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SALT LAKE CITY — Local musicians now have an alternative to traditional radio play.
Radio Uproar is a “live streaming online community radio station” started by music fan and promoter Will Short. The station was designed by Short to be completely locally produced. Each show, every song and all of the content on the station is made in Utah. Thanks to advertisers, musicians who fill air time on Radio Uproar even get paid.
“It rewards those who listen to and promote local music with points they can redeem for merchandise, thereby giving people a tangible reason to support local music,” Short said.
Inspired when he was helping a friend — a locally based rap artist — with booking and promotions, Short discovered how difficult it is for local artists to get radio play. The pair would joke about starting a radio station, but the expense and process was intimidating.
“I thought if I could build a radio station, then that will solve two major problems — getting artists live airplay and letting me produce the events that I want to produce,” Short said.
He worked with a growing group of Utah-based musicians in promoting and planning shows and found a lot of roadblocks for smaller acts with less notoriety. He then discovered online radio.
“The idea is to give aspiring artists a legitimate media that is more supportive and interactive than any other network,” Short said.
Many similar stations claimed to be all about the artist, but Short found this to be untrue.
“They all charged artists. Local artists were shadowed by industry artists spotlights or they were only about one particular group/location/genre of music,” Short said.
After five years of trial and error, Short found the best way to make sure the radio station reflected local music was to have local musicians run it. Anyone is welcome to book time on the station or use the control panel on the website or on their smartphone and broadcast right from home.
The station currently features a regular metal show, “Sir Smooth Entertainment,” but has plans to beef up content starting July 1. Other than regular programming, Radio Uproar streams music all day online. A crowd funding platform and virtual recording studio are also coming soon on Radio Uproar. Visit the site to schedule your band.
