Coming soon, Broadcastify.com

[Denverpilot]

So let me get this straight...

Feeders get a subscription for free to listen recordings of their own (and other's) feeds, something they can already do anyway. Heck, setting up a Linux machine and Shoutcast to share with friends is a half hour job and anyone on decent bandwidth can certainly cover the bandwidth requirements for letting friends listen these days.

Meanwhile they lose access to the valuable ability to download from the DB and program more radios for more feeds, or for more personal listening, and stuff that feeds their overall interest, and now have to pay for it.

In terms of human motivation, I think you may have just effectively removed the only carrot you had for feeders.

I've not yet been a feeder, but taking away motivation from feeders isn't smart, from a purely business standpoint. Business works best when it's a win-win for both parties. Your business relies on volunteer feeders. If fake feeds were a problem, address the problem.

I had a ten port sound card on backorder which the company asked me if I wanted to cancel this morning. It is apparently not available anymore, so I have to hunt for a different solution. The plan was to feed both RR and LiveATC.

RR/Broadcastify won't be receiving any feeds.

"Don't muzzle the ox when he's treading out the grain," comes to mind. Or "jumped the shark".

Just my honest opinion.

 

[ka3jjz]

Another thing to consider is the content we have in the wiki for the Live Audio apps. Richtidd and others have done a great job in making this the go-to place when folks have questions about setting up feeds. There is also content there about the various mobile apps RR currently supports. Will this content be moved over, or will we still host it or drop it entirely?

Mike

 

[blantonl]

Mike, we will have similar content posted at Broadcastify, however there is no reason to drop existing content - only modify it to reference Broadcastify where appropriate.

 

[Denverpilot]

P.S. Since you own both entities, why not give feeders a dollar amount credit that they can apply toward whichever entity they prefer as their perk for feeding?

 

[rdale]

So let me get this straight...

Feeders get a subscription for free to listen recordings of their own (and other's) feeds, something they can already do anyway..

I think you missed all the features of a premium subscription. It offers much more, including things they can't do now.

 

[dispatcher812]

What about a discount depending on the number of feeds? 1-3 feeds half off RR subscription and free for those with 4 or more?

 

[blantonl]

That is a good suggestion that we can give some consideration to. But the approach is that we are going to run RadioReference and Broadcastify as two separate complete entities, so cross pollinating financials between the two is going to be messy.

 

[rckydenver]

If a person has more than 3 feeds does that person pay for each one of those feeds? Our do they get a bundle deal?

 

[blantonl]

If a person has more than 3 feeds does that person pay for each one of those feeds? Our do they get a bundle deal?

What do you mean "pay for each one of those feeds?"

Feed providers never have, and never will have to pay to provide feeds. That has always and will always be free.

 

[KC4RAF]

From observing the past 24 hours or less,

it appears that there are many who are dropping out of the audio feeding field. And most of us can not blame them.

 

[mitbr]

First off thank you Lindsay for everything you do it is appreciated.I have been with this site since its inception and think the idea of not giving access to premium service for data for feed providers is a mistake.
Why not offer a choice for the feed providers of which premium service the would like free.
The small amount of money for a monthly premium subscription for the data should be adsorbed for those providing the feed.
I think this business model will hurt everyone, and the number of people that jump ship will be much larger then from the previous acquisition.
Lindsay would you be willing to leave things as they presently are for the feed providers if more people jump ship then you anticipated?
Maybe a poll would be a good idea to see where this change stands with regards to the feed providers?

Thanks for all your hard work you do with the site, be gentle on us the feed providers with any future changes you make, and we the feed providers will reward you with many more feeds.
Best Regards
Tim

 

[rdale]

it appears that there are many who are dropping out of the audio feeding field.

And many, many, many more who are not. And many of them are excited about the new features.

 

[jeffreyinberthoud]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.267 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

it appears that there are many who are dropping out of the audio feeding field.

And many, many, many more who are not. And many of them are excited about the new features.

If you pay for mine I will keep my feed up

 

[jeffreyinberthoud]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.267 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

I can say many more times asa well still don't make it right

 

[VE3RADIO]

If a feed provider built a feed streaming system to stream to RR and did it at a loss, that was poor decisionmaking on the feed provider's part. I am quite certain that nobody at RR every asked anyone to provide a feed at the expense of food on the table or not being able to pay the electric bill. That's just downright silly.

The content is free and always has been free. What you pay for as a premium feature is the content delivery. I can program all of my scanners manually, and I do. And I could do that all day long using the data on RR without ever paying a dime.

Mike

Nobody said anything about food or electric bills but sometimes the cost of additional bandwidth and electricity outweighs the free subscription.. if the pull factor was a free sub then why bother? Some people run the stream for fun... and get the added bonus of a sub for making the stream available to everyone... said user may still run the stream but not make it available to rr... or broadcast..whatever its called (horrible name by the way)

 

[rdale]

If you pay for mine I will keep my feed up

I will pay all the costs you incur for software and Internet use.

 

[datainmotion]

Regular RR contributors/feeders don't like having their concerns marginalized by other members on this topic. Also, they don't care to be lumped in with the "hit and run" feeders who only set one up for the free content delivery. Many of us have provided multiple feeds for years, as well as hard data, information and other participation that benefits this site and its members. No renumeration, per se, was ever expected, but we felt that the free membership was an equitable trade-off for the time, materials, bandwidth, etc to keep the feed running.

Some of us have supported and defended unpopular decisions by RR in the past and now, are labeled directly and indirectly as complainers or even quitters? Some loyalty. I think what's being missed is that not all of us are your "regular" complainers.

But alas, the initial decision has been made, fully knowing that there would be blowback from some feeders. I just hope enough folks express their opinions on this and Lindsay considers those opinions accordingly.

 

[E-Man]

I will pay all the costs you incur for software and Internet use.

From this thread it is mentioned:

"There are iPhone apps out there that offer $50-$100 per year"

Post # 15

http://forums.radioreference.com/live-audio-feed-administration/232594-blackberry-app-my-feed.html

From the Scanner911 App:

Help-Feedback-? How to add a scanner in your town-

"If your stations is popular enough, we can pay you for this help"

Perhaps, the monies paid by the App makers could help offset the membership costs for feed providers?

 

[blantonl]

Datainmotion,

As I've indicated before, every single time we make a policy change we have a vocal minority that stands up and attempts to make absolutely sure that we know that our change is going to lead to the downfall of xxx and they want no further part of it. (and we've proved them wrong. Every. Single. Time.) It is just the fact of life when running an online community. I fully accept it.

In the grand scheme of things, these decisions and issues, like all in the past, are practically non-issues. If the loss of a $2.50/month benefit (and gain of a $6.95/month benefit) is such an important issue to you, that's fine. But let's boil it down for a second and realize how ridiculous it is that someone who has taken the great time and effort to provide 4 audio feeds just up and immediately terminates his feeds because of a policy change and makes darn sure he announces to the world what he has done. You are certainly well within your right - we're not twisting anyone's arms to provide feeds. But your action alone seems very obtuse, as if you are proclaiming "I'll show them!" - and we're like "really?"

Seriously, I really do appreciate all the effort that you put forth to provide your four feeds - but what's wrong with calling it what it is? You've issued very vocal complaints publicly, and immediately terminated your feeds. That's complaining and quitting, and that's OK.

 

[datainmotion]

Lindsay,

While the temptation to parse your post in response is significant, I'll abstain (I've seen this episode before). I will say we are obviously looking at this from two completely different angles, and it's unfortunate that it will probably remain that way.

Mike