The story goes back 30 years. When I was 19 years old, young and idealistic, I decided that I wanted to be a radio DJ. What I pictured was a Dr. Johnny Fever or Wolfman Jack scenario where I could play the music that I wanted to play, when I wanted to play it.
After a very short time in college doing a radio broadcasting course, I realized that this isn't how things worked in the radio game. You play what THEY tell you to play when THEY tell you to play it. Everything in the radio business is scheduled to the minute and there is little room for drifting from that schedule. Also, the music that is played depends totally on the format of the station.
I quickly decided that the radio business - in that format - was not for me. I dropped out of the program and spent years trying to discover what I wanted to do. Even then in my day job as an IT guy, I still had dreams and desires to do other things. My mind kept drifting back to the radio game. You see, I love music. It's one of the passions in my life and I couldn't escape the idea that somehow I was meant to be involved.
Fast forward 30 years. I am doing a Youtube Livestream every Friday night to a small but enthusiastic audience. I tell that very story about wanted to do a radio show and not following through and I decided then and there that I am going to explore my options to see what the chances are of making this happen.
Over the next few days, I did my research and discovered a service called Live365. It's a platform that allows you to create and livestream your own Internet radio station. There were other services, but what attracted me to Live365 is that their monthly fee also covered any licensing needed to play the music on the station. This was huge because the process of applying for such a license is cumbersome and expensive. I would still have to purchase the songs that I wanted to play, but the licensing would be covered.
On Saturday, November 23rd 2019, Scotty Gee Radio launched with its first live show, a two-hour show in which 22 songs were played. I chose the songs, I chose when the commercials would play, I was in charge of everything. I could talk about what I want and say what I want. Finally, a radio show that I could be proud of putting out!
I am now raising half the cost of running the radio station through my Patreon page and hope to be able to raise the rest within 6 months or so and perhaps even make a few dollars doing this. Right now it's about the love of music and entertaining people, but I can see a day when this radio show is a nice extra boost of income for me.
The moral of the story is that no matter how long you have waited, you can still double back and do that thing you always wanted to do. It's only too late once you're dead. Take a step today towards making your dream happen!
Here is the schedule for the live radio shows.
Tuesday - 8 - 9 pm EST - Scotty Gee Classics. Music from the 1990s and earlier.
Wednesday - 8 - 10 am EST - Scotty Gee in the Morning. A variety of music to help start your day.
Thursday - 8 - 9 pm EST - Scotty is a Punk. An hour of Scotty Gee's favourite punk rock.
Saturday - 8 - ?? - The big, humongous, gigantic, titanic radio show. Sometimes going up to 5 1/2 hours of great music.
Scotty Gee Radio - Listen Live Link
Scotty Gee's Patreon Page - Support The Show
Scotty Gee's Facebook page