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A new frontier in radio streaming

At first glance, you might think the world doesn’t need another new online radio station. There are already so many and some are pretty good at what they do. Retired IT security analyst Larry Travis thought differently.
Larry Travis has set up an Internet radio station in his home where he plays music by local artists.
Larry Travis has set up an Internet radio station in his home where he plays music by local artists.

At first glance, you might think the world doesn’t need another new online radio station. There are already so many and some are pretty good at what they do.

Retired IT security analyst Larry Travis thought differently. He is founder and head honcho of Edmontunes, an Internet radio station streaming area musicians’ original songs for listeners in every corner of the world to enjoy.

Edmontunes’ playlist consists of 400 songs submitted from 121 artists in five genres – rock, roots, blues, jazz and country. The playlist runs 24-seven using a random mix of charts.

Travis is a bit of an accidental CEO. For years he was into taking photos for bands and was acquainted with a large number of musician-singer-songwriters. Most were finding it quasi impossible to be played on commercial radio stations.

Two years ago, while sharing a morning coffee with his wife, the radio savvy entrepreneur was flipping through Internet stations searching for local music.

“I couldn’t find anything,” said Travis frustrated that the capital region’s diversity and richness of talent was unavailable.

“In a week, I’d put together the first version of the radio station,” simply using a Linux computer, Airtime software and Shout, a streaming service. By March 2013 Edmontunes was wavestreaming an eclectic cocktail of music.

Initially Travis abstained from traditional forms of advertising to get the word out. Instead he invited artists to submit music while visiting jams, through ReverbNation, SoundCloud and Facebook.

“My whole intent was to keep it as organically grown as possible, as grassroots as possible. I wanted the artists to come to me. I didn’t want to force it. Now that I can see that it’s viable and the word is getting out, I want to open it up to more artists and listeners.”

Interestingly enough, listeners come from as far away as China, the United States, Brazil, Russia and Germany.

“I have a large following from Germany. I think it’s because I registered with Internet radio directories that are popular in that part of the world.”

The website at www.edmontunes.com provides a list of artists and just by skimming through the list, it’s obvious there is a strong musical component from St. Albert.

The variety ranges from Wayne Allchin’s blues rock to Natty Valencia’s pop and Danita Lynn’s country vocals.

Joel Kleine, bass player and backup vocalist for Bombproof the Horses, is the first to applaud Travis’ initiative. The four-piece St. Albert band submitted an EP for consideration. Three songs were chosen for the playlist.

“It makes it possible to know what’s happening in your area, and we’re in a day and age where as a musician you need to get music out in as many ways as possible,” said the former St. Albert resident.

Andrew White, vocalist for MarketForces, enjoys listening to Edmontunes on Sundays while he’s puttering around the house.

“There’s so much music out there. For us avid music fans, we’re looking for an aggregator, someone to pare down the choices so it’s not overwhelming. It’s nice to have someone go through the music before we listen to it.

MarketForces tendered both their albums and two songs from each album were selected for digital delivery including Shining.

White sees online streaming as the future of music sales after an American podcast featured the band’s music and helped sell a lot of records that day.

“It’s wonderful to have a locally positioned Internet radio station. It plays a variety of music and it makes me proud to be a St. Albertan.”

Since the radio station launched nearly two years ago, Travis has added more equipment to his Parkview basement studio. Capturing a visitor’s attention is a mixing board, microphones, stands, cables and recording gear for future interviews.

But Travis is still cautious about growing too quickly.

“I’d like to see it grow organically and if it bears monetary compensation, I’d like it to become a profit-sharing with the artists.”

Listen at www.myradiostream.com/edmontunes.

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