Resonance104.

4fm
Report to the Moose Foundation
March 2004
Commissioning:
In 2003 Resonance104.4fm has commissioned some 150 regular (most weekly, some monthly)
programme makers and over 300 one-off programme makers. In each case, artists have
collaborated with others to produce a pool of several thousand creatives whose work has been
showcased, analysed, publicised and has benefited from having access to an engaged radio
audience.
We have commissioned 4750 hours of original programmes this year. Resonance104.4fm’s
programmes currently cost less that £15 per hour, i.e. they are broadcast at an actual cost of
about £0.0003 per listener.
Our regular contributors are aged 16 to 70.
We broadcast in more than 30 languages - other than English.

Commissioning and Broadcast Schedule:

Our practice is to commission new shows every quarter. Initially we had intended to replace all
shows after one calendar year and bring in new people and material, but this proved logistically
impractical. So, for example, to instigate wholesale changes in July 2002 took an entire six weeks
of administrative work. To usher in new daytime programmes in November 2002 took a month of
work.

In September 2003 we determined nevertheless to instigate early morning broadcasts,

comprising repeats and special shows which could be scheduled via computer technology - the
main retarding factor in going 24/7 live being lack of staff and round-the-clock security.

We commission "Clear Spots" five times a week all year round. These are scheduled about a
fortnight in advance, though a few are sorted at very short notice. This is our chance to surprise
ourselves and our listeners, to showcase artists who have neither time nor inclination to do a
series (touring musicians, for instance) or whose work merits ninety minutes of primetime.

Live broadcast hours are from noon to 1am. To date we have kept repeats to a minimum, but
have recently determined to run more due to demand from listeners.

Resonance104.4fm is committed to the expression of marginalized voices and the foregrounding

of groups typically excluded from mainstream media. To this end Resonance104.4fm actively
encourages bi-lingual participants to use their mother tongue as well as (sometimes instead of)
English and has featured programmes in Farsi, Portuguese, Albanian, Finnish, Creole, Russian,
Spanish, Hungarian, German, Japanese, French and Serbian. It aims for at least 5% of its output
to be in non-English languages. Several regular shows (Rasaa, Borderline, Dosensos,
ClingRadio, Farside Music, Xantursian Nights, Tamizdat, Zerbian Radio Slot, Half A Map) are
conducted in more than one language with the emphasis on non-English speech. The Clear Spot
week-daily show has featured 2% foreign language works. Go! For Children of All Ages has
broadcast material in thirty languages used at North London primary and secondary schools.

Key commissions include the following weekly shows:

New and Contemporary Music:

Emily Hall: Young Composers' New Music (fortnightly)
Cecilia Wee: New Music on Mondays (fortnightly)
Sonic Arts Network: Big Ears (since July 2003)
Clive Graham: Sound Poets Exposed

World music:
Paul Fisher: Far Side Radio
Reg Hall: The Traditional Music Hour
John Wynne: Up Country
Cultural Co-operation: London Diaspora Live
Vincent Luttman: Nostalgie ya Mboka (since May 2003)
Gianluca Tramontana: Muleskinner Blues (since July 2003)
PaulHood: Onkyodo (fortnightly)
Art Terry: Is Black Music

Rock, dance &c:

Magz Hall & Jim Backhouse: You Are Hear
Mike Barnes: Scratching the Surface
Egghole Collective: The Glass Shrimp
The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music
Mr Trick: Turntable Radio
Coldcut: Solid Steel
Andrew Copeman: The Other Place (eight weeks)
Johnny Trunk: OST
Dexter Bentley: Hallo Goodbye
Joe Cushley: Balling the Jack
Ash Hunter & Paul Woody: Zutzu-tadaima
Organ Magazine: The Other Rock Show (monthly)
These Records: Bermuda Triangle
Tetine: Slum Dunk (eight weeks)
Simon Russell: Real Time
Leo Muraglia: Kosmische
50/50 Sound System: Fifty-fifty

Experimental & improvised music:

Paul Hood, Ben Drew, Tom Chant: Instant Music Radio Meeting
Edwin Pouncey & Sharon Gal: Diggers.
Various: Burning Decks
Jonny Brown: Mining for Gold
Ben Green: One Hour As
Alex Wendt: Frequenzen (fortnighly)
Jukka Valisto: Half a Map (fortnighly)
Caroline Kraabel: Taking a Life for a Walk
Viv Corringham: Vocal Strolls
Iris Garrelfs & Kaffe Matthews: Field 61 (monthly)
Chris Weaver: Down Memorex Lane (six weeks0
Max Benezeth: Xantursian Nights

Radio art:
Chris Cutler: Out of the Blue Radio (thrice a week for 52 weeks, once a week since)
Jim Whelton: The Harmon E Phrayser Show
Lepke B: Mobius Strip (ended September 2003)
Andy Lowe: Xollob Park
Dan Wilson The Hellebore Shew (four weeks)
Ed Baxter & Chris Weaver: From Pillar to Post (six weeks)
Sarah Washington: 13 Minutes of Heaven (13 weeks)
Knut Aufermann et al: ClingRadio (ended July 2003)
Thoe Lorenc: Smakcton: Keynes (eight weeks)
Ergo Phizmiz: Sticky White Glue and others (various short series)

Literature & spoken word:

Rob Holloway: Up For Air
Salena Saliva Godden: Saltpetre Radio
Ben Watson: Late Lunch With Out To Lunch
Alex Gale: All Roads Lead to Neasden

Visual & plastic arts:

Dosensos: Dosensos (fortnightly)

Social inclusion:
John Bisset: Go! For Children of All Ages (ended July 2003)
Middle East Panorama
Calling All Pensioners

Commissioned international artists of note include Amy Denio, Ana Maria Avram, Anne
LeBaron, Arthur Lee, Ashley Slater, Barbara Morganstern, Barry Andrews, Basil Kirchin,
Burkhard Beins, Bill Harkelroad, BJ Cole, Carl Sagan, Caroline Bergvall, Charlotte Hug, Chris
Watson, Christian Marclay, Christian Wolfarth, Christof Migone, Chuck D., David Tibet, Dylan
Bates, Eddie Prevost, Errollyn Wallen, Evan Parker, Fontana Bass, Gavin Turk, Greg Tate,
Gustav Metzger, Harry Hosono, Holly Golightly, Iain Sinclair, Iancu Dumitrescu, James Randi,
Janek Schaefer, Jarvis Cocker, Jem Noble, John Edwards, John Oswald, Luke Vibert, Mark
Wastell, Mnaga a Zdorb, Nicolas Collins, Otomo Yoshihide, Paddy Tunney, People Like Us, Phil
Minton, Regina Spektor, Richard Ranft, Robyn Hitchcock, Santiago Sierra, Sean O’Hagen,
Shirley Collins, Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Tacet NCV, Taku Unami, The Bohman Brothers,
The Residents, The Sun Ra Arkestra, The Vanity Set, Thomas Truax, Tore Honore Boe, Yuko
Nexus 6 and Robert Wyatt.

Marketing initiatives
Our market research has revealed that word of mouth is the most effective mechanism by which
news of Resonance104.4fm spreads. Given our web presence, we have also been developing
our electronic marketing methods. To this end we have combined the old and the new in a
coherent manner, to bring into reality the virtual community that constitutes the station:
Our website (www.resonancefm.com) is updated daily. Now in its second incarnation, it was
redesigned to mark our first anniversary in May 2003 by a team under the direction of new media
artist and LMC Director Simon Lucas.
Our new media initiatives (include an on line questionnaire (334 respondents in the period
31.7.03 to 21.9.03. Respondents are offered the chance to win a free t-shirt on a weekly basis in
order to encourage them to reply); an irregular newsletter to bring listeners up to date with
Resonance104.4fm developments; an on-line Forum for listeners to discuss anything relating to
Resonance104.4fm; email groups for the regular programme makers and engineers; and another
for the listeners. Our regular email correspondents number over 2,500.
Web-based initiatives such as our online Auction have proved successful in securing donations
from members of the public (over five thousand pounds in the last six months). The expanding,
singular community that is the Resonance104.4fm audience is in fact an emergent body brought
into being by cross-community initiatives and cross-artform enterprise.

Simple publicity devices such as postcards, badges and t-shirts have proved effective in
maintaining our profile. Anecdotal evidence is suggestive; a short walk through Borough market
one Friday afternoon revealed that about a dozen people (stall holders, newspaper lads,
customers) had heard of the station - and wanted to say so.
Audience profile
Here are the results of a questionnaire conducted at a highly successful profile- and fund-raising
event we ran in April 2003 (200 respondents). It reveals a young audience who listen to
Resonance104.4fm often; whose circle of friends also listen often; and who spread news of the
station by word of mouth (hence our distribution of free badges, as talking points, to outlets likely
to attract new listeners).

Age: between 15 and 25 26 per cent

between 25 and 35 49 per cent
between 45 and 65 22 per cent
over 65 3 per cent

Gender: male 66 per cent

female 34 per cent

Heard about Resonance104.4fm through:

friend 53 per cent
press 13 per cent
radio surfing 12 per cent
internet 8 per cent
mail out 2 per cent
other 12 per cent

When they listen:

daily 53 per cent
weekly 32 per cent
occasionally 15 per cent

Have how many friends who listen:

1 to 6 60 per cent
none 7 per cent
6 to 12 10 per cent
more than 12 23 per cent

How they listen:

FM 77 per cent
online 23 per cent
Here for comparison are the results of our July 2003 Online Questionnaire (335 respondents): it
is skewed towards a subculture of mainly young, chiefly male, and frankly a bit lonely listeners at
ease with and, unsurprisingly, uitilizing web communications.

Age: 1 to 15 1 per cent

16 to 25 27 per cent
26 to 35 41 per cent
36 to 45 20 per cent
46 to 65 12 per cent
66+ 1 per cent

Gender Male 89 per cent

Female 11 per cent

Heard about Resonance104.4fm through:

Friend 24 per cent
Print 28 per cent
Radio Surfing 12 per cent
Internet 36 per cent

How often they listen:

Daily 26 per cent
5 times per week 6 per cent
4 pw 8 per cent
3 pw 12 per cent
2 pw 11 per cent
1 pw 23 per cent
Occasionally 7 per cent
New listener 7 per cent

How many of your friends, family members or work colleagues listen to Resonance104.4fm?
None 35 per cent
1 to 3 38 per cent
4 to 7 17 per cent
8 to 12 6 per cent
More than 3 4 per cent

How they listen:

FM 24 per cent
Online 65 per cent
Both 11 per cent
Clear signs of growth
Our audience in December 2002 numbered 21,250 listeners. By July 2003 it has risen to an
estimated 49,000. By December 2003, it was 58,000 – with over 10,000 individual weekly web
hits. We have reached our target audience and want to continue to build on this – labour intensive
activity that requires continual attention. Resonance104.4fm connects individuals and
communities, and attracts new listeners who welcome it as a breath of fresh air. They and their
friends become frequent users.

st th
Snapshot of our listeners: statistics for period July 1 to 20 2003
Web listeners total: 7,452; listens via Realaudio: 4,776; listens via MP3: 2,676; hits on the
Resonance Forum: 2,279; biggest single day for hits: 4th July (405 hits).
Internet referrers to Resonance FM: l-m-c.org.uk, 286 referrals; ninjatune.net, 269 referrals;
216.239.39.104, 193 referrals; turntableradio.com, 180 referrals; thewire.co.uk, 167 referrals;
londumb.co.uk, 100 referrals; rad.spc.org, 61 referrals.
Note that l-m-c.org.uk was recommended as the Best Non-BBC Music Site by the BBC’s
website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/webguide/) in July.
Most active search engine referrals: Google 1295 referrals, MSN 123 referrals, Yahoo 98
referrals, others 34 referrals.
Total number of listeners (cross-referencing web stats and live questionnaire results): 49,000
Subscribers to our email list: 2,500.

Press coverage reflects substantial public impact:

Apart from BBC Radio 4, no other radio station in the country has received as much press
coverage as Resonance104.4fm.

Extensive press for Resonance104.4fm has included dedicated features in Metro, Sounds a Bit
Radical, The Guardian G2 (101 Things to Buy, See and Do this Christmas: number 19), The Daily
Telegraph, 21/06/03 (Listen with other); Time Out London, 02/06/03 (Critic’s Choice); The
Mercury, 07/05/03 (Anniversary on the air); The Independent on Sunday 04/05/03 (With pram and
saxophone); Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 27/04/03 (Eine Radio-Überraschung); Spinoff, 01/04/03
(TV/Radio); The Independent, 12/03/03 (Just listen to the quality of this watercolour); The Big
Issue, 10/02/03 (Radio Ga-Ga); Dazed and Confused, 01/02/03 (The sound of science); Record
Collector, 01/02/03 (Radio Headcases); The Guardian, 15/01/03 (Never mind the xollob); The
Guardian, 06/12/02 (Radio review: The Voluntary Sector); Muzik, 01/11/02 (Dance Music’s Top
50: 21st place); Create 24:7, 28/10/02 (Access All Aerials); The Mercury, 09/10/02 (Glad to be
grey and making radio waves); South London Press, 08/10/02 (That Eminem lad ain’t a patch on
yer Bygraves! ); Midweek, 01/10/02 (Radio ham); Seven Magazine, 1/10/02 (Alien Radio); Organ
Magazine. 1/10/02; The Wire, 01/09/02 (Cross Platform); Frieze, 01/09/02 (Radio Daze); The
Guardian, 31/08/02 (Goes radio ga ga); Froots, 01/06/02 (Waves); Evening Standard, 16/05/02
(Listen up, London); Mute, 01/05/02 (Radio Playtime); The Guardian, 01/05/02 (New arts-based
radio station for London); BBCi, 11/03/02 (It’s radio, but not as we know it); Evening Standard,
14/01/02 (Going radio ga-ga).
Sample week in January 2004: breakdown of web hits
Number of listens via MP3 stream: 2194
Number of listens via 128k MP3 stream: 1838
Number of listens via Realaudio: 3300

Total number of unique sessions on the Resonance Website (i.e. individual

visitors): 10,998

Referrals to the site (in 7 days):

b3ta.com with 342 referrals
urban75.net with 217 referrals
newstoday.com with 211 referrals
cimbalino.blogspot.com with 140 referrals
ninjatune.net with 119 referrals
agnitum.com with 111 referrals
1 with 105 referrals
turntableradio.com with 95 referrals
thewire.co.uk with 90 referrals
l-m-c.org.uk with 88 referrals

Ratio of FM to web listeners (from our questionnaires): 91% : 18 %.

Sample week in May 2003: breakdown of web hits

Listens via Realaudio: 1799
Listens via MP3 stream: 876
Overall hits to website: 6327
Clicks on link to Forum: 647
Hits on Audio page: 1148
Hits on Archive page: 837
Data transferred: 5.2Gb

Referrals to the site (in 7 days):

rad.spc.org with 226 referrals
l-m-c.org.uk with 112 referrals
turntableradio.com with 78 referrals
dgm2.com with 52 referrals
thewire.co.uk with 47 referrals
jahsonic.com with 47 referrals
intendant.free.fr with 28 referrals
ninjatune.net with 28 referrals
tcom.co.uk with 27 referrals
ardisson.net with 27 referrals

ends