FA News – December 18, 2016

Hello FA listeners.  Been a bit since the last FA News post – my apologizes.

Here is what’s new:

Flashback Alternatives removed from Tune In

About two weeks ago I received notice from Tune In that Sony requested Flashback Alternatives be de-listed from Tune In for copyright violation.  The reason was that Tune In still had us listed as a US based station and was probably caught up in a licensing take down BOT.  Back in August you may recall we became part of the SonixCast network.  As we are part of the Sonixcast network we are licensed in Canada through SOCAN.  Flashback Alternative broadcasts through Sonixcast‘s servers in Canada.  We are 100% fully licensed and in compliance.

While there was an opportunity to contest the take down notice, I was informed it would be costly and not worth it, so I had Flashback Alternatives removed completely from Tune In.  I am working on options to have a presence on TuneIn, so stay tuned.  Until then, we are still listed on many services including iTunes and Shoutcast.  You can, of course, also tune in via the FA Website.  For those looking for a mobile app, any app that either supports the Shoutcast directory or where you can manually add a stream will work.  If you need assistance, please reach out to me in chat on the FA Website or via e-mail.

Flashback Alternatives New Years’s Eve Dance Party

Get ready for the Flashback Alternatives New Year’s Dance Party starting at 8pm (ET) on December 31st.  This year’s line up is as follows:

DJ Oldman – 8pm

DJ George in DC – 9pm

DJ Kenny – 10pm

DJ Ed – 11pm

DJ Formadeyde – 12 Midnight

DJ Scarebear Dan – 1 am

DJ Limeygit – 2am

We are always looking for additional shows, so if you are interested, please let me know ASAP.  I can fit in another two shows.  If you are interested in doing a regular show (either weekly or monthly) we have some time slots available.  Feel free to contact me in chat on the FA Website or via e-mail.

As always,thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

#flashback-alternatives-2, #new-years-eve-dance-party, #socan, #sonixcast, #tunein

FA News – August 7th, 2016

Flashback Alternatives is Now Part of the SonixCast Network

This weekend we officially became part of the SonixCast Network of stations broadcasting out of Toronto, Canada.

All of our listen links have been updated on the FA Website, Shoutcast, TuneIn, FA WordPress site and soon iTunes (we are listed but there is an issue with the tune in link – this should be resolved on Monday).

We still remain commercial free!

TuneIn / Sonos Issue Resolved

For those that use Sonos devices, the issue with listening to FA through TuneIn has been resolved.  The issue was with the user agent type Sonos displays to the broadcasting software.  They use an agent that can be mistaken for stream ripping software.  As I am very proactive when it comes to Stream Rippers, I banned that agent.  I alerted Sonos to this and am waiting for a response.  In the meantime, as long I do not detect stream ripping, I will allow the agent.

September 2016 Artist Of The Month Poll

The September 2016 Artist of the Month Poll is up.  This month the choices are:

• Thomas Dolby / The Dream Academy (Last month’s runner up)
• John Foxx / Gangway
• The Go-Betweens / The Go-Go’s
• Heaven 17 / Nick Heyward

You can vote for the AoTM here or on the FA website.

That’s all for now.

As always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

 

#aotm, #fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #itunes, #shoutcast, #sonixcast, #sonos, #tunein

FA Alert – July 5th, 2016

Last night we reverted back to the old broadcast server and old web site.

We will be working on fixing the issues with the new server and site over the coming weeks.

Thank you for your patience.

DJ Ed

#broadcast-server, #flashback-alternatives-2, #website

FA Alert – July 4th, 2016

Web Site and Broadcast Server Issues

Over the weekend we migrated to a new broadcast server and a new temporary website.  We had the new broadcast server up and running for a few weeks without issue, but issues were uncovered shortly after we went live on Saturday.

We are still working on the root cause of the issues, but it does seem the temporary website might be source of the problems.

As a result, we have taken down the temporary site and are redirecting to our WordPress site as a backup.  On the right side (and below) are links to the streams, as well as to the Tag Board.

I hope to have the new website up within a few days.  Until then, there will be no request system available.   I am working on a temporary Now Playing / Just Missed link.

I apologize for any inconvenience.

Links:

Tune In 192kb MP3

Tune In 64kb AAC+

Tag Board (Chat)

As always, thanks for your patience, and for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

#fa-alerts, #flashback-alternatives-2

FA News – June 5th, 2016

Flashback Alternatives Returns To TuneIn!

Flashback Alternatives is once again listed on Tunein.com.  Both the 192kb and 64kb AAC+ streams are available.  In addition, the FA show schedule is also posted on our Tune In page.  Please note: Any pre-roll ads that play prior to stream launch are from Tune In, and not Flashback Alternatives.

July 2016 Artist of the Month Poll

The July 2016 Artist of the Month poll is available.  This month features June runners up Bronski Beat/The Buggles and Comateens/Elvis Costello as well as Lloyd Cole and the Commotions/The Cult and Thomas Dolby/The Dream Academy.  Vote today!

Support Flashback Alternatives

With the move back to being an independent station, our costs have gone up significantly.  Your support is greatly needed an appreciated.  Just a $2 monthly contribution goes a long way to helping Flashback Alternatives.  You can support us via PayPal.

Ethel Is On Vacation

Ethel needs a long overdue vacation, so our Monday Morning Merman segment will be replaced this month by Monday Morning Megadeath.   Thanks (?) to listener 824 for his generous contribution of Megadeath CDs, and “special thanks” to the New York Rangers for losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins making all of this possible.

As always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

#aotm, #bronski-beat, #comateens, #elvis-costello, #ethel-mermen, #fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #lloyd-cole, #megadeath, #support-flashback-alternatives, #the-buggles, #the-cult, #the-dream-academy, #thomas-dolby, #tunein

FA News – May 29th, 2016

Stream Changes

As of today (5/29/16) we have changed our streaming provider to ReliaStream.  The Stream Licensing links as well as the iTunes links have been updated.  We are now offering 192kb MP3 and 64kb AAC+ streams.  We have eliminated the 128kb MP3 stream as the 64kb AAC+ stream offers the same quality using less bandwidth.  At the same time, we have increased the number of slots for the 192kb stream.  The FA iTunes link points to the 192kb stream.

We have also instituted a 12-hr listening maximum.  After 12 hours you will be disconnected from the stream.  To continue listening, just restart the stream.  This is being done to cut down on ’empty chair’ listening.

The original 192kb stream will be taken offline later tonight.  If you are using any kind of direct URL to that stream, please follow the 192kb Listen Link on the FA Web Site.

Directory Updates

TuneIn: I still have not heard back from TuneIn regarding relisting Flashback Alternatives.  I am going to be resubmitting FA as a new station and not as an update.  Maybe that will help.

iTunes: iTunes has cleaned up all the Flashback Alternatives listings.  Now there is only one FA listing.

Shoutcast: Both the 192kb and 64kb streams will be listed on Shoutcast.

Twitter and Facebook Updates

We have resumed posting Now Playing on the #npflashalt Twitter feed.  Currently it is tweeting after every song, but that should change to every 30 minutes once the application settings are refreshed.

We are also sending those tweets to our Flashback Alternatives Facebook Page.

Stream Rippers

One of the reasons we switched stream providers are the tools available to us to block Stream Rippers.  Stream Rippers, plain and simple, will be banned from listening to Flashback Alternatives.  Once banned, you will not be allowed back.  This should not affect the majority of FA listeners, as I suspect most Stream Rippers are bots, but for those human stream rippers – support the artists and buy their music.

June Artist of the Month

There is still time to vote.  It is a very close race this month.  Visit http://goo.gl/VTa2VW to vote!

That’s all for now.

As always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

#fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #itunes, #reliastream, #shoutcast, #streamlicensing, #tunein

FA News – May 20th, 2016

Flashback Alternatives Returns to iTunes

As of last night, we again have a working link to Flashback Alternatives in iTunes.  Unfortunately, there are now four links to FA – with the first three not working.  The first is our old Live365 link which goes no where, the second and third are Radionomy links which now play some generic 80s station.  The fourth is the working FA link:

I have requested that iTunes remove the other three links as it is confusing.

Note: If you sort Z-A, then the first FA link would be the working link 🙂

TuneIn

I submitted my request to have Flashback Alternatives relisted in TuneIn earlier in the week.  Still no update.

Streema

For those that use Streema, they have updated their listing to point to the correct FA stream.

If you know of any other service that needs to be notified of the change, please let me know.

As always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

 

#fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #itunes, #streema, #tunein

FA News – May 17th, 2016

Radionomy Update

This morning, after careful consideration, I decided to completely delete the Radionomy FA station.   This is to ensure that there is no mistake about FA’s legal status with licensing and royalty agencies.  All FA streams are licenced with StreamLicensing.

The downside to this is that we do have iTunes listings that will continue to point to non-existent streams, and anyone tuning it via iTunes will be directed to another station in the directory.  I have contacted iTunes about pointing our old Live365 listing to our 128kb StreamLicensing stream.  I am hopeful they will be able to make that change sooner rather than later.  I have also contacted TuneIn and asked them to relist FA (all three bitrates) now that we are no longer part of Radionomy.

Tuning In To Flashback Alternatives

There has been some confusion about how to tune in to Flashback Alternatives.  Until our listings are updated (or re-added) with services like iTunes and TuneIn, you will need to tune in via the FA website Play Now! buttons.  Clicking on a PlayNow! button will bring you to our StreamLicensing page where you can either use their web player (HTML5 – not Flash) via the Click To Play icon

You can also use you can launch the stream in a player of your choice by clicking on “Tune in using your favorite external media player click here“.  That will bring up this window where you can select your player:

Lastly, if you open the Flashback Alternative website on a Smart Phone/Tablet and click on one of the Play Now! buttons, you will see the To Download And Listen Via IOS or Android Click Here link.  That will start the download of the StreamLicensing mobile app – with FA as the default station.

You can also tune in to Flashback Alternatives via the StreamLicensing directory.

If you have any question about how to tune in to Flashback Alternatives, please contact me here.

As always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

#fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #listen-to-fa, #radionomy, #streamlicensing

FA News – May 14th, 2016

FA Returns To Stream Licensing

As of Friday night (5/13/16) Flashback Alternatives has moved its live stream from Radionomy to Stream Licensing.   If you visit the Flashback Alternatives website you will see the new listen links.  The links will open to a separate listen page on the Stream Licensing domain.  Right now this is a generic page.  I will be working on the custom listen page this weekend.  This separate listen page is required to stay compliant with the various licencing and royalty agencies.

We are offering 192kb MP3, 128kb Mp3, and 64kb AAC+ streams.  192kb and 64kb streams have limited slots.  The 128kb stream is to be considered our main stream.  The custom listen links will automatically roll to the 128kb stream if the 192kb or 64kb streams are full.  You have the ability to tune in via a very nice HTML5 player or  you can listen with the app of your choice.  Also on that tune in page is a link where you can download the Stream Licensing app for your Smart Phone (IOS or Android) that will automatically play Flashback Alternatives!

Also – No More Ads!  With the move to StreamLicensing we are no longer required to air any ads (or Public Service Announcements).  FA will be commercial free again!  The one exception is a Pre-roll add that may play.  That is required by StreamLicensing’s new ownership group.

As a result of not having to incorporate ads in the programming, all FA shows will run 1 hr straight.  No more commercial breaks.

Moving back to StreamLicensing is quite honestly not cheap.  Hopefully a new Small Webcasters license will become available soon that will help reduce costs, but until then we are paying the same rates as the Pandora’s of the world.  Any listener support is greatly appreciated.

FA on Radionomy

We will be maintaining a presence on Radionomy – mainly because our iTunes links point there.  There is a basic stream still playing there with a few hundred track playlist.  We are running sweepers directing listeners back to the FA website if they want the full FA experience.

I will be working with iTunes to get our original FA listing (which is still up and pointing to the non-existent Live365 stream) switched to our StreamLicensing stream.

That’s it for now.. as always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

DJ Ed

 

 

#fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #itunes, #radionomy, #small-webcasters-agreement, #streamlicensing, #tunein

FA News – May 12, 2016

Radionomy News

As many of you are unfortunately aware, Radionomy has Geo-blocked some countries from tuning in to Radionomy streams.  They have communicated very little about what is going on.  This is just the latest of many recent issues with the Radionomy platform.  What started out looking like a good platform for Flashback Alternatives has quickly deteriorated.  In fairness to Radionomy, not all of their issues are their fault, but similar to what was going on towards the end of Live365, communication to the broadcasters about what is happening is piss poor.   So, effective this weekend (probably Friday night), we will be switching our live streams over to a new streaming host in conjunction with licensing via Stream Licensing.  We will be offering  128kb MP3 and 64kb ACC+ streams.   StreamLicensing itself was recently purchased by a radio group but they have said that things will not change – other than the insertion of a pre-roll ad prior to a stream launching.  There will be NO in stream ads.

I will also be maintaining a non-live feed of FA on Radionomy  – mainly because I have iTunes listings pointing to it, but also in case I need to return to Radionomy with the live feed.  I am going to try and have the old Live365 iTunes listing pointed to the new 128kb stream (it still points to a non-existent Live365 stream) as well as get relisted on Tunein.

StreamLicensing

Some may remember that we use StreamLicensing a few years back prior to moving back to Live365.  StreamLicensing requires all streams to launch from their domain for licensing and royalty purposes.  There will be no direct links to the streams from the FA website.  This just means one extra click.  StreamLicensing does have an HTML player and mobile apps as well.

With the move to becoming quasi-independent again, our costs are going to go up dramatically.   I am hoping to find additional listener support now that the station will be commercial free (although I do have requests to keep the Jill in the Forest PSA.. not).

In addition, I plan to limit listening to 8 hrs – after which you will have to restart the stream.  This is to keep costs down.  I don’t mind paying for actual listeners, but would rather not pay for empty chairs.   Streamrippers will also be blocked and banned.

FA 9:00pm Shows

As a result of moving back with StreamLicensing and not having to worry about commercials, all FA shows will be able to return to a 1 hr format with no interruptions.   It might be a week before everyone can get there shows back into a one hour format, but this will be a welcome change for all.

That’s all for now, and as always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives.

DJ Ed

 

#fa-news, #flashback-alternatives-2, #radionomy, #streamlicensing