Radio Schizoid is one of India’s first Internet Radio Stations, featuring some of the best and upcoming talent of the planet. With a global audience and tons of experience, Schizoid is still only opening its wings to the possibilities of the realms it wants to reach. We got a chance to speak to the person who saw it all come through. Cray .Here’s what she had to say about Schizoid and the Internet radio scene.
Cray, firstly, tell us a little about yourself?
I am pretty much a normal person like the rest of you guys. I go by the name Friji Karthikeyan in the real world and I love music. In the past i used to be a computer programmer .Now i work full time on Radio Schizoid.
What made you start an Internet Radio station?
I was looking for Psytrance stations other than di.fm during 2006 and there were none catering to my taste and there was no internet radio station from India which played Psytrance or Electronic Dance music in general. So when i met my friend Raj Mathur in Delhi and was discussing this issue, we decided to launch one ourselves. It was just for fun. We didn’t think much over it. We quickly hired a server from Germany and set up our server and we went online on Jan 1 , 2007 . Since then we had so much fun running Radio Schizoid.
What are the main requirements to start an internet radio station?
The most important thing would be your content. You decide on the type of music you want to stream and then comes obtaining permission / licenses from artist / label part. Servers and bandwidth are pretty cheap these days. So yeah, content is king for an internet radio station.
What were the initial difficulties Radio Schizoid faced?
We didn’t face any issues in the beginning mainly because we were doing it just for fun and we didn’t take Radio Schizoid very seriously. It was only after our listener base expanded through word of mouth, we started working professionally on content, shows and interviews. One difficulty we faced since the beginning is the pathetic broadband connections in India. Otherwise running radio schizoid is pretty much fun everyday.
Radio Schizoid covers various genres in Electronic Music. Any particular reason for such an approach?
As radio schizoid grew over time, we decided to cover wide range of genres in EDM because we wanted Radio Schizoid to be the one stop station for all your EDM needs. Also many of our listeners asked for more variety of music in our station.
Many international artists and DJs are in touch with you on a regular basis. How is it to deal with them?
Most artists from Psytrance arena are pretty cool and easy to deal with. We never faced any issues with them and they have been very supportive of Radio Schizoid.
Have you considered taking Schizoid to FM?
Yeah. Having Schizoid FM is my ultimate dream. But starting a FM demands huge investment and broadcasting costs. If we find a good investor, we will be more than happy to take schizoid to FM arena.
What are your views on music downloads? Have u considered making Schizoid a platform to sell music as well?
In my opinion, digital downloads are the way to go. Vinyl and CD’s will become collector’s item. I purchase music only via digital music stores these days. Also sites like Bandcamp makes it easier for artists to completely avoid record labels and release it on their own. This is a good sign of things to come as many artists wouldn’t be ripped off by unprofessional labels and as a listener we will be exposed to more good music.
What plans for Radio Schizoid for the Future?
We are working on various ideas. I would like to keep them as a secret as of now.
Any Message you would like to send to supporters/fans of Schizoid? Our heart-felt thanks for all the support. You guys keep us going. Stay tuned and Party on people.
