Studio [1] is live: a tour of our new room

We keep the stream running around the clock, which means someone is always awake, caffeinated and slightly too excited about a B-side. We keep the stream running around the clock, which means someone is always awake, caffeinated and slightly too excited about a B-side. Accessibility matters to us, so every show gets a transcript and every page works with a keyboard.

Where to find us

Nothing beats the feeling of a track dropping at exactly the right moment and the chat exploding with fire emojis. Some weeks the playlist is meticulously planned; other weeks it is a group chat argument that somehow turns into a show. Our engineers obsess over latency because a stream that stutters is a stream people switch off.

We run on a tiny budget, a lot of goodwill and a very generous hosting sponsor. Most of our DJs have day jobs in software, design or support, which explains the jokes. The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming.

• Low-data mode for mobile
• Transcripts for every talk segment
• Live sessions from Studio [0] every Saturday
• Weekend throwbacks from 08:00

We keep the stream running around the clock, which means someone is always awake, caffeinated and slightly too excited about a B-side. We learned early that a stable stream matters more than a fancy one. Our favourite metric is the number of listeners who stay through the ad break. If you have ever wondered why a song sounds warmer on air, the answer is a ridiculous amount of compression.

On air and off

Some of our most-loved segments started as a joke in the green room. Radio has always been about company, and that has not changed just because the transmitter is now a rack of servers. Nothing beats the feeling of a track dropping at exactly the right moment and the chat exploding with fire emojis. The request line gets more messages than ever, and our DJs read every single one on air.

The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming. Some of our most-loved segments started as a joke in the green room. A radio station is really a promise: that there will be something good playing whenever you tune in. When a listener sends a track we have never heard, it goes straight into the next hour.

Play the track you would send to a friend at 2am. That is the whole format.

Every show on ArrayFM starts with a simple rule: play the track you would send to a friend at 2am. We keep the stream running around the clock, which means someone is always awake, caffeinated and slightly too excited about a B-side. When a listener sends a track we have never heard, it goes straight into the next hour. Late nights are for experiments: long mixes, ambient sets and the occasional field recording. The station started as a side project in a spare room and a borrowed microphone.

The long version

The archive now holds more than two thousand hours of shows, all searchable by track and guest. We keep the stream running around the clock, which means someone is always awake, caffeinated and slightly too excited about a B-side. Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it.

Local artists make up almost a third of what we play, and that number keeps going up. Our community Discord is where most show ideas start and where most bad puns go to live forever. We record every show, trim the talk, and publish it as a podcast by the next morning.

The short version

If you have ever wondered why a song sounds warmer on air, the answer is a ridiculous amount of compression. We measure success in hours listened, not clicks, which keeps us honest about what actually matters. The mixing desk is older than some of our interns, and it still sounds better than anything new.

The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming. Some weeks the playlist is meticulously planned; other weeks it is a group chat argument that somehow turns into a show. Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it.

How it works

The archive now holds more than two thousand hours of shows, all searchable by track and guest. Nothing beats the feeling of a track dropping at exactly the right moment and the chat exploding with fire emojis. The best feedback we ever got was a single line: “you made my deploy go faster”. The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming. Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it.

The station started as a side project in a spare room and a borrowed microphone. Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it. Our schedule is built in blocks, with softer sounds in the morning and heavier beats after dark. The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming.

When a listener sends a track we have never heard, it goes straight into the next hour. We record every show, trim the talk, and publish it as a podcast by the next morning. If you have ever wondered why a song sounds warmer on air, the answer is a ridiculous amount of compression. We believe the music should never stop just because you clicked a link.

A few thank-yous

The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming. We record every show, trim the talk, and publish it as a podcast by the next morning. We measure success in hours listened, not clicks, which keeps us honest about what actually matters. We still print the weekly playlist and pin it on the studio wall, mostly out of habit. Late nights are for experiments: long mixes, ambient sets and the occasional field recording.

Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it. We keep the stream running around the clock, which means someone is always awake, caffeinated and slightly too excited about a B-side. Behind the scenes, the playout system is a small pile of open source tools glued together with very careful shell scripts. Local artists make up almost a third of what we play, and that number keeps going up.

• Transcripts for every talk segment
• Chat moderated by real people
• Live sessions from Studio [0] every Saturday
• Shows archived for 90 days

The station started as a side project in a spare room and a borrowed microphone. The best feedback we ever got was a single line: “you made my deploy go faster”. Guests are always surprised by how relaxed the studio is, until the ON AIR light turns red.

What comes next

We believe the music should never stop just because you clicked a link. Our favourite metric is the number of listeners who stay through the ad break. Every Friday we look at the numbers, and every Friday the numbers say people want more synthwave. Late nights are for experiments: long mixes, ambient sets and the occasional field recording. Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it.

Listeners tell us they tune in while they code, study, drive, cook and occasionally while they should be sleeping. We test new segments live, keep what works and quietly retire what does not. Accessibility matters to us, so every show gets a transcript and every page works with a keyboard. The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming.

Play the track you would send to a friend at 2am. That is the whole format.

Our favourite metric is the number of listeners who stay through the ad break. We record every show, trim the talk, and publish it as a podcast by the next morning. Listeners tell us they tune in while they code, study, drive, cook and occasionally while they should be sleeping.

The numbers

Radio has always been about company, and that has not changed just because the transmitter is now a rack of servers. We still print the weekly playlist and pin it on the studio wall, mostly out of habit. We keep a strict no-autoplay policy on the site: you press play, and then we never interrupt you. Late nights are for experiments: long mixes, ambient sets and the occasional field recording.

A radio station is really a promise: that there will be something good playing whenever you tune in. Our community Discord is where most show ideas start and where most bad puns go to live forever. We run on a tiny budget, a lot of goodwill and a very generous hosting sponsor. The chat is moderated by humans, which keeps it friendly, weird and welcoming.

The short version

Our engineers obsess over latency because a stream that stutters is a stream people switch off. We learned early that a stable stream matters more than a fancy one. Local artists make up almost a third of what we play, and that number keeps going up.

We record every show, trim the talk, and publish it as a podcast by the next morning. Local artists make up almost a third of what we play, and that number keeps going up. The archive now holds more than two thousand hours of shows, all searchable by track and guest. We keep a strict no-autoplay policy on the site: you press play, and then we never interrupt you. The station started as a side project in a spare room and a borrowed microphone.

The tech stack

Some weeks the playlist is meticulously planned; other weeks it is a group chat argument that somehow turns into a show. We learned early that a stable stream matters more than a fancy one. The mixing desk is older than some of our interns, and it still sounds better than anything new. Every Friday we look at the numbers, and every Friday the numbers say people want more synthwave.

We run on a tiny budget, a lot of goodwill and a very generous hosting sponsor. A radio station is really a promise: that there will be something good playing whenever you tune in. Our favourite metric is the number of listeners who stay through the ad break.

The station started as a side project in a spare room and a borrowed microphone. Behind the scenes, the playout system is a small pile of open source tools glued together with very careful shell scripts. Good radio sounds effortless, but every minute on air has at least ten minutes of prep behind it.