Brooklyn's Boombox
Dear Kickstarter Supporter,
Welcome to BBOX Radio. We are a freeform internet radio station that calls a recycled shipping container in Downtown Brooklyn, home. BBOX is owned, operated, and run by the Brooklyn community, and, with your help, will be broadcast live to the world online.
Here's a sampling of BBOX Radio for you while you check out our Kickstarter.
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We got our start three months ago when the BBOX team won a competition that asked to repurpose a shipping container in the new, outdoor, Dekalb Market. We designed BBOX as something more than just an internet radio station.
We are a live performance venue, with space to accommodate hundreds of people for concerts, screenings, performances... events of any kind. BBOX is also a gallery space curated by our exhibit designers that can display the work of Brooklyn artists to crowds visiting the Dekalb Market. BBOX is a place where you can interact with show hosts, hear great music, meet people, and spark spontaneous collaborations.
The competition gave us a foundation to build on. Now we have a roster of original programming, developed from an open call to Brooklyn and New York City, that broadcasts live at the market. Your pledges will bring BBOX Radio's shows online.
What will BBOX Radio have to offer? Check out Afrika21 for 21st century music from the African continent. Listen to Unicorn Pudding for some magical rock and roll. Play The Many Sides of Green for discussions on urban sustainability in Brooklyn and beyond. Underground hip hop comes at you via The ZRO Hour, a venerable podcast that's made the jump to BBOX Radio. And Filmwax talks films, and interviews directors, producers, and actors to compliment its screening series.
We have come to Kickstarter to launch our internet stream, return our friends' microphones, and become, fully, BBOX Radio: The beat of Brooklyn.
The BBOX Radio Community
BBOX Radio broadcasts what Brooklyn is listening to and talking about, and features programs by community partners focused on local culture, education, and news. We are developing radio shows with Carter Magazine and their youth journalists, PenTales and their global storytelling network, and programs featuring the Dekalb Market farmers, artists, designers and chefs.
We now have a passionate, ever-expanding team including 33 hosts for over 20 radio shows and almost 40 volunteers helping with production, events, outreach and design.
What Does it Cost to Run BBOX Radio?
We started BBOX with the winnings of Urban Space's "Not Just A Container" design competition which included $3,000 and six months free rent at the market. That money was quickly gobbled up by building materials and other mundane costs like mandated insurance. But we dug into our pockets, borrowed some equipment from our friends, and put together a Frankensteinian studio that's gotten us by.
Your pledges will take BBOX shows to the next level. That requires setting up our live online radio stream, paying for music royalty costs, and buying equipment for the station, so we can return our friends’ gear.
But a radio station is more than microphones and turntables. We hope to become a Brooklyn institution. That takes continued dedication and resources. While we have dedication, in a few months our resources will disappear. You can get BBOX on the air, and keep it there.
$15,000 is a great start. But if the BBOX Kickstarter surpasses that goal, we can plan farther into the future and offer more ambitious content. Our production team can do more with shows and events. We can bring you the acts you want to hear. And all of this will be broadcast online, so you can take part whether you are in Brooklyn or not.
To see a further breakdown of our startup costs, see the FAQ below.
Where Do I Come In?
Whether you are local or not, your support will make you a big part of BBOX Radio's journey. Together, we can take the final steps to turn BBOX into Brooklyn's internet radio station, built to last.
Before BBOX Radio and the Dekalb Market, on our patch of Brooklyn stood the Albee Square Mall. The mall was more than a shopping destination for sneakers and records, it was also a hub of culture and community interaction. It was where Brooklyn came together. That history informs BBOX Radio, and it is the idea we strive to live up to.
Listen to BBOX Radio online, talk to us and our DJs and hosts on our website, and let us know your thoughts. If you're in Brooklyn or New York, come visit us -- BBOX is for you. And thank you, in advance, for your generosity and interest in BBOX Radio. We can't wait for you to hear what we have in store.
Join us. Let's create a new kind of radio station!
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support
Funding period
- (30 days)