Pay As You Go

Pay as you go but it's free to listen.  A few days ago I was talking to a guy who runs a streaming radio station I asked him how he made money?  He said, "Just like the big guys, I don't, but I do break even." He gets some revenue from advertising gigs but the rest of the revenue comes from the DJs on the station, they pay him to be 'on the air' which pays for the PRS and MCPS licence and daily running costs of the station. It gives them a profile and a stage to get more 'real' work such as gigs and private DJing work. 

It reminds me of another friend who runs a station in Portugal he expects his DJ's to work for next to nothing and create their own income either by sponsorship or advertising, which he takes a percentage or they can use the station for profile for their other work in clubs etc.

I can't see this model working in commercial radio in the UK.  But in 2011 there will be some searching questions to be answered about revenue streams and commercial radios relationship to sad tired old spot adverting.  OFCOM's new product placement rules could be part of the answer, who knows? I do think 2011 could be quite a bumpy ride.