About this project

Christmas Music 24/7 is a network of Internet radio stations, run by one guy, Michael Clark, from his home. Yes, I listen to Christmas Music the entire year. And so do many other people. I've received notes from missionaries, tourists, and people homebound who have been appreciative of being able to get some Christmas cheer any time of the year. Since I started webcasting in 2004, I have had over 4.8 million listeners. That's an incredible response. But all of this takes a fair amount of money and time to keep running.

History

In November 2004 I started the station just to share the Christmas carols and other music I had collected. That Christmas season the station peaked with just over 1,600 listener hours (a listener hour is one person listening to a station for one hour. Or 60 people listening for one minute). But I had a great time, and I received several email messages thanking me for the station. So I kept the station up throughout 2005, as a test of the market.

Despite a massive server crash in July 2005, the number of listeners was steadily increasing. There were more listeners in September 2005 than in all of December 2004. By the end of December 2005, Christmas Music 24/7 was the #1 Christmas station, and #33 of all the 5,000+ Live365 stations.

In 2006, I took the station professional. This allowed me to grow the size of the station. It also meant I have to pay the royalties for the music played on the station myself. But more on that later. If you use iTunes, two of my stations are listed under the Religious category of radio stations. By Christmas Day, 2006, Christmas Music 24/7 was the third most popular station at Live365.

My instrumental/jazz station launched on January 1, 2007. That station grew slowly, but has gathered a dedicated bunch of listeners. I’ve received emails from listeners thanking me for the instrumental station, several noted that it helped calm their kids down at bedtime during the hectic Christmas season. In 2007, the traditional station was the #2 station, and the instrumental station was #4.

2008 was a busy year, the recession hurt everyone. But my stations were heard in 174 different countries. And the traditional station was the most popular station at Live365, and the instrumental station was the second most popular station.

Expenses and Goals

It costs me approximately $2,500 a year to pay for the royalties for webcasting. I also have other expenses, such as purchasing new music, web hosting, office and computer supplies. If this project is funded, it will guarantee that the stations will be able to stay on the web for 2010, plus I will be able to add new stations in other musical genres. I'd love to be able to better help the independent artists I play. Maybe I could start selling CDs. Much of the music I am sent each year is by an artist who only has one or two Christmas songs to release. A collection of those songs onto one CD would help everyone.

Pass it on

Also, 10 % of the funds raised through this campaign will be donated to the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation. http://www.chargesyndrome.org. CHARGE syndrome is a genetic condition and refers to individuals with a specific set of birth defects and medical problems.

Rewards

The CDs that are included in the rewards are artists that play on the stations. A full listing of artist and album names will be posted shortly.

Links

http://www.christmasmusic247.com is the primary site for the stations.