The internet has changed many things, including the way in which music is produced, shared, bought and sold. While Baby Boomers and Generation Xers still pop into music stores to buy CDs, Millenials prefer to get music online. Capitalising on this trend, local entrepreneurs Pete Matthaei and Ruth Harris have developed a quirky business idea called boom.fm.
What is boom.fm?
Stellenbosch-based startup boom.fm describes itself as a music station for the digital age – part social network and part online music shop, it’s a website where music fans can listen to music; find new bands; create playlists and download tunes. What gives boom.fm the edge are the radio rooms, where you can hang out, listen to the streaming playlist, and chat to fellow fans and musos, all in real time.
boom.fm is a platform for established and up and coming or as-yet-undiscovered musicians to showcase their music, and for fans and producers to find new talent. While boom.fm is primarily focused on the South African music scene, international artists are also welcome to create profiles on the website and share their music.
How Does boom.fm Work?
boom.fm comprises various user-generated radio rooms. A radio room is a personalised digital radio station – rather than having the station manager dictate what’s on the playlist, visitors to the room can add songs from bands featured on boom.fm. By up-voting (liking) or down-voting (disliking) tracks, you get to decide what plays next. A wide range of music genres are catered for; Afrikaans, Folk, Drum and Bass, Dubstep, Indie or Reggae – you name it, they’ve got it.
Anyone can start a radio room, simply by visiting the Radio Rooms page and creating one. Once created, share your radio room with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. While some free downloads are made available, the whole point is to support the artists, so, when you find a band you like, put your weight behind them by adding their tracks to your shopping cart, paying through boom.fm’s secure online payment system and downloading them.
boom.fm’s in-house editorial team ensures only great, fresh content gets posted to band profiles. Other cool stuff includes the nationwide gig guide (so you can make plans to see your favourite boom.fm’s band, live), the boom blog and the fabulous What’s hot in boom!town. IMHO, this one’s a booming business idea!
For more inspiration…
Check out these online radio stations:
- Jango – internet music that plays what you want
- Spotify – Music is social
- I Heart Radio – the ultimate all-in-one radio experience.
- Image courtesy of boom.fm
