Do I have to register to use the site or listen to the radio ?

No. You only need to register & log in if you want to create a profile to use on the message board.

Does it cost anything ? Do you want donations ?

No. The station is ran and paid for by me, Bob. If you really wanted to make a donation you can email me for the paypal address or send money to the address, but honestly 3 or 4$ extra a month wouldn't pay for much. I would recommend you buy albums from the bands played on Bob's SKA Radio to keep them going and putting out new music.

I am listening at work or school, will I hear anything inappropriate ?

Most likely, if you listen for long enough. Some music is NSFW and may contain bad words. These songs are not marked and can be played at anytime. Most bands played on Bob's SKA Radio do not release radio or edited versions of their songs.

Sometime songs in the upcoming artist list do not play in order....

No, they do not. Listeners may be making requests or I may be at the helm adding in songs I want to hear.

Can you play music from my band ?

Yes. See Airtime below

I like that song, can you email it to me or burn a copy of their cd ?

Not really. The best way to make it possible for your favorite bands to keep putting out music is to buy their CD's, or if you cant wait you can probably find it on Amazon MP3 for 99 cents or less.

What Is SKA Music ?

There are many sites that go into SKA history so I will be brief. It typically contains the usual guitars & drums, one or more brass interments and maybe a keyboard or organ or any mixture of these interments. Many people first hearing ska think it it reggae, that is kind of true. Both came from the island of Jamaica, many famous artists (like Bob Marley) started in SKA later moving to and creating reggae from ska. Like all music there are different versions or waves. Just like today rock can be traced to Elvis, The Beetles, Buddy Holley, Hendrix, etc... it sounds different that the music played on the radio today, but it still is called pop or rock. SKA can be fast and loud, a style called ska/punk with almost no traditional beats or rhythms, or it can have a modern pop sound sometime called rock with horns or pop/ska, it can be slower with a large horn section in a traditional style, or a band can be made up of just 3 or 4 artists, with no horns or keyboard but following a ska or reggae beat(Sublime may be most well known in that section). Many bands may consider them selves both reggae and ska since they styles can cross over. There are many more styles and smaller sub groups after this. It is not uncommon at a ska show to have atleast one band play a cover song from the 1960's and even though the song may be 40 years old it will be well known with the fans, even the younger ones.

Technical info

Bob's SKA radio is running SAM Broadcaster on a somewhat older athlon xp2500 overclocked by 200mhz, with an 80GB  & 120gb drive and 1.5gb ram.   Its using Win XP sp3 and runs 24/7 and can go for a few months before requiring a reboot. Its using mysql server for it's local database of songs, requests, playlists, etc..

This website (every you see now) is hosted by a commercial web hosting company and not on my local computer. If you have slow loading times there is little I can do about it from my end, besides upgrading to a dedicated server for about 10 times the price I pay now.

I also have an always ready back-up computer with all the songs and database updated nightly off the main computer. I keep the software one version behind the newest release in case a problems.  In the event of crash, software updates, hardware updates, etc, the 2nd computer can be on the air in about 15 seconds. The only thing that will not function if Im running on the back-up is requests, in the event of a long term computer problem requests will be re-routed to the 2nd computer. If they are not working, you can email or use the chat box.

You can make requests 24/7, the tiny trained monkeys will add them in the playlist weather I am here or not. There are limits to the number of requests one listener can make in an hour and limits to how often a song, album or artist can be played. If you get an error saying that song or artist was recently played just give wait for a bit then try it again.

It broadcasts using Shoutcast. My local computer streams a small amount of data to a streaming server, then the listeners connect to that server, not directly to my computer. The server can handle much more traffic than my local internet connection. For listening I recommend WINAMP, its a free download. If asked if you want to install a toolbar or emusic trial just say no, just say no and everything will work fine with out putting any unwanted junk on your computer. You can also use older versions VLC player (it plays about anything but shoutcast support was recently dropped due to a dispute between shoutcast & vlc) or Real Player &  Itunes although I never tried Itunes it is suppose to work. There are also Iphone apps and Andriod apps for listening, just search for shoutcast. It does not work on Windows Media player, why not ? Ask Microsoft.

If you click the Listen Now link and you get a message asking how to open the file, if you have Winamp, VLC player, Real Player or Itunes, you should be able to say open with one of those programs and say OK. If not copy the link

http://sc5.spacialnet.com:24748/listen.pls , then using on of those programs say open file or open url, then paste the address into the box.

Bob's SKA Radio offers live streaming only, there is currently no downloadable content(songs, podcasts, etc...)  If you are looking music to take with you, check out the Links section (over there <------- ) for links for downloadable SKA shows.

How are the songs picked ?

The software (see above) picks songs based on a weighted playlist. Each song has a rating of 0 (Never play) to 100 (Play often). Songs with higher ratings are more likely to be played than lowered numbered songs, IE: songs rated at 70 may play about 1 time per day, a song rated at 30 may play once a week, songs rated under 15 will not play, unless requested. Since there are many bands on the site who's style varies greatly, when adding albums I may give non ska sounding songs a low play rating, but they still can be requested and played at any time. Whenever possible I always add the entire album then let the listeners pick what songs they want to hear and not split up the album by adding only the 3 or 4 songs I like.

Requesting a song will automatically add it to the upcoming songs list and will also it will increase it's rating,  making requested music more likely to be played at a later time. I also set beginning ratings on each song as they are added to the station, the ones I like and new albums get higher ratings.

Airtime

Getting your music played

If your band plays SKA, Reggae, Dancehall, Dub, or anything similar to whats played you are welcome to send your music and I will add it to the playlist. You can email on the contact page with your myspace, website or a link to where I can get the songs. If you email the songs, send only 2 songs (under 10MB) per each email, MP3 is preferred , but wma, mp4, & flac(hosted files only due to file size) is also acceptable.  & I usually will add anything send to me for free. You can also use that address to send your electronic press kits & info.

If you want to send me a cd or other physical media, mail it to:

Campbell's Auto Sales

Attn: Ska Bob

10424 15th ave SW

Seattle WA 98146-1473

USA

My band is on your site, can people download my music ?

Not directly. My site is streaming only(like youtube or myspace) and Im sure some people may be able to figure out how to save a song from my station, myspace or youtube but it would be like taping off the radio. Most songs are faded in & out, so both ends of the song would be overlapped by another song or station promo and the bitrate is much lower than a song purchased from itunes or amazon mp3. There are also time limits of how often each song, artist & album can be requested and a limit on the number or requests accepted per hour & per day from each listener. I provide links on most songs to a legal music storefront (amazon, itunes or your custom link) and to a web site(myspace, official web page, etc).

I am getting new music each week submitted from the artists and no band have yet asked to have their music removed. End the end the music does belong to the label & band and if they do not want it played then I have no problem with that and I will remove it.

My Band is not on your site, do you not like them ?

Most likely I do have have their (or your) music. Even though I have been collecting ska music for over 10 years there have been thousands of great bands over the last 40 years and with new albums coming out every week it would be very difficult & expensive to buy each ska album I saw music just for the sake of buying it. I might buy 1-2 albums per week and most of those are added on the station. If your music is not on the site, send it to the address listed above.

Is Bob Famous ? Do you make any money from the site ?

I have not gotten any requests for Bob's SKA Radio merchandise or signed pictures, so apparently not. I am not & have not been in a band, I am just a ska fan turned ska dj.

It costs over 20$ a month for the stream hosting, then the cost of albums I buy each month, but many of them I would buy for myself anyway. So Bob does not make money. Maybe if I filled the site with ads and put ads in the music I could break even, but then I wouldnt listen to my own station.

About Bob

SKA BOB  works in real life by fixing & selling cars at http://www.campbellsautosales.com and doing truck & equipment maintenance for http://www.kensyardservice.com in West Seattle.  I live in Roy, WA, about a 110 mile per day drive from my work.  I live with my wife(Mrs. Bob or Beenies)  & fake sister Betty. We have about 4 dogs and 3 cats on 5 acres. The commute give me ample time to listen to  lots of SKA. I also download podcats of SKA radio shows from several college stations. For non-music I listen to downloads of previous nights Coast To Coast AM radio show or science shows like the weekly Explorations with Dr. Michio Kaku.  When not working I can be my  myspace or youtube adding videos recorded at several Seattle concerts.

When not listening to SKA I may be enjoy bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Charlie Daniels Band, Horrorpops, older Metallica, Surf music at times  or comedy by Jim Gaffigian, Cary Hurley, Mitch Hedberg, Bill Engvall or Brian Regan.