As you can see, there has been several dramatic changes to 2PR FM over the last few days.  Much of it of course has been done very hesitantly, but due to several changes to various laws, and regulations across the world, we've had to close our entire program schedule. 

After presenting radio programs on an "audio on demand" format for over eight years, it is very much in a way the end of a marriage, (yes I did say that), it being a very enjoyable time, and no doubt a decade in which a lot of new ground was broken.

Like any marriage, there has been the good, great, and exciting times, but also some rather rough and horrible patches, mostly in 2002 when our first web-hosts wanted to play ransom as various programs and sections were constantly deleted from our first site. 

Then there was the high point of it all, our 24 hour a day, 31 day long live test broadcast which aired during August and September of 2009.

Is this the end of 2PR permanently?

I'm in deed very glad to say DEFINITELY NOT!!.  We are actually moving into a much more exciting and bigger period of our history, with some new sponsors (at last) and for this station to reach a much larger audience through heavy promotion during 2010. 

This will mean a potential of thousands of listeners, most of which would enjoy our mix, but unfortunately with so many great people, they will no doubt be the few that want to cause harm, and bring attention to anything we may be doing wrong.  This would then lead to issues of a legal nature, something we would like to stay well clear of.

2PR FM's Copyright policies then and now.

As many of our listeners know, we have always taken the issue of illegal music copying very seriously, hence 2PR being the first web-caster to employ copy-locking technology in late 2002.  In addition artist and album links have been noted through out the website, and through the various playlists.  This is and always will be for easier retrieval of relevant information should it be required for the purchase of any records and CDs. 

We have always believed that musicians and artists will sell more of their music, when it is played on various outlets such as web-radio.  Over the last eight odd years, we have received hundreds of inquiries about the music we've played, as listeners were interested in purchasing the music they have heard on 2PR. 

We support the artists and performers,
but not the extortionate rates and licensing schemes proposed.

With this in mind, we've always believed that artists, performers, and musicians should be paid their royalties and the proceeds of their music.  Like everyone else, they need to invest in their music, such as recording studios, instruments, touring, session musicians, living expenses, and so on, they need to cut their bread and butter like the rest of us, but at the end of the day, not at the expense of shutting down internet radio. 

With so much music moving around on the internet, there is some understanding why the major labels are paranoid about the new digital landscape, such as "peer to peer" file sharing, several download sites, and the act of social groups and families copying discs and records.  Any music artist today would have every right to be concerned about this new reality, as it is one that's constantly changing and evolving.

Though there is a need to clamp down on illegal file sharing, coupling other areas of the internet, such as internet radio with these activities, is of shear ignorance, and as noted on several articles on the internet, is turning consumers against the major labels.

Simply putting it, file sharing is the direct replication of exact digital files from one computer to another without any degradation.  However internet radio is a totally different ball game. 

If people want to record music off internet radio, they would need to navigate through the various segments that are applied between songs.  These may include voice overs, advertisements, announcements, and on top of this varying bit-rates. Ultimately, all of the material played on an internet station like 2PR, is constantly mixed, meaning that songs are often crossfaded, where song intro's and endings are lost.

Once the people inside record companies can clearly distinguish between the two, this would be a lot easier for web-casters, but at present, this is not the case. 

So where is 2PR FM heading?

At present, we are still looking through some web-streaming hosts that are completely complient with the Sound-Exchange and RIAA licensing requirements.  This is because both this website and the streaming hosts we choose will both be resident in the United States. 

Upon checking the viability of the service, and knowing it has the supported features we need to broadcast, we'll commence another live test, which will appear here any day now.

At present, our live tests will be of a few weeks at a time, to work through 2PR's on-air software.  Though we have a large music library loaded into our studio computer already, they are still literally thousands of tracks that need to be added, something that will take at least another year.

Stayed tuned to this channel as updates are happening regularly.