BY PAUL MALONEY
Things are mighty interesting at the South Pole. The sun often doesn't rise or set, it just goes around in a circle. And of course, when you're right at the Pole, every direction is North. And we don't even want to know about the weather (but if you do, check the box below). But some industrious research folks down there (I'm assuming they're researchers -- I can't imagine they're running a resort/golf complex) have put together a nice site with interesting music and some gorgeous images.

First off, the music: the programming mission of ANetStation.com is to provide a venue for independent artists -- those that themselves own, publish, and distribute their music. "That is why we provide links to their web sites. We play what we like, everybody benefits and we create web sites we feel good about," says George Maat, designer and music programmer for ANetStation.

The music is mostly acoustic-based, singer/songwriter material. There's a page with a few artists' CD cover art and links to RealAudio samples. Indy musicians are welcome to submit their music, and the designers even offer to build sites for the artists they play. The stream itself is a 20kbps RealAudio stream in stereo. Given their "independent" stance, it may not be surprising that they acknowledge, and even link to, Napster.

The links and images on the site are really a treat. If you think Antarctica would be like hell on Earth, take a look at some of these pictures. Lots of links here to webcams, still photos, and "photo-animations" to give the visitor a glimpse of the natural splendor of the region. Click on a link to visit scientific and research sites too, like the very interesting Virtual Antarctica. There are links to the South Pole observatory site, a special "Adventure Site" for kids, and a link to the Russian short wave station (with the caveat that they don't talk very much!).

Team members no doubt have a very vested interest in the environmental and ecological issues of the Antarctic region -- seeing and feeling firsthand the effects of harmful and illegal hunting and polluting. On the site is a link to the bio page of Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd organization, a non-profit group that investigates and documents violations of laws protecting marine wildlife. Plenty of other links to environmental and other progressive causes are available in the "Quality of Life" section of the links page.

ANetStation.com is worth a visit if not only for the music, then definitely for a glimpse of life in the Sub-Antarctic through the photos and links on the site.



RBR: The Radio Business Report has added a source guide and directory database feature to their website, here.

The extensive guide contains 7451 radio station listings, 2251 entries for radio group owners (yes, there are more than four left!), and 3040 entries in the "catch all" vendor category. All three categories can be searched by city and state criteria, and stations can be found by market as well.

The detailed entry for a station includes (when available) frequency and call letters, ownership information, address, phone, fax, some technical broadcast info, format, city of license, debut date, and a brief management directory. The group owners entries include a listing of all the stations in their group. The entries for the vendors -- which includes agencies, syndication companies, producers, talent, hardware, and more -- provide basic contact information as well.

One additional bit of information we thought might be helpful would be a links to the station's or vendor's website. Publisher Ken Lee promises this addition is forthcoming.

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Reprinted from this morning's edition:

BY PAUL MALONEY
Boulder, CO-based radio consultants SBR Creative Media plans to officially launch their "Custom Channels" service at next week's NAB Radio Show.

The Internet-only streams, available in various formats, are intended to provide client stations with additional site content, and to "super serve" the fans of musical niches of a particular format. SBR also contends that their new product could be a source of revenue for a station or group.

According to the Custom Channels site, "Radio, like the Internet, specializes in targeting specific demographic and psychographic audience cells. The more targeted and specialized the medium, the more you can charge advertisers interested in reaching the target audience (even if it’s a relatively small audience!)." They go on to suggest several channel "sponsorship" packages a station could sell.

Several streams are available to listen to as samples -- some associated with current SBR clients. They use the WindowsMedia technology in a nicely-designed customized player (our numerous connections were always at 20kps, and we couldn't find any mention on the site if they plan to offer broadband). The channels did a good job of mirroring traditional radio -- with music segues, "on-air" personalities, and production.

SBR has actually been offering the Custom Channels service for close to a year now. Costs range from $1000 to $2500 flat monthly fees, with discounts for longer terms, additional channels, and group contracts. For a sample of one of the streams, go to KBCO's New Music Channel, available here.

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New RAIN feature:
	itoke.co.uk: "Need Weed?" Can this be for real? This is the "corporate" site for a company that says it plans to deliver marijuana in Amsterdam (and then New York, London, and Tokyo!) like Webvan and Pink Dot deliver groceries. Here's the site. Read more about if in a San Francisco Chronicle article here, and why the big launch is being delayed in CNet here.
	www.altoids.com Just how cool can a site be? This is a great example of a company positioning their product in the minds of consumers with cool associations. What any of this has to do with mints is simple: nothing. It's just cool. Make sure you have Flash, Shockwave, and Real or QuickTime. Here.
Do you know of a website that you believe other RAIN readers would enjoy visiting? Recommend it here.

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September 12-14	Digital Coast 2000, Los Angeles, featuring a panel on Internet radio moderated by RAIN's Kurt Hanson
September 20-22	Gavin.com: Music on the Net, San Francisco
September 20-23	NAB Radio Show, San Francisco
Sept. 29-Oct. 1	MOBE/Internet & Technology, Chicago
October 5-7	Billboard/Airplay Monitor Seminar, New York
October 9-12	QuickTime Live! Conference, Beverly Hills
October 10-12	Streaming Media Europe 2000, London (NEW!)
November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
November 12-14	Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) "Broadcasting 2000: On-air / On-line," Calgary (NEW!)
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA, featuring a brand-new national study on Internet radio usage presented by Eric Rhoads & Kurt Hanson

xxx

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