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Life FM started out as one of the many pirate stations broadcasting to London back in 1999. Fast forward to the present day and Life FM has come a long way since it’s humble origins, now reaching out to huge numbers of devoted listeners the world over.
Station owners Paul Roast & Mel Lioness have a long history of involvement in the rave scene, stretching back nearly twenty years. Way back in 1988, Paul co-promoted Infinity, one of the first outdoor raves to be held out in the great British countryside. This was followed in 1989 by Immensity and in 1990 he started the now infamous Roast. Packing out the famous Turnmills venue every Sunday afternoon, Paul ensured the sounds were eclectic and DJ sets varied, in true Acid House fashion.

By 1993, Roast was huge and a move to The Astoria on Charing Cross Road was necessary as 2,500 ravers rammed the place to the rafters every month. During 1995 and ’96 the crew also found the time and the energy to promote Flashback, a series of old skool events which harked back to the sounds of the late 80’s. Finally in 1997, after four triumphant years, Roast came to an end, but it’s promoters had set their sights on other matters.

Some time back in 1996, Paul & Mel turned their hand to pirate radio, starting firstly with Fresh FM, later followed by Edge FM. In 1999 they started Life FM, with a mission to “bring cutting edge music and new talent to the forefront” according to Paul. “I can’t refuse music” he continues, “we’re open minded and on the pulse, we try and innovate.” This attitude towards their musical policy has continued to this day, with shows spanning the full range of dance music genres from drum & bass and breaks, through techno and house, to dub and hip hop.

In 2001, Life FM switched off as a pirate and was reborn as an internet station. “We knew nothing about the web at the beginning” Paul admits. “We had two computers and a phone line, now we’ve got Nasa mission control in there” he jokes. The switch to the internet has seen the station’s popularity soar, as listeners worldwide log on in ever increasing numbers. Life FM’s original policy of breaking new talent and looking to the future still stands firm, seven years on. One of the longest running stations on the net, Life FM has maintained it’s musical integrity and a level of belief in it’s DJs that ensures a long and healthy life for this station. Paul sums it up: “Life FM is about every DJ who plays on here, they all contribute something. We’re an organic station and we all learn from each other. And we are global.”

As well as The Knowledge Magazine Show with Dr Khan on the second Thursday of every month from 8-10pm, you can catch the following shows on Life FM: The Invaderz, DJ Alley Cat, Mosus (V Recordings), Nookie, Fracture & Neptune, Cue T & Bandwyth, Lab Creation, Kitch & Edache, Danish Mike, Best Of British, Healing Crew.

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Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated to d&b, DnB, dnb, d'n'b, drum n bass, drum & bass) is a type of electronic dance music also known as jungle which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterised by fast tempo broken beat drums (generally between 160–180 beats per minute, but also having occasional differences in some older compositions), with heavy sub basslines. The key distinction to this particular electronic musical genre is that the melody is in the bassline[citation needed]. This means that although there can be various high frequency elements to a particular musical selection, they do not actually function as a melody rather their role is to simply provide texture to accompany the melody in the bass[citation needed]. This feature of drum and bass is what makes it unique with regard to other styles of western music or even other types of electronic music[citation needed]. In the 2000s, drum and bass is still considered an underground musical style, but it has nevertheless had a significant influence on popular music and culture.

Drum and bass began as an offshoot of the UK's hardcore rave scene of the very early 90s, and over the first decade of its existence there were many permutations in its style, incorporating elements from ragga, dancehall, electro, funk, hip hop, house, jazz, heavy metal, reggae, rock, techno and trance.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Musicology of drum and bass
2.1 Importance of drum and bassline elements
2.2 Tempo
2.3 Context
2.4 Importance of the DJ and MC
2.5 Subgenres
2.6 Jungle vs. drum and bass
2.7 Influences
2.7.1 Influences on drum and bass
2.7.1.1 Direct influence
2.7.1.2 Samples
2.7.2 Influenced by drum and bass
2.8 Media & samples
3 Drum and bass globally
4 Appearances in the mainstream
5 Record labels
6 Accessing drum and bass
6.1 Purchasing
6.1.1 Distributors (Wholesale)
7 "Live" Drum and Bass
8 Media presence
8.1 Radio
8.2 Magazines
8.3 Literature
8.4 Online
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

[edit] History
Main article: History of drum and bass
See also: Oldschool jungle
A musical style called acid house developed in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s, along with a "scene" which consisted of related social activities in nightclubs and other venues. Acid house music combined regular beats alongside broken, syncopated beats, strong basslines and a faster tempo than the regular house music. By 1991, musical tracks made up of only "broken" beats began to be known as "jungle" and became a separate musical genre (circa 1991-1992) popular at raves and on pirate radio in urban Britain.

These tracks often combined ragga vocal tracks with broken beats and basslines. By 1994 jungle began to gain mainstream popularity and fans of the music (known as junglists) became a recognisable part of British youth subculture. The sound took on a very urban, raggamuffin sound, incorporating dancehall "ragga" style mc chants, dub basslines, but also increasingly complex, high tempo rapid fire breakbeat percussion. At this time jungle began to be associated with criminals and criminal activity and perhaps as a reaction or perhaps independently of this, producers began to draw away from the ragga style and create what they labelled drum and bass. There is no clear point at which jungle became drum and bass, though most jungle producers continue nowadays to produce what they call drum and bass.

As the music style became more polished and sophisticated, it began to shift from pirate to commercial radio and gain widespread acceptance (circa 1995-1997). It also began to split into recognisable subgenres such as jump-up. As a lighter sound of drum and bass began to win over the musical mainstream, many producers continued to work on the other end of the spectrum, resulting in a series of releases which highlighted a dark, technical sound which drew more influence from techno music and the soundscapes of science fiction and anime films, this sub-genre became know as techstep (circa 1997-1998).

While evolving musically, drum and bass found itself suddenly upstarted by the UK garage sound, which drew a key part of its inspiration from drum and bass. This genre quickly eclipsed drum and bass in popularity and nearing the turn of the millennium, statements were made to the effect that "drum and bass is dead". Drum and bass however survived this event and the turn of the millennium has seen a revival in its popularity and continuing development, i.e. the appearance of the liquid funk subgenre which draws its inspiration from house and disco alongside a new wave of artists, joining the "jungle" pioneers. It remains a fairly unknown musical style but makes frequent unrecognised appearance in the mainstream as well as being highly influential on other musical styles and some of its artists, notably Goldie, are widely known. It remains most popular in its birthplace in the UK but has spread worldwide over the short period of its existence.[1]

[edit] Musicology of drum and bass

Goldie, one of the most recognizable drum and bass artists.[2]There are many views of what constitutes "real" drum and bass as it has many scenes and styles within it, from the highly electronic, industrial sounds of techstep through to the use of conventional, acoustic instrumentation that characterise the more jazz-influenced end of the spectrum. It has been compared with jazz where the listener can get very different sounding music all coming under the same music genre, because like jazz, it is more of an approach, or a tradition, than a style.[3] The sounds of drum and bass are extremely varied - and to a person unfamiliar to them, there may seem to be little connection between the subgenres. One common, though by no means universal, element is a prominent snare drum falling on the 2nd & 4th beats, with a less regular kick pattern around it.

Drum and bass could at one time be defined as a strictly electronic musical genre with the only 'live' element being the DJ's selection and mixing of records during a set. 'Live' drum and bass using electric, electronic and acoustic instruments played by musicians on stage has appeared and is a growing aspect of the genre.[4][5][6]

For the already mentioned reasons, the musicology of drum and bass is difficult to precisely define; however, the following key characteristics may be observed:

[edit] Importance of drum and bassline elements
The name "drum and bass" should not lead to the assumption that tracks are constructed solely from these elements. Nevertheless, they are far and away the most critical features, and usually dominate the mix of a track. Despite the apparent simplicity of drum and bass productions to the untrained ear, an inordinate amount of time is spent on preparing tracks by the more experienced producers.

The genre places great importance on the "bass line", a deep sub-bass musical pattern which is felt physically as much as it is heard. There has also been considerable exploration of different timbres in the bass line region, particularly within techstep. Bass lines exist in many forms, but most notably they originate from sampled sources or synthesizers. Bass lines performed with a bass instrument, whether it is electric, acoustic or a double bass, are rare. An example of drum and bass played live with an electric bass can be found in the work of Squarepusher. Sampled basslines are often taken from double bass recordings or from publicly available loops. Synthesized bass lines are however just as common.

In drum and bass productions, the bass lines are subjected to many and varied sound effects, including standard techniques such as dynamic compression, flanger, chorus, over-drive, equalization, etc. and drum and bass specific techniques such as the "Reese Bass", a distinctive synthesized bass sound comprising layered 'clashing' sawtooth waves. Kevin Saunderson's 1988 classic "Just Another Chance" is widely recognised as the earliest example of the use of this technique.

Of equal importance is the "808" kick drum, an artificially pitch-downed or elongated bass drum sound sampled from Roland's classic TR-808 drum machine, and a sound which has been subject to an enormous amount of experimentation over the years.[7]

These bass techniques are fully appreciated in a club or rave environments where high quality woofers and powerful amplifiers are required to fully reproduce the eponymous basslines at high volume levels. This has led to the creation of very large and intensely loud touring soundsystems by producers wishing to show off their tracks, such as dubs from Soundman and dubs from Dillinja's Valve Sound System. This does not mean, however, that the music cannot be appreciated at home or accurately reproduced on personal equipment.

The complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat, is another facet of production on which producers spend a very large amount of time. A drum phrase lasting seconds may often take a day or more to prepare, depending on the dedication of the producer. The Amen break is generally acknowledged to have been the most-used (and often considered the most powerful) break in drum and bass.[8]

It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that drum and bass (at least in its early days) was a style built around a single broken beat element which was a single sample, the Amen, but other samples have had a significant impact, including the Apache break, the Funky Drummer, and others.[9] The Funky Drummer has perhaps superseded the Amen in modern productions.

A commonly used break is the Tramen, a combined beat that is perhaps the ultimate statement on the fusion of musical styles in drum and bass as it combines the Amen, a James Brown funk breakbeat ("Tighten Up" or "Samurai" break) and an Alex Reece drum and bass breakbeat.[10]

The very fast (objectively) drum beat forms a canvas on which a producer can create tracks to appeal to almost any taste and often will form only a background to the other elements of the music. However, without a fast & broken beat, a drum and bass track would not be a drum and bass track but could be classified as a gabber, techno, breaks or house music track.[11]

[edit] Tempo
Drum and bass is usually between 160-180 BPM, in contrast to other forms of breakbeat such as nu skool breaks which maintain a slower pace at around 130-140 BPM. A general upward trend in tempo has been observed during the evolution of drum and bass. The earliest old skool rave was around 125/135 bpm in 1989/1991, early (late 1992-1993) jungle/breakbeat hardcore was around 155-165 BPM. Since around 1996, drum and bass tempos have predominantly stayed in the 173 to 180 range. Recently some producers have started to once again produce tracks with slower tempos (ie. in the 150s and 160s), but the mid-170 tempo is still the hallmark of the drum and bass sound.[12][13]

A track combining the same elements (broken beat, bass, production techniques) as a drum and bass track, but with a slower beat (say 140 BPM), would not be drum and bass but a drum and bass-influenced breakbeat track.[14]

The speed of drum and bass is not however only characterised by that of the broken beat. Drum and bass has a bassline, which will typically play at half the speed of the drums, bringing its speed down to that of, for instance, a laid back hip-hop track. A listener or dancer can concentrate on this element rather than the faster drums.

Since the speed of music is subjective, an aggressively produced track with a complicated beat and synthesizer sounds may 'sound faster' than one with a sampled double bass bassline, guitar riffs and simpler beat, however the second track may be in strict BPM terms faster. Radio friendly tracks like Shy FX's "Shake Ur Body" often have higher BPMs than ominous techstep productions which might eject the uninitiated very quickly from a dancefloor.

The faster a track is in BPM terms, the less complex its drum patterns can be because at higher step the elements cease to be heard separately, turning them into a wall of sound. A faster drum and bass track will therefore generally have a less complex drum pattern than a slower one.

Live performances of drum and bass music on electric and acoustic instruments will often entail a drop in relative BPM (though not necessarily), unsurprising in light of the complexity of drum patterns and the high exertion required of a drummer.

[edit] Context

Pendulum playing the Valve Sound System with MC IC3 at the Tuesday Club, Sheffield 05/03/06For the most part, drum and bass is a form of dance music, mostly designed to be heard in clubs. It exhibits a full frequency response and physicality which often cannot be fully appreciated on home listening equipment. As befits its name, the bass element of the music is particularly pronounced, with the comparatively sparse arrangements of drum and bass tracks allowing room for basslines that are deeper than most other forms of dance music. Consequently, drum and bass parties are often advertised as featuring uncommonly loud and bass-heavy sound systems.[15][16]

There are however many albums specifically designed for personal listening. The mix CD is a particularly popular form of release, with a big name DJ/producer mixing live, or on a computer, a variety of tracks for personal listening. Additionally, there are many albums containing unmixed tracks, suited for home or car listening.[17]

[edit] Importance of the DJ and MC
?Drum and bass is often heard via a DJ. Because most tracks are designed to be mixed by a DJ, their structure typically reflects this, with intro and outro sections designed for a DJ to use while beat-matching, rather than being designed to be heard in entirety by the listener. The DJ typically mixes between records so as not to lose the continuous beat. In addition, the DJ may employ hip hop style "scratching", "double-drops" (where two tracks are synchronized such that both tracks drop at the same time) and "rewinds."[18]

Goldie with Mc LowQuiMany mixing points begin or end with the "drop". The drop is the point in a track where a switch of rhythm or bassline occurs and usually follows a recognizable build section and "breakdown". Sometimes the drop is used to switch between tracks, layering components of different tracks, though as the two records may be simply ambient breakdowns at this point, though some DJs prefer to combine breakbeats, a more difficult exercise. Some drops are so popular that the DJ will "rewind" or "reload" by spinning the record back and restarting it at the build. "The drop" is often a key point from the point of view of the dancefloor, since the drumbreaks often fade out to leave an ambient intro playing. When the beats re-commence they are often more complex and accompanied by a heavier bassline, encouraging the crowd to dance. The name of a genre of drum and bass, "jump up" initially referred to the urge for those seated to dance at this point.

DJ support (that is playing a track) in a club atmosphere or on radio is critical in track success, even if the track producer is well known.[19] To this end, DJs will receive dubplates a long time before a general release of a track, sometimes many months before, in order to spark interest in it as well as benefit the DJ (exclusive and early access to tracks is a hallmark of DJ success, i.e. the case of Andy C). Sometimes a DJ will receive versions of tracks that are not planned for general release, these are so-called VIP mixes.

DJs are often accompanied by one or more MCs, drawing on the genre's roots in hip hop and reggae/ragga.[20]

The role of MCs in the music cannot be underestimated but they do not generally receive the same level of recognition as producer/DJs. There are relatively few well-known drum and bass MCs, Dynamite MC, MC Fats, MC Conrad, Skibadee, Shabba D, Eksman, Bassman, MC Fun and Stevie Hyper D (deceased) as examples.[21]

"You and me - me and you! We haffi brock a smile and don bother screw dis one dedicated to all massive and crew, we haffi get lively inna di venue! mi bawl ... Where's the noise? I want you jump up and swing an sway, and move your body with no delay. Hyper on the microphone, I've nuff to say, nuff to say, nuff to say." - Congo Natty "Stevie Hyper D Tribute" (Congo Natty) 2005

[edit] Subgenres
Recently, smaller scenes within the drum and bass community have developed and the scene as a whole has become much more fractured into specific sub-genres. The generally accepted and major sub-genres of drum and bass include:

Darkstep (or "Darkside" or "Dark", the return of the old skool sound of Drum and bass made with new technology - Bizzy B, Equinox, Breakage ext)
Drumfunk (or "Choppage", "Edits")
Electrostep (or "Trancestep")
Futurestep
Hardstep
Intelligent (or "Atmospheric" or "Ambient")
Jazzstep (or "Jazz and Bass")
Jump-Up
Liquid funk (or simply "Liquid")
Neurofunk (or "Neuro")
Sambass (or "Brazilian Drum and Bass")
Techstep (or "Tech")
Techno-DNB (or "Techno Drum and Bass")
The following are to a lesser and great degree, arguable subgenres, they would generally be described as separate genres by their proponents:

Breakcore (arguably a different genre, not a subgenre, with many differences)
Darkcore (both a precursor and a descendant of drum and bass since modern darkcore productions share much with darkstep
Raggacore (arguably a different genre, not a subgenre, with many differences)
Ragga jungle (arguably a different genre, not a subgenre - a modern sound which shares most if not all characteristics with early jungle music - difficult to differentiate - perhaps through frequent mention of H.I.M. Haile Selassie and other Rastafarian themes)[12]
As with all attempts to classify and categorize music, the above should not be treated as definitive. Many producers release albums and tracks which touch into many of the above styles and there are significant arguments as to the classification of tracks as well as the basic defining characteristics of subgenres. The list of arguable subgenres in particular should not be treated as definitive.

The modern distinctive ragga jungle style (arguably subgenre or even separate genre) is a direct throwback to the 1994-1995 style of drum and bass production. However, many modern drum and bass mainstream productions contain ragga, dancehall and regga elements, they are just not as dominant as previously.

Clownstep is a derisory term for varieties of drum and bass not appreciated by certain listeners (in particular the jump-up variety) and is prevalent on the internet, whilst not being a subgenre as such. Most producers would feel insulted by the labeling of their music as "clownstep".[22]

[edit] Jungle vs. drum and bass
Main article: History of drum and bass
See also: Oldschool jungle
Music sample:
4 track illustration of the evolution and continuity of the drum and bass sound

2 minute sample. This clip contains 4 tracks ranging from proto-jungle "Tribal Bass" (1991) to a jungle "Here I Come" (1995) to an ominous early drum and bass remix (1995) to an Aphrodite modern drum and bass remix in the jump up style (2005), "Tribal Natty". All contain the same Barrington Levy vocals (originally contained in the title song of the album Here I Come). Listen and compare the sound. Barrington Levy's vocals illustrate the wide degree of cross over with dancehall/ragga.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.Nowadays the difference between jungle (or oldschool jungle) and drum and bass is a common debate within the "junglist" community. There is no universally accepted semantic distinction between the terms "jungle" and "drum and bass". Some associate "jungle" with older material from the first half of the 1990s (sometimes referred to as "jungle techno"), and see drum and bass as essentially succeeding jungle. Others use jungle as a shorthand for ragga jungle, a specific sub-genre within the broader realm of drum and bass. In the U.S., the combined term "jungle drum and bass" (JDB) has some popularity, but is not widespread elsewhere.

Drum and bass has an integrated percussion and bass structure while jungle has a distinct bass line separated from the percussion.
The relatively simple drum break beats of modern drum and bass (generally a two-step beat) are less complex than the 'chopped' 'Amen' breakbeats of jungle[23]
The usage of ragga vocals differs drum and bass from jungle.
Jungle is the music of the early nineties and drum and bass appeared at a later time.
Opponents of a distinction would argue that there are many modern drum & bass productions with separated basslines, complex breakbeats and ragga vocals.

Probably the widest held viewpoint is that the terms are simply synonymous and interchangeable: drum and bass is jungle, and jungle is drum and bass.

"At the end of the day I am an ambassador for Drum and Bass the world over and have been playing for 16 years under the name Hype... To most of you out there Drum and Bass will be an important part of your lives, but for me Drum and Bass/Jungle is my life and always has been... We all have a part to play and believe me when I say I am no fucking bandwagon jumper, just a hard working Hackney man doing this thing called Drum and Bass/Jungle." DJ Hype[24]

[edit] Influences on drum and bass
Drum and bass music, born in samplers, has been and is heavily influenced by other music genres, though this influence has perhaps been lessened in the shift from jungle to drum and bass and the intelligent drum and bass and techstep revolution.[25][26][27][28][29] It still remains a fusion music style.[3]

Miles Davis has been named as one the most important influences,[30] and blues artists like Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters & B.B King have also been cited by producers as inspirations.

As a musical style built around a funk or syncopated rock & roll beat, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Temptations, Jackson 5, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, the Supremes, the Commodores, George Clinton, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Herbie Hancock,James Brown and even Michael Jackson, are funky influences on the music.[31][32][33][34][35][12]

A very obvious and strong influence on jungle and drum and bass is the original dub and reggae sound out of Jamaica, with pioneers like King Tubby, Peter Tosh, Sly & Robbie, Bill Laswell, Lee Perry, Mad Professor, Roots Radics, Bob Marley and Buju Banton heavily influencing the music.[36][37] This influence has lessened with time but is still evident with many tracks containing ragga vocals.

Early hip-hop is an extremely important influence on drum and bass,[38][39] with the genres sharing the same broken beat. Drum and bass shares many musical characteristics with hip-hop, though it is nowadays mostly stripped of lyrics. Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata, De La Soul, 2 Live Crew, Jungle Brothers, Kool Keith, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Schooly D, N.W.A, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr Dre, Mos Def, Beastie Boys and the Pharcyde are very often directly sampled, regardless of their general influence.[13]

Even modern avant-garde composers such as Henryk Gorecki have influenced drum and bass.[40]

Many tracks belonging to other genres are 'remixed' into drum and bass versions. The quality of these remixes varies from the simple and primitive adding of broken beats to a vocal track or to complete reworkings that may exceed the original in quality and effort put into them. Original artists will often ask for drum and bass remixes of their tracks to be made in order to spark further interest in their tracks (e.g. Aphrodite's remix of Jungle Brothers' "Jungle Brother").

On the other hand, some tracks are illegally remixed and released on white label (technically bootleg), often to acclaim. For example, DJ Zinc's remix of The Fugees' "Ready or Not", also known as "Fugee Or Not", was eventually released with the Fugees' permission after talk of legal action, though ironically the Fugees' version infringed Enya's copyright to an earlier song.[41][13] White labels along with dubplates play an important part in drum and bass musical culture.

One of the most influential tracks in drum and bass history was Amen Brother by The Winstons. Without the "Amen break" sample, drum and bass if had appeared at all, would have a very different sound.

For other uses, see Pirate Radio (disambiguation).
The term pirate radio usually refers to illegal or unregulated radio transmissions. Its etymology can be traced to both the illegal aspects of the transmission, as well as to the occasional use of sea vessels - fitting the most common perception of a pirate - as the base for the transmissions. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation. Rules and regulations vary widely from country to country. In countries such as the USA and many countries in Europe, many types of radio licenses exist, and often the term pirate radio generally describes the unlicensed broadcasting of FM radio, AM radio, or short wave signals over a significant coverage area that could be picked up by listeners.

Sometimes radio stations are deemed legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal and considered "pirate stations" where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross a country's border. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the nature of its content, its transmission format (especially a failure to transmit a station identification according to regulations), or the transmit power (wattage) of the station, even if the transmission is not technically illegal (such as a web cast or an amateur radio transmission). Therefore pirate radio can sometimes mean different things to different people. Pirate radio stations are sometimes called bootleg stations (a term especially associated with two-way radio), clandestine stations or Free Radio stations.

Contents [hide]
1 Pirate radio history and examples
1.1 Free radio
2 Pirate radio by geographical area
3 New media pirate radio
3.1 Pirate radio in Asia
3.2 Pirate radio in Australasia
3.3 Pirate radio in Central America and Caribbean Sea
3.4 Pirate radio in Europe
3.5 Pirate radio in the Middle East
3.6 Pirate radio in North America
4 Piracy in amateur and two-way radio
5 List of known pirate radio stations
6 In popular culture
7 See also
8 References

[edit] Pirate radio history and examples
Denmark had the first known radio station in the world to broadcast commercial radio from a vessel in international waters without permission from the authorities in the country that it broadcast to (Denmark in this case). The station was named Radio Mercur and began transmission on August 2nd 1958. In the Danish newspapers it was soon called a "pirate radio".

In the 1960s in the UK, the term referred to not only a perceived theft of the state-run airwaves by the unlicensed broadcasters but also the risk-taking nature of offshore radio stations that actually operated on anchored ships or marine platforms.

A good example of this kind of activity was Radio Luxembourg located in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The English language evening broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg were beamed by Luxembourg licensed transmitters. The audience in the United Kingdom originally listened to their radio sets by permission of a Wireless License issued by the British General Post Office (GPO). However, under terms of that Wireless License, it was an offense under the Wireless Telegraphy Act to listen to unauthorized broadcasts, which possibly included those transmitted by Radio Luxembourg. Therefore as far as the British authorities were concerned, Radio Luxembourg was a "pirate radio station" and British listeners to the station were breaking the law (although as the term 'unauthorised' was never properly defined it was somewhat of a legal grey area). This did not stop British newspapers from printing programme schedules for the station, or a British weekly magazine aimed at teenage girls, "Fab 208" from promoting the deejays and their lifestyle (Radio Luxembourg's wavelength was 208 metres (1440 kHz)).

Radio Luxembourg was later joined by two other well known pirate stations received in the UK in violation of UK licensing, Radio Caroline and Radio London, both of which broadcast from vessels anchored outside of territorial limits and were therefore legitimate but unauthorised in much the same way as Luxembourg. Indeed, all three stations even had registered offices based in mainland UK.

Where actual sea faring vessels are not involved, the term pirate radio is a political term of convenience as the word "pirate" suggests an illegal venture, regardless of the broadcasts actual legal status. The radio station XERF located at Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, USA, is an example.

While Mexico issued radio station XERF with a license to broadcast, the power of its 250,000 watts transmitter was far greater than the maximum of 50,000 watts authorized for commercial use by the government of the United States of America. Consequently, XERF and many other radio stations in Mexico, which sold their broadcasting time to sponsors of English-language commercial and religious programs, were labelled as "border blasters", but not "pirate radio stations", even though the content of many of their programs were in violation of US law. Predecessors to XERF, for instance, had originally broadcast in Kansas, advocating "goat-gland surgery" for improved masculinity, but moved to Mexico to evade US laws about advertising medical treatments, particularly unproven ones.

In 1924, New York City station WHN was accused of being an "outlaw" station by AT&T (then American Telephone and Telegraph Company) for violating trade licenses which permitted only AT&T stations to sell airtime on their transmitters. As a result of the AT&T interpretation a landmark case was heard in court, which even prompted comments from Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover when he took a public stand in the station's defence. Although AT&T won its case, the furore created was such that those restrictive provisions of the transmitter license were never enforced.

[edit] Free radio
Another variation on the term pirate radio came about during the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco during the hippie days when many things were named "free". Examples include "free store", "free love" and even "free radio", which usually referred to clandestine and unlicensed land-based transmissions. These were also tagged as being pirate radio transmissions.

The term free radio crossed the Atlantic Ocean, where it was adopted by the Free Radio Association of listeners who defended the rights of the offshore "pirate radio stations" broadcasting from ships and marine structures off the coastline of the United Kingdom. However, the term free radio also has another meaning, because it differentiates between that form of licensed broadcasting supported by the sale of commercial airtime which anyone can hear free of charge, from that form of licensed commercial broadcasting (especially television) that listeners and especially viewers have to subscribe to and which is usually known as Pay TV.

“ Technological development, and in particular the miniaturization of transmitters and the fact that they can be put together by amateurs, 'encounters' a collective aspiration for some new means of expression. ”
—Félix Guattari[1]

In Europe, in addition to adopting the term free radio, supportive listeners of what had been called pirate radio adopted the term offshore radio, which was usually the term used by the owners of the marine broadcasting stations.

Freebooter was yet another variation of the term pirate radio and it was sometimes used by the business press in the USA when describing marine broadcasting in Europe.

While pirate radio began as a defamatory term in Britain, it later became accepted as having a secondary meaning to describe adventurous forms of licensed broadcasting that had roots in true offshore unlicensed broadcasting. To this end the British licensing authorities have allowed both independent stations and to date even one local BBC station to use this name, while the government retained use of the term pirate radio to describe any stations on land or at sea, which are broadcasting without a license and contrary to law.

[edit] Pirate radio by geographical area
Since this subject covers both national territories, international waters and international airspace, the only effective way to treat this subject is on a country by country, international waters and international airspace basis. Because the laws vary, the interpretation of the term pirate radio also varies considerably.

Questions have been raised about various types of broadcasting conducted by national governments against the interests of other national governments, which have in turn created radio jamming stations transmitting noises on the same frequency so as to destroy the receivability of the incoming signal.

While the USA transmitted its programs towards the USSR, which attempted to jam them, in 1970 the government of the United Kingdom decided to employ a jamming transmitter to drown out the incoming transmissions from the commercial station Radio North Sea International, which was based aboard the Motor Vessel (MV) Mebo II anchored off Southeast England in the North Sea.

Other examples of this type of unusual broadcasting include the Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Courier, which both originated and relayed broadcasts of the Voice of America from an anchorage at the island of Rhodes, Greece to Soviet bloc countries. Balloons have been flown above Key West, Florida to support the TV transmissions of TV Martí, which are directed at Cuba. Military broadcasting aircraft have been flown over Vietnam, Iraq and many other nations by the United States Air Force. The European Union financially supported a radio station broadcasting news and information into the former Yugoslavia from a ship anchored in international waters.

[edit] New media pirate radio
Pirate radio has long been synonymous with AM (LW,MW & SW) and FM (VHF) unlicensed broadcasting and "border blasting" in most parts of the world. With the advent of the internet, many conventional AM/FM radio stations have also taken to simulcasting via the web. These range from public broadcasters, licensed commercial radio, and in some countries, the 3rd tier of low power license exempt radio stations.

Despite pirate radio being known for over the air transmission, a new type of so called "pirate radio" stations now operate on-line. The distinguishing feature is that these on-line pirates will usually not pay music copyright fees, like most of their AM/FM pirate cousins. These on-line stations will usually attract a small and loyal audience and may go unnoticed by the authorities, unlike the real AM/FM pirates who can easily be heard and traced on a conventional radio. The common term for this type of operation is better served by the term "Studio Pirates" rather than pirate radio, as no real radio transmitter is used.

A recent case of on-line studio pirate was seen in the UK. Hitz Radio(UK) and not to be confused with HitzRadio.com (USA) managed to attract large amounts of mainstream media publicity in early 2007. This publicity resulted from Ryan Dunlop, the owner of the station, nominating Hitz Radio for various business awards. After this publicity, many people with radio industry knowledge began to probe the station, which had claimed "millions of fans" and tens of thousands of listeners on-line. These claims, along with others, were part of the portfolio put forward for the business awards. When industry insiders checked these claims, it resulted in the UK music copyright agencies PPL and MCPS-PRS Alliance chasing back fees owed by Ryan Dunlop and Hitz Radio. That in turn resulted in the audience claims to be false, based upon the amount of back dated fees owed for copyright.