Resonance FM

Infobox Radio station
name = Resonance FM


city = London
area = Central London
slogan = The Art of Listening
frequency = 104.4 MHz
airdate = June 1998
format = Community radio, Radio Art
owner = London Musicians Collective Limited
webcast = [http://icecast.commedia.org.uk:8000/resonance_hi.mp3.m3u MP3 Stream]
website = [http://www.resonancefm.com/ www.resonancefm.com]

Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC), with a licence to cover "practising artists and engaged consumers and persons standing outside mainstream media". The coverage area is designated as a 5km radius from the transmitter in London Bridge. [ [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/Community/commitments/cr060.pdf CR060 ] ]

The station is based on Borough High Street, having completed a move from Denmark Street in September 2007.

Station ethos

The station brands itself as 'London's first radio art station' and presents material ranging from a programme presented by the staff of the experimental music magazine The Wire to Calling All Pensioners that aims to inform the elderly about local events and benefits entitlement. Live music sessions are featured on shows such as Hello Goodbye, You Are Hear and Glass Shrimp. The many other shows include foreign language programmes aimed at communities in London who are not served by other broadcasters.

Resonance FM is staffed by four permanent staff members and over 300 volunteer technical and production staff. It has received critical acclaim in the pages of "The Guardian", "The Independent on Sunday", "The Daily Telegraph" and several other national and international publications.

The Resonance FM mission statement runs as follows: 'Imagine a radio station like no other. A radio station that makes public those artworks that have no place in traditional broadcasting. A radio station that is an archive of the new, the undiscovered, the forgotten, the impossible. That is an invisible gallery, a virtual arts centre whose location is at once local, global and timeless. And that is itself a work of art. Imagine a radio station that responds rapidly to new initiatives, has time to draw breath and reflect. A laboratory for experimentation, that by virtue of its uniqueness brings into being a new audience of listeners and creators. All this and more, Resonance104.4fm aims to make London's airwaves available to the widest possible range of practitioners of contemporary art.'

Beginnings

The London Musicians' Collective originally put together a four-week programme of radio art as part of 1998's Meltdown festival at the South Bank Centre, curated by John Peel. The station operated from the Royal Festival Hall on a month long Restricted Service Licence on 107.3 FM. [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,874840,00.html] [http://www.sukothai.com/X.SA.16/X.16.Resonance.html]

Phil England, an organiser of the original broadcast, states its logic was to provide a "critical discourse around the art of radio". [http://www.sukothai.com/X.SA.16/X.16.Resonance.html]

Rebirth

After a three year hiatus, the station returned on 1 May 2001 as part of the UK Radio Authority's Access Radio Pilot Scheme from studios on Denmark Street in the Soho area of London's West End. With the trial at an end, [http://www.showcase.commedia.org.uk/article/view/790/1/1/ Professor Anthony Everitt] , who was appointed by Ofcom to evaluate the Access Radio Pilot Scheme - said the following: "The extraordinary range of musical genres outspans the output of any other radio station in the United Kingdom - and very probably in the world. While maintaining a broad editorial reach, Resonance FM has uncovered a rich, little-known stratum of avant-garde practice and made it generally accessible, without diluting the necessary ingredients of challenge, surprise, difficulty, irritation and delight. It is a genuine discovery channel."

Permanent licence

Resonance was subsequently awarded a 5 year (renewed on 15 December 2005) Community Radio licence to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The station is broadcast from a transmitter situated on the roof of Guy's Hospital at London Bridge on 104.4 MHz FM. The transmission power is low compared to London's main radio stations due to the terms of its community radio licence. It can be received throughout central London but does not cover the whole Greater London area. Interference from local pirate radio stations, particularly at weekends, has been a problem in some areas. It can also be streamed from the station's [http://resonancefm.com/listen web site] .

On 28 March 2006 Resonance became the first community station to have a show nominated for a Sony Radio Award. [http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/radio The Good Drugs Guide] is a documentary series presented by [http://www.piersgibbon.com Piers Gibbon] and [http://www.davidmccandless.com David McCandless] .

Returning to the roots

Resonance resumed scheduled broadcasting in September 2007 after a short hiatus, moving into a new studio building on Borough High Street in the London Borough of Southwark, a short walk [http://www.walkit.com/mywalk.php?rblstart=445622_472523&rblend=460671_510054&cid=100638&header1:txtfrom=SE1+8XX&header1:txtto=SE1+1LB&header1:txtcity=london&direct=0] from the area where they were launched in 1998.

Programmes

* [http://www.organart.demon.co.uk/otherrockshow.htm ORGAN - OTHER ROCK SHOW]
* ArtRocker
* [http://www.auditionradio.info Audition]
* [http://www.thebikeshow.net The Bike Show]
* Democracy Now!
* [http://www.foundry.tv/ The Foundry's Late, Late Breakfast Show]
* [http://www.glassshrimp.wordpress.com/ Glass Shrimp]
* [http://www.dexterbentley.com Hello Goodbye]
* [http://www.hootingyard.org/ Hooting Yard On The Air]
* [http://www.kosmische.org Kosmische]
* Max Tundra's [http://www.maxtundra.com Rotogravure]
* [http://www.miningforgold.net/ Mining for Gold]
* [http://www.nostalgieyamboka.net Nostalgie Ya Mboka]
*Radia
* [http://www.rhythm-incursions.com/ Rhythm Incursions]
* Rough Trade's [http://www.roughtrade.com/ Counter Culture Radio]
* [http://www.tetine.net Slum Dunk]
* [http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/ Sounds of the Universe]
* [http://www.panelborders.com Strip! - podcast as Panel Borders]
* [http://www.karmabanqueradio.com The Truth About Markets]
* Where's The Skill In That?

References

External links

* [http://www.resonancefm.com Resonance FM]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A832619 "It's radio, but not as we know it", 19 September 2002, BBC]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,708225,00.html "New arts-based radio station for London", 1 May 2002, The Guardian]
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1820598,00.html "Sounds eccentric", 15 July 2006, The Guardian]