Intrigued by Spacial’s announcement of a visually impaired/beginner friendly online radio service, I decided to take up the plunge and start a Sam Vibe radio station myself. Here it is: Piano con radio, a classical piano radio station with eight pieces written by Hindemith, Prokofiev, Ginastera, Debussy, and Faure:
I’ve got the interface set up on a tumblr page. It’s a pretty bare bones affair, given that I went with the free introductory offer. Among the limitations: my free package expires in about 11 days and only two people can listen to the station at any time. So if you can’t access the music, that’s probably why.
There are some glitches. The display gets some of the song metadata wrong, and I can’t set up a buffer of silence between the tunes. They just bump right into each other, which is a problem for classical music.
But hey, wuddayawant for free? Strong points for the Sam Vibe service: the sound is really good, the song upload/database interface is easy to see and use, and the friendly tech support folks respond fast to questions and concerns.
Anyway, this has definitely whetted my whistle to start a more advanced classical music Internet radio station. But I’m not sure how to upgrade. Should I go with Spacial’s Sam Broadcaster product? Are there other services that Radio Survivor readers recommend? Assessments from readers who are not connected with any relevant company are welcome.
