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Brown's Around Aug 05: Meet The Folkers
As if we weren’t saturated already with high quality radio stations - Heartland FM … eh … Heartland FM and … not forgetting, yes, you got it - here’s a novel approach to listening to the music of your choice. Step forward Radio Britfolk. As you might guess from its title, it’s a radio station which plays the folk music of the British Isles. And where can you find this station? Correct, again; on the internet.
Radio Britfolk is owned by a limited company run by performers for the benefit of performers, which aims to support and encourage professional folk artists from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England in all aspects of their work and career.
Originally the idea of singer and musician Pete Coe, it was picked up by about thirty folk artists who were members of the internet’s Britfolk Yahoo Discussion Group and a basic business plan was developed.
At the same time, several broadcasters and other interested parties joined the group, with nearly fifty supporters becoming Founder Members by means of a £50 start-up donation.
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Radio Britfolk’s aim is to become a world-wide shop window for all the folk music of these islands. It portrays itself as an on-line folk festival with ‘main stage’ shows, session-type shows - which will showcase lesser-known music and artists, often with a strong local slant - and workshop shows, which will feature instrumental tuition.
Radio Britfolk will be available 24 hours a day and will offer a balance of traditional and new music from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England and beyond, with all genres and styles represented.
Good so far? Well, there‘s more. The programme schedule will change every week and will include listings pages, an online shop/links page, a message board and reviews.
The organisation behind Radio Britfolk is a not-for-profit development organisation run by performers for the benefit of performers. Its aim is to support and encourage professionals from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England in all aspects of their work and career by providing a central advice point, by running mentoring schemes and workshops in folk business, by offering assistance with making funding applications and by forging links with other folk organisations.
It also offers advice on marketing and raising the profile of professional folk performers, on encouraging professional networking and the exchange of information and ideas, on developing new audiences, touring circuits and performance opportunities and on providing professional representation to government and commercial bodies.
Advice on organising events and showcases which promote the best in folk performance is offered also, as is encouragement in artistic collaborations and touring projects.
Radio Britfolk will maintain a website which will promote folk performers and provide online business workshops as well as developing and maintaining a database of gig opportunities and useful contacts as well as providing opportunities for artistic collaboration, combined touring and ‘own label’ CD distribution.
You can become a member and access the more exciting features or you can make a show yourself with the help of guides and scripts available from the website. Shows can be put together anywhere in the world, and can be anything from 15 to 120 minutes long.
If you want to make a show, you just send a one page proposal, and a playlist, to the website address. The web pages also offer background information, pictures, chat, archives and links, for those who want to carry out research, or contribute in some other way.
Programmes are currently presented by well-known musicians and established broadcasters, but anyone with a good idea is invited to get involved. What’s more, you can listen to Radio Britfolk and access the public features free of charge. A fully-functioning licensed trial site is running through July, August and September and if it proves successful, a permanent site will be launched in the autumn.
It might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, so log on to www.radiobritfolk.co.uk and see - and hear - for yourself.
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