KVXN Back On The Air

 

After being offline for months, yesterday on Monday Nydia Tungsten announced that her SL station, KVXN, was back and operational.

 

KVXN is back in SL where I started all those years ago, feel free to tune in to the Randomness that is "The Vixen of Vixen Radio" http://acastream.us:7223 No DJ's, No Commercials, No Drama, just what I am listening to. Feel free to tune in and sing along with me to our old favorites! 

KVXN Radio began in 2011, a 24 hour SL stream for the Happy Vixen and other clubs under White Vixen Enterprises to play between parties.

Drax Radio Hour Ends After Seven Years

 
Noted Second Life media personality Draxtor Despres is noted for many shows. Nowdays, he's known for hosting the Second Life Book Club, and the Second Life Destinations videos he does for Linden Lab. But there was one show he'd still been doing after over seven years and over 300 episodes: The Drax Files Radio Hour. But a few days ago on October 24, he aired a brief five minute episode announcing "This Is The End."

"I'd sad, but also relieved," he stated in the final show, saying his listenership for this particular show had dwindled to a tiny few, "It makes no sense to continue this podcast with this lack of interest. ... That's totally fine. ... It's a very saturated marketplace. And truth be told, I am extremely busy on other fronts that are very gratifying. People know that I come from radio. I love radio. I love the podcast medium. I love audio. But I also love making videos and profiling Second Life people. And I love making documentaries. ... We are very busy with an upcoming documentary about virtual cultures in Pandemic times ... I produce a minimum of about 140 videos per year for the official Second Life social. ... we're extremely productive. The podcast is just not catching on. I'm sorry, but there is enough media, enough stories, enough art, and reportage documentaries from yours truly. I think I'm overexposed as it is."

On the webpage, he would post the following:

My friends: I decided to end this podcast. we started way back in 2014, shortly before Ebbe Altberg came in. We had over 2000 listeners per week. We are down to 9!

I don’t mind. I am happy that i can cancel myself in fact because we churn out over 150 videos with second life stories per year, not counting the feature length work.

That should be enough should it not? listen to my short announcement and tell me what you think. Thank you for making my second life awesome every day!

The Drax Files Radio Hour first aired on Friday January 10, 2014. At first he did the show with Jo Yardley, best known for her "1920s Berlin Project." The first few episodes would go into topics like supposed NSA investigations of Second Life, other platforms such as High Fidelity and Cloud Party, and the resignation of then CEO of Linden Lab Rod Humble. More recent episodes were about subjects of Second Life Book Club airings. The second to last episode, Show 320, aired on August 16. So the Radio Hour had been on hold for a while.

For those wanting to keep in touch with Draxtor, "Befriend me inworld, join the book club, ... follow me on Twitter." One can also email him at draxtor@draxtor.com, or madeinsl@draxtor.com if there's a story about Second Life to tell

Bixyl Shuftan
 

New Office For KVXN

KVXN, jointly owned by Nydia Tungsten and JB Raccoon, is getting a new office. They recently invited the Newser over to take a few pictures.

The two story structure has a lobby, and a studio area for live broadcasting.

KVXN was once a 24 music stream that while doing decently at several venues, Nydia felt it could do more. Teaming up with JB, it expended to become an Internet radio station with growing numbers of listeners in and out of Second Life.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Geerkil%20Land/196/137/1366

KVXN's New Logo

KVXN got it's start in 2011 as Nydia Tungsten's 24/7 radio station for fans to listen to between her DJ sessions. It got a following in the Sunweaver/Angels community with nicknames like "Rita's other white meat" (Rita Mariner is the leader of the Sunweavers). But in recent months, KVXN has gone through some changes. Now a full fledged Internet radio station, many of it's listeners tune in from outside Second Life. With the change comes a new shiny logo. It was revealed yesterday.

"For a good time with a bad girl, KVXN Radio."

 http://listen.kvxnradio.com/

Farshore Radio Now Has A Country Music Station

Cynthia Farshore is known for her Farshore Radio station (24/7 Internet music stream), which delivers a great mix of classic rock hits and more recent tunes. But this is not all she has to offer. Late on Sunday night, she announced the opening of a new station: Farshore Country.

Farshore Radio Has a New Stream

The Goat you got is happy to announce that Farshore Radio-The Goat has added a new stream! Farshore Country - http://69.175.94.98:8074/stream  with your favorite country stars from Hank Williams to Garth Brooks.
 The Goat, Farshore Country where you feel right at home.

Farshore Radio's main station is continuing to play it's classic rock at http://198.178.121.76:8420/stream . Cynthia also has a Steampunk-themed music station at  http://67.212.165.106:8074/stream

Press Release: "Frankenstein" Comes to Holly Kai Park

Second Life – On Sunday, October 21st at 2pm slt, Fantasy Faire Radio and Seanchai Library will present Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," specially adapted for radio and live performance in six voices, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the novel's original publication.  The two-hour performance will take place live at this year's iteration of "Haunted Holly Kai" high above the Blake Sea based Art Park, and will benefit Relay for Life.

Da5id Abbot, Corwyn Allen, Zander Greene, Shandon Loring, Elrik Merlin, and Caledonia Skytower will come together to present the script adapted by Skytower and Abbot from Shelley's original novel.  The performance, running just under two hours, will be live on stream at "Haunted Holly Kai: featuring Frankenstein" and simultaneously broadcast on Fantasy Faire Radio. Residents can teleport to the performance from the Park's Information Center. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/205/120/22

The novel, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" was written by English author Mary Shelley that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a human-like creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment while still a student at University in Ingolstadt. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of the novel was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in France in 1823.

Famously Mary, her lover and future husband Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story while staying at Byron's rented home, Villa Diodati, near the shores of Lake Geneva. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the novel's story. It has had a considerable influence in literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films and plays.

In 1931, Universal Pictures released "Frankenstein: The Man Who Made The Monster" directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the Creature (now "Monster").  The screenplay was based on Peggy Webling's stage play "Frankenstein" which was loosely based on Shelley's novel. It is here that the Frankenstein as the green-skinned, bolt-headed, mad scientist experiment-gone-wrong took shape, forming the popular culture version that pervaded the 20th century.

"Haunted Holly Kai: featuring Frankenstein" will pay tribute to both the original novel and its film adaptations with an outdoor amphitheater for the novel's presentation and other planned events, and a towering castle featuring a mad scientist lab created by Stranger Nightfire.  Residents are encouraged to explore both the castle and the outdoor areas.  This year's "Haunted Holly Kai" will open October 21st and remain open through Halloween. 

About Fantasy Faire Radio
Since 2014, Fantasy Faire Radio has been a special event station, sponsored by Radio Riel in its role as Media Partner in Fantasy Faire, the annual celebration of fantasy art, writing, design and creativity that raises money every year in the virtual world of Second Life for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, supporting cancer research, caregivers and cancer sufferers all over the world. In 2017, FFR began broadcasting 24/7, as a full‐time Internet radio service. Listeners can tune in by opening https://radioriel.org in their internet browser and choosing Fantasy Faire Radio in the left hand sidebar, by opening http://fantasy.radioriel.org in a network audio player.

About the Seanchai Library
Seanchai Library (Shawn-a-kee, which means "Storyteller" in Irish.) was founded in March of 2008 in Second Life. The program remains dedicated to promoting the power of stories to transform and inspire through live voice presentations: "We bring stories of all kinds to life, in Second Life and other virtual worlds."  http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/

Interview With Markus Damone of AllFurRadio

Recently the Newser met up with Markus Damone, the founder and head of AllFurRadio. Although an Internet radio station with most of its listeners outside Second Life, it did get it's start here. Markus talked about how he found out about and came to Second Life, as well as how the station came to be, what caused it to close, and it's restart a year ago.

Read the article in People.

Second Life Based Furocity Radio Shuts Down

JB Raccoon informed the Newser yesterday that Furocity Radio, an Internet radio station based in Second Life, was shutting down. The station started out in May 2013, and briefly shut down in December 2015 due to a steep increase in copyright royalty rates. It resumed September 2016. But yesterday, September 18, it's owner DJ Cody gave the following message:

Guys, its with a heavy heart, I am announcing that I am shutting down Furocity. Unfortunately I cannot afford to keep it open, I have to take care of the debt I have rather than spending more money on this right now and with my day to day responsibilities I simply don't have the time to give it the attention it deserves. The stream has been down for the last several days and no one has noticed or even reached out. I wish you all the best of luck, I will be shutting everything down by the end of the week. Thank you all for your support over the last several years. its been a good run.

The station usually broadcasted mainstream rock JB stated he and other DJs in Second Life had gotten their start on Furocity. While the station had come back once before, he felt this time it was probably shutting down for good.

*Addition* Furocity Radio started in Second Life, but it's audience was soon an Internet-wide one. JB Raccoon told me "they were licensed through Live365 with hopes of becoming a full 'brick and mortar station.'"

The "Two Vixens And a Wolf" Radio Show

While the Golden Age of radio may be in the past, the Internet has given those wanting their own radio show new possibilities as one can easily make radio streams over the 'net and broadcast and listen to them there. One new Internet radio show is "Two Vixens and a Wolf" of All Fur Radio. As it turns out, the three show hosts are in Second Life and have a station here inworld. Bixyl Shuftan got together with the three people at their station, Svetlana Snowpaw (Sarah Golem), Roxy Noir-Snowpaw (creatureofthenight2011 Resident) and Greigh VonGottreich (Greigh Dingo). They had a few things to say about how it got started, and what it takes to keep it going.

Read the article in Extra.

Interview with GoSpeed Racer (GoSpeed Rasere)

A couple weeks ago as part of it's "Hot Bay City Nights," Bay City had it's "Miss Bay City" contest. The winner was GoSpeed Racer. GoSpeed has long been a presence in Bay City, playing music for it's events, and getting attention with her name. Recently, Deaflegacy interviewed her for the Newser. GoSpeed had a number of things to say, from how she got her name, from details on being Miss Bay City, to her recent fictional writings.

Read Deaflegacy's story in People.

Press Release: T1 Radio Changing Its Frequency

After 12 years T1Radio, SL's oldest classic rock radio station, has had to change its URL.
T1's server provider has phased out the use of .us.
As of Saturday August 26 T1Radio is now at http://t1radio.serverroom.net:8242

T1Radio was founded in June 2005 as the successor to Radio dAlliez.  Since 2007 it has been the official broadcaster of the Relay For Life of Second Life and was inducted into the Relay Hall of Honor in 2014.  T1 is also the broadcaster of the AviChoice Awards and is the recipient of more than 2 dozen Avi nominations.  Co-founder Trader Whiplash is the winner of the 2016 AviChoice Favorite Radio DJ.

T1 operates from LEGENDS Classic Rock in Arinultra Cay, where it holds events each evening starting at 5pm SLT.

Listeners can add T1 to their land and media (recommended) settings using the new url, or tune to the station at www.t1radio.com  and with the TuneIn Radio app at   http://tunein.com/radio/T1-Radio-s113797/

Trader Whiplash

"Hitchhiker's" at Club Cutlass This Thanksgivng

Today many of Second Life's residents will be with family, either completely Away From Computer, or on for short breaks. For others, the holiday dinner won't be until the weekend, or sadly will not be having dinner with family and friends. With this in mind, Shockwave Yareach decided to do something about it, getting all of the episodes of the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" radio program (not the more recent movie), and having them played at Club Cutlass.

"If you want somethign to do and feel glum, I'll be streaming the entire Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in Club Cutlass, starting at NOON Cst.  EVERYONE is welcome -- Share and Enjoy!"

The show starts at 10AM SL time today.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Bay/114/118/757

New Sponsor: Farshore Radio

Cynthia Farshore's "Farshore Radio" is now a sponsor of the Second Life Newser. The station, which streams 24/7, features mainly alternative and classic rock music.

Cynthia has long been a presence in the Sunweaver Estates, with her Farshore Field airport at the Pacific Waters sim, which is the location of air shows and races for the Sunbeamer Team in the Relay for Life. As an accomplished DJ,  Cynthia has played at the Happy Vixen, Club Cutlass and a number of other clubs. She is also an accomplished builder, having built along with Shockwave Yarreach the current design of the Club Cutlass steampunk airship in addition to being one of the two main builders of the 2016 Team Sunbeamer award-winning build at this year's RelayWeekend track. She and Shockwave also run the "Yareach and Farshore Mercantile" at Caledon SouthEnd.

http://198.178.121.76:8420/stream

KONA Radio is Back

Good news for fans of GoSpeed Racer and KONA radio. The "cleverly named" DJ recently informed the Newser that her radio stream is back in business. "We are now affiliated with SONIXCAST.com out of Canada," she told us, "They pay royalties to SOCAN which is the entity that collects and distributes royalties in Canada. The station is now free of many restrictions including not having to run ad breaks. Also, more good news. We are now listed in iTunes under the '70s Retro category."

For GoSpeed Racer, this is the best news in months. In January, facing skyrocketing "insane" royalty fees, she made a deal with Radionomy to keep broadcasting, But as she stated in the KONA blog, it "hasn’t been a fun ride to say the least" with server outages and poor communications. Finally a lawsuit by Sony resulted in Radionomy blocking it's stream to a number of countries where KONA had listeners. So GoSpeed reluctantly made the decision to close KONA as a station. But it was just days later she made a deal with Sonixcast, "They are a Canadian based company that provides streams and royalty coverage. It’s not a free service but the monthly cost are very reasonable compared to the other alternatives. We are looking forward to spending many productive years with them and keep sharing the music!"

For more information, or to just hear the tunes, check http://www.konastream.com/.

Bixyl Shuftan

GoSpeed Racer's KONA To Halt Public Broadcasting

Yesterday, the staff of the KONA radio station in Second Life and Internet radio stream announced they would no longer be continuing as they were, bringing their broadcasting to a close.

* * * * *

With a sad heart we must inform you that KONA Stream will cease broadcasting publicly. Due to the unfair royalty rates imposed by the CRB we've had to leave StreamLicensing.com and shift to Radionomy. Now a lawsuit by Sony has forced Radionomy to restrict their exposure leading them to geo-block wide portions of the globe. Countries like Canada, Ukraine, Brazil, Japan and many others cannot tune in my station. The station listener level has dropped some 60% since the start of the month. I simply do not see the point of continuing operation in this environment. Once certain parties are notified I will stop the stream and delete it from Radionomy.

  Is this the end of KONA Stream? Hopefully not. While it looks bleak now there may be hope. There is some effort to get the voice of the small webcaster heard by the Copyright Review Board. A few US Senators have heard of the plight and there may be legislation forthcoming. Cross your fingers. In the meantime we will investigate other ways to share our music. There are other music services that we could operate through but we want to be sure that the station's character is not fundamentally changed by massive omissions to the playlist or burdensome ad breaks. If you want to keep informed of our status then you can continue following us here on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/KONAStream/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/KONA_Stream), or contact our virtual secretary, abba@konastream.com so we can update you directly by email.

  So why is it a big deal if small webcasters are shut down? It boils down to diversity, exposure and preservation of music. Small webcasters play a wide variety of music not commonly heard in larger media outlets. We are also a great venue for emerging artists to get heard. A lot of commercial stations simply will not play an unknown artist. Finally there is a huge back catalog of music that no longer gets played on mainstream stations. KONA Stream has a Classic Hits format (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_hits) and we play a very wide a deep selection of music from those decades. The larger and more popular stations using that format have only a few thousand tracks in their playlist. We had over 15,000 tracks (Plus over a 1,000 Christmas tunes) that a true music lover would envy. All that will be lost to the general public.

  For our Second Life fans do not despair. We will still be active as DJs and be available to DJ your community events and private parties. Just let us know what your needs are and we'll fill them to the best of our ability.

Sincerely,
 The KONA Stream team

* * * * *

In January, Second Life Newser talked to GoSpeed concerning the huge increase in fees for broadcasting radio streams due to regulations, which did not distinguish large and small broadcasters, KONA now having to pay more than double what it had before. While KONA cut a deal with Radionomy, which covered their fees, they had to raise their listenership by about 50% if they wanted to remain covered. KONA was just one of a number of Second Life radio stations which had to adapt to the skyrocketing fees.

Contacting GoSpeed, she explained she would be continuing as a DJ, and her performance at Bay City on May 15, four days from now, would continue as scheduled.

Announcement: Stand UP's "Best DJ on the Grid" Competition: Week 2

This weekend marks the second round of the "Best DJ on the Grid" competition. The organizers stated their first was a great success.

WOW! What an AMAZING Weekend!! The first set of scores are in and the kiosks have been totaled! The first week of the Stand UP! Best DJ on the Grid Competition has brought in just over L$120,000!!!! 

This Saturday, March 19, the music takes place from 11AM to 3PM, a little over 3500 meters above the Saint Kitts Isle sim. The schedule is as follows:

11AM Topo Nightfire

12 Noon LilMissPerfectionist

1PM Logan Reigns

2PM Pandemora

The event also takes place on Sunday March 20 from 11AM to 3PM 

Saint Kitts Isle (98, 70, 3501)

More details can be found on http://www.astandforhope.org/ .

Press Release: Stand UP! The Best DJ on the Grid Competition

The Best DJ on the Grid Competition is a Relay for Life of Second Life event that reflects A Stand for Hope’s desire to reach out to the music industry for the best of the best.

Are you the best DJ on the Grid? Do you know someone who is?  Let us know! 

Who benefits?  We ALL do. We get to hear great music and we financially support the American Cancer Society’s programs through the Relay for Life of Second Life.

The numbers:  4 weekends, 8 DJs, 3 judges and innumerable kiosks. 

Save These Dates! March 12-13, 19-20, 26-27, April 2–3, 2016
(on each day the competition runs from 11am to 3pm SLT) All dates will be streamed to the Grid and beyond courtesy of Claw Radio.


Stand UP! is sponsored by: Xtreme Designs, Allure and Allure 360

Only one DJ will be named the winner. The DJs scores will be a combination of 5 judged criteria and successful fundraising for the Relay for Life of Second Life. The winner will receive a prize package containing $L25,000, gift cards, a custom DJ intro, a custom jacket and more!

You can find the DJ application here: http://www.astandforhope.org/#!blank/wm97p  
A Stand For Hope has partnered with: PENUMBRA, Claw Radio, SL Live Radio, Miss SL Magazine, Shiny Shaby, and Model SL Magazine

Contact: Ariel Goldrozen in world or at astandforhope@gmail.com

GoSpeed Racer, Trader Whiplash, Speak on Rising Cost of Internet Radio

Music by radio has been with us for many years. When computers and Internet came to be, it was possible to play music over streams over the web. When Second Life came to be, each sim had the ability to have a certain station as background music. But are some of these stations in danger of being silenced? At the beginning of the year, new regulations concerning the operating costs of licensed stations inside the United States went into effect. The result is for smaller radio stations there, including many licensed streams in Second Life, running them has become much more expensive.

Read the article in Extra.

Announcement: "Violent Earth" at "Star Talk Radio"

The Science Circle
 

"Star Talk Radio" 

Neil deGrasse Tyson
                 

 "Violent Earth"
              

Saturday December 5th
           

Asia/Oceania 5 AM PST     

Europe/America 10 AM PST
            

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/96/204/2000

Press Release: T-1 Radio Tenth Anniversary Party and RFL Benefit

Arinultra Cay, Second Life   T1Radio announced their plans for party on June 14, 2015 to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  The party will take place from 3 to 7pm at Relay dAlliez and will feature T1Radio's current air-staff, alumni and special surprise guests.

T1, the long time Official Broadcaster of  Relay For Life of Second Life, is the sponsor of the Relay Rockers team, and the party will be held as a benefit for Relay.

In January 2005, Trader Whiplash, who began the station along with Nuala Maracas, was a host for the late Alliez Mysterio's La Vie En Rose.  When Alliez and Tony Beckett decided to begin broadcasting to the club as Radio dAlliez, Trader was given the opportunity to learn to DJ.  He crafted his sets around classic rock and roll, a change from the pop and electronic music popular in SL clubs at that time.  The station broadcasted to La Vie en Rose and the Rue dAlliez sim, one of the first private 'islands' created in world.  By June of 2005 Alliez and Tony had turned their attention to the establishment of dAlliez Estates and were about to close the station and the club when Trader reached an agreement to maintain both. He changed the name to T1Radio and along with his best friend Nuala Maracas, began to build a staff.  Early members of T1Radio included Anthony Wesburn, Java Mama,  Sassyblonde Hebert and Rex Tardis, and Radio Riel's Gabby Riel.  Diana 'Dee' Wolfe and Madelyn Majestic also joined the station and continue to broadcast weekly shows.

The station remained in Rue dAlliez where it operated its home base club LEGENDS Classic Rock until 2011 when it moved to its own sim.

T1Radio and Relay For Life have become almost synonymous. When Jade Lily organized the first Relay For Life in Second Life T1Radio was there to support the fundraising.  Trader, a leukemia survivor, Nuala and Alliez began a team based at La Vie en Rose.  The team became known as the Relay Rockers and has participated in every Relay held in world. In 2006 T1Radio was asked to fill in when the scheduled audio was unable to continue following a grid crash and Trader and T1 stepped in and rocked the track well into the night.  The following year Fayandria Foley asked T1 to return and thus began a 10 year relationship between the biggest event and the oldest station in Second Life.  In 2014 the American Cancer Society and Relay For Life recognized Trader, Nuala and T1Radio for its dedication and contributions to what has become one of the largest Relay For Life fundraisers in the world by inducting them in the RFL of SL Hall of Honor. 

Today T1Radio remains a fun station with friendly DJs, great mixes of music and 24/7 Classic Rock the Way YOU Like It.  Hosts and DJs can apply to T1 by contacting Trader, Nuala or LEGENDS Manager Xyza Armastice.

T1Radio, Trader and Nuala remain dedicated to providing entertaining music for everyone. They remain dedicated to supporting Relay For Life as well as the Dreams community and the AviChoice Awards.

Some Other T1Radio Highlights:

•    2006  – 1st Relay For Life weekend broadcast
•    2007 –  Provides voice to Opening, Closing and Luminaria Ceremonies
•    2008  – 1st Broadcast of Kick Off, Halfway There and Wrap Up
•    2010 –  Sponsors 1st Holiday of Hope Ball
•    2011 - Moves To Arinultra Cay
•    2012 – Introduces Relay Rap – the Talk Show For and About the Relay For Life of Second

Life
•    2012 – Becomes AviChoice audio producer
•    2014 – Nuala, Trader and T1Radio Inducted into Relay For Life Hall of Honor
•    2015 – Trader and T1Radio are AviChoice finalists and T1Radio and staff garner 5

nominations over all

You can tune to T1Radio at http://t1radio.serverroom.us:8242 or on the TuneIn App

http://tunein.com/radio/T1-Radio-s113797/ 
Second Life residents can keep up to date with T1 by joining the T1Radio Listeners Group:

secondlife:///app/group/609a700e-65bd-a3dc-5629-a720a5b58cef/about