work internally to define a set of guiding principles which now help them maintain the station's ethos.

Their current guiding principles include providing an "platform and advocat[ing] for music, artists and conversations that are not given voice in the established media" as well as championing Irish-based artists, DJs and music makers. The station favours live and interactive formats, such as broadcasting from their current space in The Complex and inviting their residents to perform at ddr.'s annual festival Alternating Current.

Oroko Radio's Boiler Room in Accra in September 2022.

Kikelomo Oludemi (pictured above) and the station’s other cofounder, Nico Adomako, registered Oroko as a not-for-profit, meaning that any money earned from the project went straight back into the station.

Grow Your Team

Depending on the scale of your web radio, the number of people involved varies. Many people working at web radio stations are volunteers who have specific skill sets carried over from their external jobs. Their roles can include operating the website, dealing with admin, curating social media posts, keeping the space clean (if there is a physical space) and emailing residents and volunteers.

Frederick Sugden, cofounder of London-based Threads, discussed the importance of his station's sonic trademark. He explained that fellow cofounder Lee Fagan invested time into developing the radio's audio processing chain (the compressing, expanding, equalising and limiting of sound) to improve and optimise the sonic quality, helping their live broadcasts stand out. Sugden also mentioned that it was important for a producer-slash-host to welcome guests into the studio and the DJ booth when Threads operated from within the venue The Cause in Tottenham. Today, there are 15 to 20 volunteers running Threads remotely, with roles encompassing editorial, social media, digital marketing, graphic design and a "repeats" programming team who curate what to play when there are no live shows.

When Melbourne’s Skylab launched in 2018, three people were running the station: cofounders Simon TK, Gus Carmichael AKA Chico G and designer Sam Donaldson AKA Sprinkles. Today Skylab consists of a "wonderful family" of approximately eight people, including the station cofounders, programme coordinator, live streaming guru and a rotating roster of interns who come to learn about online radio and make industry connections along the way.

Before launching your web radio station, consider hiring people with specific knowledge in certain areas. Oroko's Oludemi enlisted developers and designers to get the website's technical elements ready. But the station itself is run by a small team, including a head of community relations and volunteers based in Berlin, Accra, Spain and Nairobi. This year, Oludemi will involve her sister, who is "big in the finance world," and will formalise the structures necessary to promote the station's longevity.

"I've seen a lot of radio stations come and go, particularly during the pandemic, and a lot of it came down to finances," said Oludemi. "And so I would say, that's a really key thing to take into account here, when you're setting up a station, just making sure you have that understanding of your finances in place and having someone on your team that knows numbers and can manage those things."

Today, Skylab consists of a "wonderful family" of approximately eight people.

Brainstorm Branding and Visual Direction

Creating a unique visual direction can happen in the early stages. The process starts with briefing a designer on the logo, which helps get ideas flowing for the overall aesthetic of the website.

"We enlisted the help of the Ghanaian visual artist David Alabo to design our logo, and that also formed the basis of the visual direction of our website and our visual direction in general," said Oludemi. "We wanted something modern but reflected our roots, and that was also part of a collaborative process with our community. It was really important for us to have a direction and work with people based in Accra."

Simon TK from Skylab credits the designer Sprinkles, who produced their website design and brand identity. "We paid particular attention to the fact that some radio/audio archives can be tricky to navigate visually and modelled the Skylab website off online clothing retailers from a UX perspective," he said, referring to Skylab's minimal and simple-to-navigate homepage. "Today, we use a variety of amazing local designers and artists in creating event flyers, merch and digital content."

Find a Space

Broadcast From a Fixed Studio

Some physical stations decide to open a business in the same building as their web radio. New York's The Lot Radio has a kiosk attached to the shipping container from which it broadcasts. Refuge Worldwide in Berlin operates its own in-studio bar, Oona, to provide a consistent income stream, a physical hub for its community and house the station's studio.

Rádio Quântica had access to a government-financed sound studio and community space Rua das Gaivotas 6 in central Lisbon. They have since moved to a new home, Planeta Manas, a cultural space they run alongside Associação Cultural Mina.

Cultivating a community is often core to a web radio station, but with the high costs of renting a space, it is not always a financially viable option.

Broadcast Remotely

Oroko broadcasts remotely from satellite spaces, but the station has partnerships in various community spaces, allowing them to store equipment and host its residents based in or visiting Accra. "I actually think it's a better way to go about it because it releases some of the financial burdens of rent and maintaining a space and making sure the equipment is secure and whatnot," said Oludemi. "And so, we do intend to get a permanent physical space, but just once we know we're in a position to take on that financial responsibility."

Initially, Threads rented a room with The Cause, but they now broadcast remotely via its central server hosted on Airtime, managed by its team across multiple continents. "Airtime is our database where we store everything and where we set up the calendar of our broadcast. That then connects to our website," said Sugden. Airtime allows users to upload pre-recorded mixes or stream live on air. This YouTube video explains how to do it.

"The physical side of radio is really important and a huge motivator for us, but in interim periods where the right settings haven't been possible, it's great to be able to continue offering a broadcast platform to those who really value it," he said.

Manage the Technical Requirements

Gear

The range of gear available varies from station to station. Some are able to secure a partnership with a manufacturing company like Pioneer. But there are always different options depending on the station's needs; some might consider controllers, instead of the more costly option of CDJs.

But investing in DJ gear is only necessary if you have a physical space. It's common for many web radio shows to upload pre-recorded sets. Pre-records are still a great way to showcase artists worldwide, whether you're broadcasting from your bedroom or a studio. However, you will need to purchase or subscribe to suitable software.

Rádio Quântica and Threads use Airtime. Once you purchase the tier to suit your web radio needs, you can drag and drop mixes to upload onto its software dashboard. Then, you can schedule your show using the Airtime calendar, or broadcast live by selecting the correct streaming setting. Airtime describes the process in depth here.

Audio Hijack is a similar option. The software allows users to send audio to other servers, such as Shoutcast and Icecast, and broadcast worldwide.

Archiving Mixes

Mixcloud is the most radio-friendly platform for archiving mixes. The service is an open platform, partnered with rights holders, record labels and publishers worldwide. It works with rights holders to identify, track, monetise or disable audio content on the platform as they request. This allows creators and web stations to upload shows with licensed music, and in turn, Mixcloud pays the royalties to those rights holders, who then distribute them to artists. In addition, Mixcloud enables stations and presenters to generate income from their channel, since their licensing deals recognise the value of curation. Mixcloud has a similar licensing for livestreaming called MixcloudLive, allowing radio stations worldwide to use it as their exclusive or additional live video or audio feed. This avoids Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedowns, as the rights holders have already been paid.

SoundCloud is another option, but because it is a platform mainly for producers to upload music, rather than for a DJ or station to archive a mix that is mostly compiled of other people's music, tracks are scanned by SoundCloud's content ID system. According to SoundCloud's copyright policy, technically you should own the rights of the track you upload. But if the content or the mix contains tracks delivered by rights holders for copyright protection, the ID system can detect this and the mix is more likely to be blocked.

Dublin Digital Radio (ddr.) initially broadcasted from a social centre called Jigsaw before moving across the bridge to their current location, The Complex.

Develop a Business Model or Income Stream

Like ddr., Threads uses a subscription-based business model to help cover some of its costs. "Chosen shows contribute a monthly payment for their residency's broadcast and production, while at the same time, communally funding the existence of the project," said Sugden. "The show hosts allow the station to continue, and this money goes solely into financing the station as a non-profit project—rent, repairs and extensive software infrastructure. Other income sources such as events, council/project funding and sponsorship have then allowed the station to invest more into itself. We plan for these to make up a larger and larger proportion of the station's income as we move forward."

For the independent and self-funded radio station The Lot, one team member manages the kiosk part of the station, which is a key source of the station's income. The Lot relies on daily sales of coffee, snacks and drinks to sustain itself financially.

Apply for Grants and Obtain External Funding

Depending on your country, you can apply for arts and culture-related grants. Applying for grants can be mentally taxing, but securing a grant can be worth it. In the UK, you can apply for grants like Developing your Creative Practice to help get started. Berlin's Clubcommission offers the Tag der Clubkultur award, where clubs and collectives—like web radios—can apply for a grant of €10,000 for their contribution to Berlin's club culture. The grant ties in with a week-long event, where selected platforms present the range and diversity of their project across 40 events.

Or, you can seek external funding. "This is something we relied very heavily on, as we were starting into our project because we needed the money to build our website and to get our logo designed. It was pretty intense, to be honest," said Oludemi. "But we managed to secure some funding from the Moleskin Foundation as part of their Creativity Pioneers Fund, and that paid for our logo and our website."

In Dublin, ddr.'s business model is subscription-funded, member-owned and volunteer-run, and the team decided to refrain from engaging with corporate sponsorship and advertising early on. That's why ddr. incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (or CLG), meaning that there are no shareholders and instead, the company is owned by members called guarantors, who would pay a nominal amount if the company is liquidated.

Registering as a CLG was vital for ddr.'s funding applications. "Until we did that, we didn't hit the right criteria for [government] funding," said Carson. "Currently, we usually apply for project-based funding, but ideally, we would like to look into how we could get more consistent annual funding to help bolster our base revenue and help us expand our team."

Skylab has multi-faceted revenue streams, including events, subscriptions, merch, grants and sponsorship/brand partnerships. "It's a bit like spinning plates sometimes," said Simon TK. "But generally, when all those areas are thriving, so is the station!"

Run Events to Connect With Your Community

Many stations run their own club nights to help sustain their income, grow their brand and amplify their ethos. Sourcing funds to cover these costs may also come as a challenge, but Oludemi noted that in-person activations, like DJ workshops, panel discussions or events, are a valuable way of connecting with your community and maintaining authenticity in a hyper-digital age. In fact, at the time of writing, Oludemi spoke to Resident Advisor from Paris, where Oroko programmed a pop-up with clothing brand Patta at Paris Fashion Week.

Ddr.'s annual festival Alternating Current is an opportunity for residents to perform live, showcasing a wide range of talent in Dublin, including spoken word artists, musicians, singers and DJs. It also allows listeners to connect and discover new names beyond the radio waves. Carson explained that its team participates in funding cycles with the Arts Council and Dublin City Council to finance the projects, which also includes a programme to create a digital archive for the station.

Advice for Those Starting Out

If you're considering starting your own web radio station, the platforms we spoke to shared some thoughtful advice. "You're a nutter, you've no idea what you're getting yourself in for!" joked Sugden. "A bit of a corny answer, but it's literally mental, and you may not fully realise the extent of it when you're starting."

Sugden suggested working on a business model before launching. "If you're someone who cares about people and radio, once you've started, you're probably then going to have schedules already, responsibilities and broadcast momentum, which is good, but it might actually stop you from creating the foundations that will allow you to build more stability in the future."

Carson offered a more idealistic approach. "Deciding on a guiding manifesto of some kind will help you identify what you want to do and what's outside of your scope. We dreamt big, and we got a huge number of people who wanted to dream big with us. That was and continues to be so exciting," she said. "Your web station can be as big or as small as you want it to be, and actually, there's not as much technical know-how required as you might think. Initially, we only broadcast on weekends, but soon we had enough residents to do the full week and then some. You can start small and then decide what the ideal looks like."

Oludemi also stressed the importance of establishing your values in the early stages. "Understand why you want to do it, what you aim to get out of it, have that manifesto, like what you're about and who you aim to connect with and keep that in mind because times are challenging," she said. "You need to have a lot of drive to build something up that will be amplified above the noise."