V I R T U A L W O R L D
WEB RADIO by George Key

It is 10.30 on a Thursday night and I'm outside a shop in Hammersmith, west London. After a while a smiling face appears over the other side, crosses, opens the door and greets me. It is Higely aka DJ Shock, and I am here to see a little preparatory work for a radio show going out on Friday night.

The preparation is for a broadcast going out on what you might call Pirate Radio, except that it's not radio and it's not Pirate. You see, this broadcast is going out on the information superhighway, digitalised into binary lightwaves and transported at fantastic speeds along fibre optic cables for gigantic distances, cool eh? This is Web broadcasting and it occurs to me that it is something we will be hearing (and seeing) a lot more of in the future.

This is not a pirate show, as the virtual space that is the world wide web is relatively unregulated, and to broadcast all you need is a site to broadcast, a modem to transmit, means to digitise tunes and of course music. There are also a lot of optional extras. On the other end the listener needs a modem to receive and a computer with sound card to decode and amplify. The modem appears to be the crux of the issue, in that it is inexpensive and can act as both transmitter and receiver. Moreover the modem is able to operate in a variety of different mediums, not only radio, but images as well. As 1 look, my broadcast has ceased being a pirate radio show and mysteriously become virtually anything.

Picture this; in the studio, a digital camera, producing live footage of the Djs mixing it down. Add a VJ to the Djs and splice in video footage with computer generated graphics, film clips, photographs and words; this technology seems ready to blow our concepts of broadcasting and that's on the creative side. Travelling enormously fast, this information is received digitally perfect, ending the days of adding a coat hanger to your ariel to get your favourite station. The transmission can also be received anywhere in the world, so the days of Long Wave World Service may also soon be numbered. The number and location of receivers will he registered as 'hits' on the web site, giving it instant demographic for the show's producers and investors. Feedback will be direct as receivers can comment, contributors make requests and give virtual shouts out through the chat room. Even though the audience size in the UK is not large at the moment, both the global and domestic markets are expanding fast. The 'little black box'that has been in design by corporations for some time will soon be on the market. It is possible that as many homes as now have TVs will also have access to the internet within the forseeable future. What now seems complex technology, will soon be fairly commonplace technology. Tony Blair may need to be a little more careful in his plans to bring the world wide web to the classroom with digital broadcasting around.

Five pm Friday, after the usual atrocious London traffic we arrive in the nick of time at the broadcast studios in a basement in Farringdon. It's a drive time show, but considering that the receivers are all at their computers and in different time zones there is probably no-one stuck in traffic apart from the Djs due to follow us. This is the home of Interface, the largest live digital broadcasters currently 'on air'. There is a momentary technical hitch but we are soon underway. While the Djs, the Juice Box boys get busy, Hector one of the four partners in Interface shows me around. The decks and microphone are plugged direct into computer A which concentrates solely on digitising the information, which is then transmitted through the modem to the server in Chiswick, and from the server to the listeners round the world. Machine B hosts Interface's website chatroom, a place where listeners can interact with the organisers, Djs and other listeners. As 1 am being shown around, Scandinavians, Japanese and Americans all give shouts out.

Sebastian is hosting the Chatroom and says that he gets visitors from all over the world but that sometimes things get a little crowded. It seems that even though internet deregulation appears to be a good thing, unless some streamlining occurs and rules governing the publishing and distribution are legislated the Internet will become the new M25 of virtual information. There are also still teething problems with the digitisation (ie that it takes 8 seconds) and the fantasy of crystal clear world-wide broadcasts still seems a little distant The technology is developing fast though and the ironing out of these problems and the expansion into lnternet TV, video streaming and many other exceedingly snacky things, does mean that this is a business going places. It seems that maybe the edge of technology develops a little too rapidly for the support services, and that the infrastructure is now heaving a little under the strain of all the information being carried.

Currently, Interface is broadcasting 90 hours a week, but before long it will be round the clock. They consider the Djs part of the gang, as the Djs pay the costs of their own transmissions, but there is an impressive rota already assembled. The equipment though expensive seems reasonably simple and Interface currently have plenty of industry backing and technical support. Hector seems optirnistic for Interface. This is a rapidly growing industry in both market place and parameters and they are in the vanguard. There are, however, crippling telephone bills to be dealt with; "running into several zeros, " was all Hector said. The servers costs are not cheap either, but the Djs contributions keep everything afloat which is why they are considered part of the family. Interface are not the only digital broadcasters. There are some big companies like Virgin involved. Gala Live is another 'radio station' which broadcasts live all weekend with lots of big names from the techno world such as Mr C, Colin Dale and Colin Faver. As long ago as 1995 I remember hearing Future Sound of London doing a simultaneous radio and Internet broadcast on Radio 1's essential mix, typically FSOL were well ahead of the game. More recently I discover that Interface provided the links for Return To The Source's Earthdance, which took place in 16 different countries at 24 different locations.

Technology can bring us together and it can empower us. It is a frightening and complicated thing, more than in part because of its mind blowing possibilities. When we begin to see the many different ways it can work for us, though- things begin to change. It opens the door to new levels of creativity and openness. The market place is alive at the moment, and we can be part of it. There are opportunities for new world wide collaborations and finally the world is becoming a smaller place. It's an exciting time and an exciting vibe. I suggest you blag yourself a slot on your nearest global broadcaster and start having it!