On Sirius XM, there's a Classic Rewind station that plays 70s and 80s rock. There's another for 60s and 70s.

oeuvre wrote:

On Sirius XM, there's a Classic Rewind station that plays 70s and 80s rock. There's another for 60s and 70s.

Yeah... and there are playlists on Spotify. I'm talking more old school radio for its own sake here. Like why do we use DOS computers when DOSBox can do the same thing? Not a perfect analogy but you get the idea.

I thought about doing this myself, via Internet Radio. However, I suspect that buying music that has all the royalties covered so you are completely on the up-and-up would break you.

You could do a low wattage station (comparatively speaking) but you'd need to get some sort of commercial license from the FCC, and you'd need a transmitter and other gear, can't imagine this is cheap if you want to get any kind of range. Plus you need licensed music so the RIAA mafia gets their money.

You could do a pirate radio station under a few watts that would probably just get out in your local neighborhood, and bypass the FCC and royalties, BUT if you get caught the FCC may fine you and or confiscate your equipment.

Am I wrong here? Anyone that knows more and/or works in radio, feel free to chime in.

@snorg - yes, you're right... 1000 watts is the lowest allowable commercial license issued by the FCC, at least on AM. There is the 100 watt low power FM service, but, like everything else, license applications are frozen.

You're not allowed to apply for a license until the FCC opens a license window, which is 2 weeks long and they only open them, it seems, about once every 100,000 years. I think the last time they opened a window for any radio service was 2013, the LPFM licensing window. Full power license applications haven't been accepted for I don't know how long.

Pirate radio, at least on FM, receives full knuckle-rapping (and worse) attention from the FCC. It's usually the vested interest big boys who rat you out, to get rid of competition. It's also the vested interest big boys at the NAB who have pushed so hard to get the FCC to make the process of owning a radio station so expensive and difficult, to push out the small guys who can more easily create quality programming.

There is Part 15 AM - they let you broadcast without a license at 0.1 watts of power pushed into a 10 foot antenna, but that lets you cover a realistic coverage radius of 1-2 miles at best, if you have a very efficient transmitter.

As for music licensing, there's a $500 flat fee for noncommercial stations, I know that much.

You know, .1W might be worth dicking around with. My area is dense enough that I could hit at least a hundred or so houses/apartments, and maybe a few small businesses. $500 is a touch steep but not insurmountable. Does the antenna have to be mounted in such a way that it is free and clear of anything else, or could it be attached to a support column (such as for a porch or balcony)?

Well, the rule is that the antenna + radiating ground lead system must be 3 meters or less, and that is usually interpreted to mean that if your ground lead doesn't radiate any signal, then your transmitter can be mounted as high up as it needs to be. Edit: also, as far as antenna placement goes, it is a good idea to keep the antenna higher than average terrain (if possible) and free and clear of large obstructions such as buildings and trees.

A proper RF ground is absolutely essential to AM operation, especially when you only get 0.1 watts. And a 10 foot antenna is very inefficient at those frequencies, so your ERP is a fraction of that 0.1 watts, depending on how efficient your transmitter and antenna setup actually is.

This is the transmitter to get: http://www.am1000rangemaster.com/
It's rather expensive but it's undeniably the best. Something about the circuit design makes it very efficient for this specific type of operation, and it can be overmodulated if you have the right audio processing hardware, for increased perceived range. People often get 2+ mile range out of this thing, if set up properly. There is a wealth of information on Part 15 AM on that website.

I'm also not sure music licensing companies would care about such a small operation. I've heard about them just telling people to not worry about it. I would check first though, of course.

There are a few stations sort of like that where I live. Edmonton Alberta Canada.

K-97, Mostly 80s and 90's rock, but they play a lot of older stuff too. The DJ's are pretty good as well. Sometimes even using real Vinyl records for certain events.
https://www.k97.ca/

Capital FM, Less rock more Pop, but they focus a lot on the 60's, 70's and 80s in a top 40 like format. DJ's here are also pretty competent.
https://www.capital963.com/

Most of the bigger Cities here in Canada have something like what your talking about. I guess we just like our Classic Rock