This is Skylab Radio
Music for the Mind, Body and Soul.
Mood station, from the Heart of England
playing chillout, lounge, downtempo,
ambient and soft house - 24/7.
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We are proud to embrace listeners, artists, producers and supporters from all over the world.
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ABOUT
MUSIC FOR THE MIND, BODY AND SOUL
Skylab Radio can be described as a mood station, designed to ease the pressure of everyday life. We can be heard on your Smartphone, Tablet, Desktop or Smart Speaker (via our skill), via RadioPlayer, TuneIn Radio, Radio.Garden, Radio Feeds (UK & Ireland), Shoutcast, iTunes, vTuner, Liveradio.ie and Apple TV. Skylab Radio can also be heard on DAB+ Digital Radio in Portsmouth / South East Hampshire and Norwich. In the future; Skylab will also commence broadcasting on DAB+ Digital Radio in the Dudley and Stourbridge areas of the West Midlands, working extensively with community radio station - Black Country Radio.
Skylab Radio is Ofcom-licensed in the United Kingdom, operating a Digital Sound Programme (DSP) licence and we are cloud-based, powered by Citrus 3. We are also licensed with PRS and PPL to stream music online.
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Our radio station plays an eclectic mixture of chillout, lounge, downtempo, ambient, soft house and balearic beats, with some latino flavours, folk and Nordic noir included for good measure! Skylab Radio plays music from artists such as:- 4hero, Air, Blank & Jones, Boards of Canada, Brian Eno, Chicane, Chris Coco, Cocteau Twins, deadmau5, Goldfrapp, Groove Armada, I Am Kloot, Jose Padilla, Kaskade, Late Night Alumni, Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Nick Drake, Nightmares on Wax, Nitin Sawhney, Nouvelle Vague, Ólafur Arnalds, Rae & Christian, Sia Furler, The Orb, Thievery Corporation, Zero 7 and loads more. We also have a presence on social media such as Twitter and Facebook, plus Mixcloud, YouTube and an expanding Spotify playlist.
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THE BEGINNING
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Skylab Radio tentatively came into being during 2009, as a short-lived test stream for a community radio station, against a backdrop of 'chillout' programming appearing on a number of UK radio stations. The name Skylab was chosen to signify experimentation and innovation, thus keeping in the spirit of the original NASA Space Stations. Unfortunately Skylab Radio's original tests soon ceased, however Aeterna returned in 2011. What originated as an opportunity to share some chilled tracks with like-minded people from around the world, expanded far greater than what was anticipated. Skylab Radio soon gained thousands of listeners worldwide...the response blew our minds!
UPLOAD RADIO PROGRAMMING
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In April 2017; Skylab Radio started contributing regular programming to Folder Media's digital radio service - Upload Radio. Our programming consisted of music from the skylabradio.com playlist, enabling Skylab Radio to be heard on DAB Digital Radio for the first time. Upload Radio was heard in North West England and North Wales, Surrey, North East Hampshire and South/West London, North Yorkshire and Gloucestershire. The Skylab Radio Playlist was also heard live and via catch up on RadioPlayer. This experience helped us reach new audiences beyond our traditional webstream. Unfortunately; Folder Media decided to 'pause' Upload Radio in June 2018, whilst they look at the best ways to continue the service.
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Despite the closure of Upload Radio; our experience was upbeat and we believed the time was right to launch Skylab Radio beyond our conventional webstream. We commenced conversations with "Small-Scale DAB" trial multiplex operators in geographical areas where Skylab gained a great deal of listeners over the years. These talks were fruitful and we decided to work with established community radio station - Angel Radio and their "Solent Wireless" SSDAB multiplex, which broadcasts upto 20 radio stations across Portsmouth and South East Hampshire. On 9th August 2018; Skylab Radio embarked on its most ambitious mission yet, by commencing broadcasting on DAB Digital Radio in our own right. Meanwhile on 26th January 2019; Skylab began broadcasting on DAB+ in the Norwich area. We have also supported UNESCO's World Radio Day 2019/20 and joined hundreds of radio stations broadcasting the #MentalHealthMinute with Heads Together.
SKYLAB RADIO VISION
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We believe Skylab Radio's future is within a multi-platform environment, and broadcasting on DAB+ Digital Radio brings us closer to that vision. Our aim is to expand Skylab Radio's DAB+ footprint, ensuring availability in other geographical locations, both in the UK and elsewhere. But this will only be achieved in a financially viable way.
We are always keen to talk with forward-thinking broadcasters and multiplex operators who share our vision. Contact us
FUNDING
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We are looking at ways to expand Skylab Radio on DAB Digital Radio...if the finances and infrastructure are in place to sustain such developments. It is our belief that Skylab Radio has been fortunate to build a strong identity, despite the small nature of our operation and the evolution of the music played. However behind the scenes we mainly rely upon the goodwill of listener donations and funding from the owner. Any profit will go to help fund the upkeep of Skylab Radio and associated PRS and PPL music rights fees.
If you wish to contribute to Skylab Radio, please click on the Donate page.
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So here we are...with our original ethos intact; playing music for the mind, body and soul. We would like to thank everyone who has supported and assisted Skylab Radio over the years including:- Katy Jay, Liz Kelly, Steve Williams, Chris Stevens and the team at TM Studios, Inc, Sean Martin, Ashleigh Whitfield, Sarah Hall, Hazel Fleming, Victoria Shotton-Oza, Andrea Day, Lynsey Dolan, Tony Nixon, Jon Wolfert and the team at JAM Creative Productions, Inc, Ash Elford, Lawrie Hallett, Neal Bowden, Colin Hanslip, Micko Roche, Lucy Haigh, Tom Green and Ann Marie Walsh.
Love & respect
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PRT x
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