We're still collecting donations
On the 27th July 2020 we'd raised £6,110 with 70 supporters in 43 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
COVID-19 has wiped out The AND Guide. To continue to champion the Southampton scene I'm raising funds for the excitingly different AND RADIO
On the 27th July 2020 we'd raised £6,110 with 70 supporters in 43 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
The £4k target is required by Solent LEP to qualify for their fund matching up to a maximum of £2k. The stretch target of £10k if achieved, should get AND RADIO through the next 4 months. Fingers crossed. AND thank you in advance.
Good for Southampton, good for local music, good for you!
If your answer is "YES" to any of the below, AND RADIO is for you!
Sign up for one of our unique rewards now ... or read on for more details.
My apologies, I've never done any crowdfunding so please bear with me.
AND RADIO is my exciting new project to champion Southamptons' music & entertainment scene, now that The AND Guide has sadly been forced to close.
Like any new business it needs funds. Like any business in the entertainment industry ... it needs them now. So, after 2 months waiting for a promised call-back from Barclays I'm here, in unknown territory ... Crowdfunding.
The current situation for many of our performers, bars, cafes and venues, particularly the independent ones is critical. All are struggling, some may not survive. So for the time being, I've thrown out AND RADIO's business model in favour of fun ways for anyone to get involved and get it the cash it needs right now, to continue it's agenda to promote our artists, venues and good causes through this crisis and beyond.
The offers are on the right (or below if you're on a mobile). All, I think would make unique and memorable gifts for music lovers.
So if you like what I'm trying to do with AND RADIO? Please support it. Even a little helps a lot and I thank you. :)
Many of you will have seen and enjoyed my AND Guide listings newspaper. Picked up at over 600 places across the region, it had been championing the Southampton area music and leisure scene for over 6 years. It provided a showcase for our talented bands and performers, promotion for our venues, pubs and theatres and a platform for businesses and good causes to tell their stories.
Sadly, as with many businesses in the hospitality industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out The AND Guide.
But with every difficulty comes an opportunity. With Brexit looming a while back, I'd taken the precaution of starting a new project; AND RADIO ... just incase leaving Europe made it difficult for my advertisers to afford the paper, or venues to host the same amount of live music. Until now though I'd not had the time to drive it forward the way I wanted.
Lockdown changed that. I'm now well on the way to turning AND RADIO from a cool idea supported by a newspaper, to an awesome and exciting standalone internet radio station. AND with it, I'm going to continue the job of driving our music scene forward that temporarily stopped with the demise of The AND Guide.
The paper was all about the quality of its content as opposed to simply filling it with advertising. If I didn't trust what a company was selling ... I wouldn't run their ad. Nor would I write about or endorse anything because I was paid to ... and I never allowed the advertising ratio to go above 30%.
AND RADIO has the same ethic. It's all about the music. It has no advertising. I intend to keep it that way. (Just as a bit of fun ... do you know how many ads your typical commercial radio station might run as a block? 4? 6? 8? I'll tell you at the end.) The station will be paid for by programme and feature sponsorships, donations and imaginative ideas, none of which will be on-air adverts.
AND RADIO is an internet radio station from Southampton, available free on its website or via its free Apps ... it’s genuinely music mad. Music from every era and genre … with classic tracks from legendary artists, the best of modern day, beloved album tracks and rarities ... all providing a quality environment to include the best songs from our own gifted local bands and singers … past and present! AND RADIO is all about the music! Eclectic? You bet! But only the good stuff!
And 'all about the music' driving the local scene forward by helping local venues, enticing headline artists to play in the city and showcasing and encouraging our own bands and performers by covering events, playing their releases and sponsoring festivals, workshops, causes, competitions and more.
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When I put my business model together I wanted to make the station accessible to all, not just the ones with deep pockets.
I settled on a marketing plan of 30@£30. That is to find 30 sponsors paying just £30 each per week. That was going fab ... with a bunch of companies signed up and plenty of others interested. Then COVID 19 happened ... and Lockdown. My customers and leads vanished almost overnight, all of them concerned about the future and their own survival ... as was I.
But ... as we're all in this together, I've decided to temporarily throw out my business model and offer affordable opportunities for as many people to get involved as possible. I think it represents an exciting low cost opportunity to have a bit of fun, raise profile, particularly in the Southampton area while at the same time helping AND RADIO and its agenda to promote our music scene through a quality national music platform.
As a new station, I have to promote AND RADIO to absolute bits and I will! Anyone that knows me will tell you I do publicity really, really well.
So, for those that can afford a little, to piggyback on that publicity is really a no brainer. And ... by purchasing one of the options below, however big or small; not only will you be helping AND RADIO survive, you'll also be helping it support the causes I've listed above and my lovely struggling AND Guide customers. We're all in this together. I figure those of us that can, should support those that can't. Which is why I've given them all free on-air AND Family Shoutouts and web links on www.andradio.co.uk/our-and-family, just to keep their profiles up throughout this crisis. AND ... with your help, I'll continue to do that for as long as is needed.
To make involvement available to all, there are benefits for even the smallest budget.
Can you spare a tenner towards our battle pot? If we get over 100, I'll invite you and all the other contributors to a free concert at one of Southampton's premier venues. No, not asked them or the bands yet. But we're all in this together so consider it a done deal!
Pledge £25 today to get your name on the ANDRADIO.co.uk Funders Wall. It'll stay there forever. So, if AND RADIO becomes the cult station we’re working so for ... you can proudly point to it and say "I helped build that".
Pledge £35 today to get your name or whoever you choose as a present, on the ANDRADIO.co.uk Funders Wall with your photograph and a short comment. It'll stay there forever. So, if AND RADIO becomes the cult station we want it to be ... you or your whoever you've gifted it to, can proudly point to it and say "that was me, I helped build that!".
Want to hear your name or a loved one's on AND RADIO? For £50 we'll make your chosen name into an AND RADIO Shoutout jingle.
We'll also send you an MP3 of the finished jingle to impress your friends, or to give as a present.
When will it play? We'll play a random Shoutout from however many we get, 12 times a day for the next 6 months (as we are at the moment for our 'AND FAMILY Shoutouts' - listen in to check it out).
As with the 'ON AIR Shoutout' but with a fab addition! With this reward when your jingle plays, it will also show your chosen artwork, which could be a photo, a logo, or any other image. To see this demonstrated download our free Apps.
Combine Funders Wall with Photograph with ON AIR Shoutout and save £10.
For £100 you can put together a 1 hour, one-off playlist from our library. Including your own namecheck jingle played at the start and during the show with the entire broadcast recorded and sent to you as an MP3. Date of stream at discretion of AND RADIO.
In addition your chosen playlist artwork will show as artwork on the Apps during all AND RADIO idents.
For £150 you can put together a 2 hour, one-off playlist from our library. Including your own namecheck jingle played at the start and during the show with the entire broadcast recorded and sent to you as an MP3. Date of stream at discretion of AND RADIO.
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Can't afford anything? No problem, I get that totally. I'm forced to crowdfund! But you can still help. Just by listening regularly grows our audience which will help me considerably, once I get the chance to sit in front of a prospective programme sponsor whose first question will no doubt be "how many people are listening?"
Somewhere on the horizon the Southampton music scene will return to normal, with your help, The AND Guide - in radio form - will still be a significant part of it.
If you've got this far ... thanks for sticking with me. AND if you've decided to get involved with the crowdfunding ... a truly massive virtual hug! It will certainly make a huge amount of difference. Please ask your friends to join in.
Thank you ... it means a lot.
Martin :) x
Oh and how many ads? Ready for this? Up to 10, often 8. Yes really!
Usually followed by a jingle that boasts 'more music'. More music than what? Not AND RADIO I promise you that.
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