Samurai FM

24 Oct 2005 Category: Features, Japan, Music

Samurai FM is the online radio station based in Tokyo and London set up by Mr. Hash and Matt Cheetham in May 2003. They feature local musicians as well as big overseas names, bringing people together in English and Japanese. PingMag talked to Hash to find out where they are at and where it’s all heading.

Interview by Uleshka

Hash, could you describe briefly what Samurai FM is? What is your main concept?

Samurai.fm is a high quality music and video channel exclusively featuring some of the best artists from all around the world. Our mission is to bring good music to the masses and provide a channel to bridge Japan with the rest of the music world. We want to provide a platform where people can learn about artists and hear great music that they may never have known existed.

On your home page, there are selected musicians of the month with images, detailed descriptions, links, live streams and recorded sessions. A little further down, you list your regular shows and have a featured archive and its all in JAPANESE AND ENGLISH! How many people are working for Samurai FM to make all this possible?

Currently myself and my business partner Matt Cheetham (based in London) are full time. We have many contributing artists and DJs, and a couple of people helping with certain aspects of the site and events from time to time.

Wow! That sounds like more than a full-time job for just the two of you!
What has changed since you started it in 2003?

The quality of music has improved, we have more listeners, and more industry recognition. There are about several hundred thousand listeners and millions of page views every month and steadily increasing.

Good to hear! You’ve managed to build up a huge network of musicians from across the world, who all seem to be very supportive. But can you actually make a living out of Samurai FM?

It’s been very tough but we seem to be heading in the right direction.

We are looking into expanding our services into added-value subscriptions and a media download outlet. We will be able to raise money for artists by selling their music and video productions, and perhaps by arranging bookings for events. We also have various other means of generating income which will play an important part in future.

Honestly though, internet radio is an unproven business area and there are no successful models we can follow. We’re making it up as we go along.

You have so many high-quality musicians on Samurai FM and lots of their exclusive mixes: the hard-to-get-amazing-stuff. Your artists are all really collaborative, since you do your best to promote them, it seems.

Yes, most of the music on the station is provided exclusively for us, plus we are media partners with major organizations like Sonar . Many of the artists or labels have regular shows which they use to establish a fan base and explore their own taste in music. They also promote the our station through their mailing lists, and at events.

We make it easy for them to promote their music and the opportunity to connect with other like-minded artists. Plus when we have developed our capability a little more we can help them generate regular income.

More importantly, most people support us because they believe in what we are trying to do. That is very valuable to us, and is a reflection of our belief in them as artists.

How do you select your musicians then?

It’s quite hard to define the music or the process by which we collect music. Basically, we look for established DJs or labels that are at the cutting edge of their respective fields. Once they are chosen it’s up to them to choose the music for their show. This results in a very eclectic range of music being broadcast.

How much are you involved into events?

They are an important part of the stations operation. We have a regular event in London @ Herbal and will be starting a regular event in clubs in Tokyo soon.

Yeeeeeees!

The club environment is one where people are typically going to enjoy dance music so naturally the music will be more dance orientated - although we will try and incorporate some live performances too.

What is different comparing Samurai FM to other music sites?

We have better music, selected by real artists and not just a jukebox. We also have the international connections from Japan which is unique to us besides a broad range of music which is also unusual. Finally our technology is more developed and more important to us, than what I find on other sites. That enables us to push the music as much as possible.

What kind of special features do you have in mind for example?

We have things like widgets and multiple format streams to ensure that we can reach as many people as possible. In general, there are many technical tricks used to enhance the station but essentially providing easy access to good content at high quality is our objective.

I noticed, that you started having video on your page recently. Is there an opportunity to download video or would that be an option one day?

Yes, we expect to be able to provide this soon. There are additional licensing issues when providing works for download as opposed to streaming so we have to expand carefully into this area.

Music and video licensing is a minefield that is changing every week so we have to maintain a relationship with the licensing bodies. To some extent we are shaping the licensing regulations themselves because of our close ties, but inevitably the technology advances at a faster pace (eg. podcasting) so the licensing organisations are always trying to catch up.

Being a music lover, what do you think about the whole iPod & iTunes movement? How will this further effect the music industry?

I think iPods are over-rated and over-priced but the good thing about Apple is that they are really forcing the music industry to address the issue of digital distribution. Similarly, the public are getting more used to the idea of paying for things on the internet. As for the content, Apple is purely interested in capitalizing on the platform so of course the music will be selected based on its potential to sell. So saying, they do have some decent music listed but they are not interested in educating people about it.

Hm! Interesting to hear your opinion about that, since most people I know simply enjoy the convenience of iTunes and think little about how Apple actually shapes the music industry.
What is going to happen to Samurai FM in the near future? What are your plans?

In the next months we hope to create an amazing new platform bringing together technology and content in a brand new way. It will include a fresh and intuitive interface design, an added value subscription system, podcasting, and a media download service (web & mobile) that will fill the vacuum created in the wake of iTunes. All the ideas are on the table being considered so at the moment we are working hard to create a winning strategy.

We also plans to have more events, raise our profile significantly over the next year, get lots more great exclusive shows, and deliver them to the listeners in more effective ways.

Good luck for that! Anything else you would like to say?

Go visit Rajput Pakistani Restaurant in Takadanobaba for the finest curry in Tokyo.

Thank you very much! I will…… probably meet you there, hm?

3 Comments

1. ok, I’ll visit Rajput Pakistani Restaurant later, but now I listen to http://www.loveradio.com.ua MP3…

   Posted by: tobto on March 5th, 2006 at 10:55 pm

2. Samurai.fm is one of the best internet radio stations out there: support them with a donation or buy a T-shirt to support them!

   Posted by: Marc on October 30th, 2006 at 3:02 pm

3. thanks for your subject. it is very important for internet users.i will write your site .. please write me back. thank you

   Posted by: bursa evden eve nakliyat on March 31st, 2009 at 9:07 pm

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