I've been listening to Sheffield Live! for the last few minutes and I've heard The Human League's "Open Your Heart" followed by The Human League's "The Sound Of The Crowd", The Human League's "Darkness" and The Human League's "Do Or Die". I've just dug out my copy of The Human League's "Dare" album and the tracks I've just heard are tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the album. I haven't heard a DJ speak between the tracks and I suspect it is because there isn't a DJ there - someone has just put a CD on and left it playing.

Was community radio set up so that stations could broadcast albums uninterrupted?

regardless of whether its automated, all stations need music licences, which allow playout of music (surprisingly), but these are very much restricted - playing out more than a certain number of tracks by the same artist would probably be illegal - as would playing out a copyrighted album.

Just after I started this thread someone spoke on air and claimed that testing was taking place and there would be a programme in the same time slot tomorrow. However, according to the station's website the licence runs from today (the 16th of June), earlier in the day I heard music being played in the same DJ and jingle-free manner and that is how it is broadcasting now. Does the station have any volunteers and programmes or is it just going to broadcast a series of CDs?

It has presenters and does broadcast live. I know they are trying to get an outside broadcast van sorted out for local festivals like Heeley this weekend so they might be trying to do a signal check, by using the same album they can test the signal strength ect.

Originally posted by carcrash
It has presenters and does broadcast live. I know they are trying to get an outside broadcast van sorted out for local festivals like Heeley this weekend so they might be trying to do a signal check, by using the same album they can test the signal strength ect.

Time will tell how many presenters it has or whether or not it always broadcasts live during this FM broadcast. However, if it has presenters why has the station hardly broadcast on the Internet this year? In its application for a full-time FM licence it claimed that it regularly broadcasts on four days a week and broadcasts a total of 72 hours per week but this year it hasn't broadcast at all some weeks and in the weeks when it has broadcast it has often only been on air for two half-days a week. It broadcast on a similarly haphazard basis last year and it broadcast albums uninterrupted and used automation a lot. Where, or more importantly why, have most of the station's volunteers gone?

I don't know why the station is trying to get an outside broadcast van sorted out. Its outline business plan of last year states it already has "a van housing a mobile studio facility". If it already has one like it says it has why would it need to sort one out?

Theres a hospital radio station here in Scunthorpe, and whenever you drive past the hospital, Hallam FM turns to Hospital FM, and they often have children presenting it for work experience!

Fingers, I know you have a problem with sheffield live for whatever reason. I'm one of the organisers of Heeley festival which takes place this Saturday. I met one of the people who work there last week and they were looking into the possibilty of taking a live feed from my mixing desk into their broadcast van.
I was told that the van wasn't ready and they would be doing some work on it this week and it should be ready for Thursday/ Friday. Perhaps they have upgraded some of the spec.

Originally posted by carcrash
I know you have a problem with sheffield live for whatever reason

My problem is with how Sheffield Live! has been run and judging by the mass exodus of volunteers over the last 18 months lots of people feel the same way (indeed, I expect you'd struggle to find many volunteers who've been there more than a few months). As well as leaving the station with an insufficient number of volunteers the exodus has also deprived the station of much-needed expertise, experience and enthusiasm. The serious problems at the station have been apparent for a long time but those problems have not been solved by the station's management or directors because the behaviour of the management and the directors are the root cause of the problems and they are not accountable to the people who do most of the work at the station who are the volunteers.

Originally posted by carcrash
I was told that the van wasn't ready and they would be doing some work on it this week and it should be ready for Thursday/ Friday. Perhaps they have upgraded some of the spec.

The station is approximately five years old and has broadcast on FM on a regular basis so things like training volunteers, maintaining the website and dealing with technical issues should be being done very well by now but they are not. I've never expected volunteers to be treated like employees (although I was), a massive ever-changing website or the level of technical precision that the BBC and major commercial broadcasters have the means to achieve but Sheffield Live! could and should have been a lot better than it has been. The main reasons why it has under-achieved is because the station's management aren't suited to the job of running a radio station and they don't really care about Sheffield Live!, community radio or any community in Sheffield anyway. Sheffield Live! exists in order to encourage people (and preferably gullible and insecure people) to become members of The Drum which helps increase The Drum's funding and the recent developments in community radio have been treated as an opportunity to obtain further funding for The Drum.

If you are happy and you know it clap your hands..............

I've got a strong faith in the DIY aspect of music in it's many different forms from putting on gigs, record label, radio, promoting, playing, producing, finding and supporting. it has never been easier to do many of these things and broadcasting is the same.
Stop getting so wound up about sheffield live and get on and do your own stuff.
The Sheffield Live license starts today, not yesterday.

whats sheffield live adn where can i tune in?

http://www.sheffieldlive.org/