ST. PETERSBURG - Music Tampa Bay is a 24/7/365 internet radio station based out of St. Petersburg. What makes Music Tampa Bay standout from most other internet radio stations in the Tampa Bay area is that Music Tampa Bay only plays music from local original artists and bands.
Music Tampa Bay’s music programming normally operates with FM or better quality stereo. As of early 2011, more than 1500 songs representing the creativity of 300 + local artists were being heard on a regular basis. With over 200 songs heard every day on the station, Music Tampa Bay plays songs from popular local artists such as: Diamond Gray, Deloris Telescope, Charlie Morris Band, Constance, Steve Arvey, Charlie Souza, Cope, Four Star Riot, Rebel Pride, Savii, Funky Seeds, Gary Schutt, Sweet Spot, TC Carr, Woody & The Woodtones, Jennifer Lee, Geri X, Grecian Urns, Lee Pons, Mena Brinno, Molten Mike, Michael McMagic, Mojo Gurus, North 2 South, Rebekah Pulley & The Reluctant Prophets, Sarasota Slim, Saturn Five, Strange Brew, Surfin' Racoons, and many, many more.
Aside from just playing music from local artists and bands on the air, Music Tampa Bay’s website also has a “New Music” section where visitors can see which bands and musicians have new records available, along with descriptions/reviews of the albums.
Every week the station publishes their “Big Bay 66" list on their website as well. The “Big Bay 66" is a list of the top 66 songs on Music Tampa Bay. Songs are ranked in the “Big Bay 66" by a variety of criteria, including but not limited to
- recording quality and amount of studio production employed, including musical arrangement & lyrics,
- Artist visibility at Tampa Bay area venues and in the press and other forms of media, especially airplay on WMNF
- Number of plays posted on MySpace page and other online artist links.
Aside from the “Big Bay 66" list, Music Tampa Bay also publishes a weekly “Top 10" list as well. Songs are ranked in the “Top 10" according to votes casted by listeners.
Every year Music Tampa Bay also publishes their “Top 100 Songs of the year” list which is voted on by the listeners.
History of Music Tampa Bay:
Music Tampa Bay was originally launched on July 6th, 2003, and has continued to grow ever since. Music streaming formally began in Winamp/Shoutcast mode only on March 6th, 2005. A 2nd audio stream accessible through Windows Media Players was added on February 5th, 2007.
Studio operations originally emanated from a harbor-side home studio in Indian Rocks Beach before relocating to it’s current facilities at the southern end of St Petersburg back in September of 2006.
Significant down time was recorded in the first year of operation beginning in September until March of the following year. Another significant (but planned) off-line period occurred in the Fall of 2007. Since the Fall of 2007, music streaming has continued without interruption.
Automated music rotation software was installed and adopted for play-list operations beginning about the 1st of November, 2007. This improvement made it possible to greatly expand and diversify the song selection process. Following the installation, New music was then added, including a massive infusion of new material in early 2008.
In September 2008 a major change in streaming operations occurred when all music files, media players, encoders and music scheduling software was moved from computers at the home studio in St Pete to a new dedicated virtual server in cyber space. This move enabled constant monitoring and updating of content from anywhere in the world (which has already occurred from such distant locations as Europe, Canada and Alaska), without regard for local connectivity conditions at the Music Tampa Bay bayside studio. Almost exactly one year later in August 2009, storage capacity for maintaining the Music Tampa Bay music library was tripled and bandwidth quadrupled to permit an expanded playlist reaching an ever increasing number of listeners. On September 28th, 2009, an interactive song voting feature was installed in the Top 10 list posted on the homepage, enabling listeners, for the first time, to have a direct voice in the selection of the songs that appear on this list in future weeks.
Live streaming events began in late 2009, with live programming taking place from Pro Star Studios in St Petersburg. Another event was heard in this fashion a year later from Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa. Music Tampa Bay plans more live streaming in the months and years ahead.
System testing, configuration changes & server issues occasionally force program interruptions, and in rare instances, abrupt program changes lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes or more. Planned downtime, including estimated time of service resumption, is normally posted prominently on the home page with accompanying announcements in the music stream in advance of these events. Attempts are being made to keep these to a minimum, and scheduled in off peak listening time periods, usually very late at night.
Music Tampa Bay’s possible future plans include:
- Listener interactivity in the selection of music
- Download and upload options
- Podcasts
- Premiums and give-a-ways (T-Shirts, cups, etc)
- Additional live/remote/on-site web-casts
- opportunities for social networking
Special program segments such as Blues, Folk and Jazz shows on designated days and times are also under consideration.
Contacting Music Tampa Bay:
If you are a local musician or band and would like to submit your song(s) for air-play on Music Tampa Bay, you can do so by any of the following ways:
- Give Music Tampa Bay permission by email, text or other means to rip or download your music from links you provide in writing.
- Send an mp3 or other standard format audio file by email for immediate consideration.
- Mail a CD, cassette, reel to reel tape, vinyl record, or any other hard copy media along with permission to stream to Music Tampa Bay at PO Box 11874 St. Peterburg, Florida 33733.
When submitting songs to Music Tampa Bay, Submitting royalty waivers are appreciated and may also be used in assigning higher favor ability when scheduling music for air-play.
Listeners who may have any suggestions, comments, criticisms, complaints, or compliments are encouraged to submit ideas by using the guest book on the contact page, or by sending an email to rick@musictampabay.com or musictampabay@msn.com.
© copyright 2012 KAM Music Publishing.
Keith Wilkins is a syndicated music columnist living in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Keith's syndicated St. Petersburg Live music Bar Scene column originates on the Examiner and was the "2010 Most Read Examiner Column" in the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) market. Keith's #1 rated column is also syndicated on The Bay Buzz, World News America, and several other publications as well.
All articles published in the St. Petersburg Live Music Bar Scene column are written by Keith Wilkins, and fall under federal copyright laws. Articles cannot be re-printed, re-posted, or re-produced in whole without written consent by the author (Keith Wilkins), KAM Music Publishing, or the Examiner.com. Partial re-printing, re-posting, or re-producing with a link back to the original article is permitted. For consent, questions, or comments, please email Keith Wilkins c/o Amy Joyner at: kampublishing@aol.com.
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