SomaFM
Introduction '''SomaFM''' is an independent Internet-only streaming multi-channel radio station, supported entirely with donations from listeners. SomaFM originally started broadcasting out of founder Rusty Hodge's basement garage in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, as a micropower radio station broadcast at the Burning Man festival in 1999.The response to the project was sufficiently positive that Rusty Hodge launched it as a full-time internet radio station in February 2000.SomaFM takes its name from Soma, the "perfect pleasure drug" from Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel ''Brave New World'', and the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, known colloquially as SoMa.
History In May 2002, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel rate ruling came into effect, requiring internet broadcasters to pay a per song per listener royalty to SoundExchange for the performance of the sound recording, retroactively through October 1998.Hodge estimated that the channel could have been forced to pay over US$1,000 per day to continue operations. The royalty was later reduced by half, but that rate still would require payments by SomaFM that exceeded their revenues.In June 2002, SomaFM ceased broadcasting. Hodge was one of several webcasters who testified before the U.S. Congress in 2002 in the hopes of reducing the royalty rate. Subsequently, Congress passed the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002 (SWSA) on November 15, 2002, which enabled small webcasters to negotiate a lower rate with SoundExchange. SomaFM resumed broadcasting in late November 2002 under this new royalty structure.In 2005, SomaFM partnered with Orban to begin streaming to 3GPP-compatible mobile devices, becoming one of the first internet broadcasters to support mobile streaming on 3G/EDGE networks. In June 2007, SomaFM participated in the "Internet Radio Day of Silence" in protest of the Copyright Royalty Board's decision at the time to raise royalty fees for internet radio stations.In January 2013, SomaFM partnered with Aha by Harman International to make its content available via Aha apps in supported automobile dashboards. In 2014, SomaFM partnered with Qualcomm to include Allplay (part of the AllJoyn open source software framework) for wireless speakers in their mobile apps. Throughout its history, SomaFm, as well as its playlist curators, have been recognized with various awards and other honors.
List of channels  Channel  Genre/theme  Year added '''Drone Zone'''  Drone  2000 '''Groove Salad'''  Downtempo/chillout  '''Secret Agent'''  Lounge/jazz with a 1960s spy theme  '''Indie Pop Rocks!''' Indie pop/indie rock. 2002 '''cliqhop idm'''  Intelligent dance music  '''Beat Blender'''  House/downtempo/chillout  '''Boot Liquor'''  Americana  2003 ''''''  Classic trance/progressive trance. Formerly known as '''Tag's Trip'''. 2004 '''Xmas in Frisko'''  Eclectic Christmas-themed music  2005 '''Space Station Soma'''  Ambient space music  2006 '''Illinois Street Lounge'''  Lounge music  '''Doomed'''  Industrial/dark ambient  '''Sonic Universe'''  Avant-garde jazz  2008 '''Lush'''  Female-driven vocal downtempo  '''Digitalis'''  Self-produced indie rock and electronic music  '''Suburbs of Goa'''  Desi/Arabic-influenced worldbeat  '''Underground 80s'''  Early 80s British synthpop and new wave. Formerly known as '''Nu Musik'''. '''Christmas Lounge'''  Christmas-themed lounge music  '''Mission Control'''  Ambient music mixed with the sounds of NASA's mission broadcasts and live shuttle coverage  2009 '''PopTron'''  Electropop/dance-rock  '''Covers'''  Cover songs  '''Black Rock FM'''  The broadcast for 102.3FM in Black Rock City for the Burning Man Festival  2010 '''South by Soma'''  Music by artists from the SXSW Festival  2012 '''SF 10–33'''  Ambient music mixed with the sounds of San Francisco public safety radio traffic  '''Dub Step Beyond'''  Dubstep and other bass-driven electronic music  '''Folk Forward'''  Indie folk, alternate folk  '''Christmas Rocks!''' Christmas themed indie/alternative rock  '''DEF CON Radio'''  Music from DEF CON's chill room, provided by SomaFM  2013 '''Iceland Airwaves'''  Music by artists from the Iceland Airwaves festival  '''Deep Space One'''  Deep ambient electronic, experimental, and space music  '''Seven Inch Soul'''  Classic soul music  2014 '''Left Coast 70s'''  Mellow album-oriented rock from the 1970s  2015 '''Fluid'''  Instrumental hip hop/future soul/liquid trap  '''ThistleRadio'''  Celtic music, was previously broadcast as ''The Thistle & Shamrock'' on NPR  '''Metal Detector'''  Heavy metal  '''Jolly Ol' Soul'''  Christmas-themed soul music  '''SomaFM Live'''  Live music 2015 '''Groove Salad Classic'''  Early 2000s downtempo/chillout 2019  '''Department Store Christmas'''  Christmas-themed beautiful music '''Heavyweight Reggae'''  Reggae, dub, ska, and rocksteady 2020 '''Vaporwaves'''  Vaporwave '''n5MD Radio'''  Music from the music label n5MD '''Synphaera'''  Modern electronic ambient and space music  2021 '''The In-Sound'''  1960s & 1970s Euro-Pop  2023 '''Tiki Time'''  Exotica  '''Bossa Beyond'''  Bossa Nova & Samba
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