By Care

While most people have probably listened to a few online music services, not everyone knows the ins and outs of managing a site-hosted radio station. While some such stations are effectively “pirate radio,” operating without licensing or approval, ReVo has made an ongoing committment to broadcasting legally, both for the protection of its staff and deejays and the continued enjoyment of its listeners. Recent changes to licensing agreements made it necessary for the Edge to reach out to its fanbase in a new way. In this issue, Care takes a closer look at what’s been going on backstage.

If you were on Roleplay Evolution back in June, you were probably aware of our Keep the Music Alive event. If not, let me tell you a bit about it.

Roleplay Evolution has its own radio online radio station called The Edge. From the inception of Roleplay Evolution, the cost of the station has been falling on Qristal. “Why would she cover it on her own?”, you might ask. Well, why does anyone do anything? Ultimately, it was both because she could, and because it was a demand that she wanted to fulfill.

In June of 2016, a licensing agreement that allowed online radio stations to operate both legally and at a lower cost than “real world” radio came to an end. With the terms of that agreement no longer in effect, the cost of hosting online radio increased significantly. All online radio stations were affected by this change, not just The Edge, and some were put out of business altogether as they could no longer afford the required fees. There were petitions to get the cost back down, but as of this month, there has been no reply to these petitions.

Addiction and Qristal asked for ideas that could help cover the rising costs of The Edge not because they didn’t want to keep it, but because the increase was so substantial and unexpected. I don’t personally know how much the jump was, as I didn’t want to press Qristal or Addiction to find out. However, when it came to thinking up ideas for ways to keep the station and cover the increased fees, the deejays were on top of it. Ultimately, Qristal and Addiction put out the feelers for items for a silent auction.

It took some planning and I don’t actually know everything that went on to pull it together, but I do know that I and my nephew, Zackary, were two of the people that donated. Why did we donate? Let me put it to you in a way that could be understood by, and the words of, a thirteen year old that was willing to help: “Aunt Care, if it means something to you, and if it means as much to others as you, then I would like to help.” Yes, folks, my nephew is a bit of a wise one. He has spent hours at my home with me, and has listened to The Edge radio when I’ve had it on. My niece and most of my nephews have sat and heard me, or others, while we were on air. My niece was my introduction to my Throwback Thursdays. So I asked around, and most of the others that donated felt the same way as my nephew.

The auction received donations from Hippolyta, Charity, Psychobarbie, Stabz, Ravage, Jenna, mouth, Yoko, Rutger and his mom, myself and my nephew, and ReVo itself. Bidding went on for about two weeks, and on June 15th, the auction was closed. Once the winners were announced, then the final tally of how the auction did was revealed by Qristal. The bids received on all donations helped pay for the radio station for six months. This gave our lovely Qristal and Addiction a huge help in keeping our music alive!

The auction was a success and the music still lives, and that shows that Roleplay Evolution chatters and players are more then just a little willing to help out and go all out for their home. Thank you to everyone that helped “Keep The Music Alive”.