Pure Musical Sensations (PMS)

by Matt Golding

Gone are the days when choosing a radio station meant flicking between Radio 1 and 2 and having to decide which was less annoying. What with this new fangled Internet thing, Radio is going through something of a renaissance. One product of this is that PMS Radio, a long running Merseyside alternative music show, is now streaming on the BBC website. Presenters Roger Hill and Joe Shooman say PMS exists ‘to provide an intelligent and diverse alternative’ to other radio shows. The playlist, covering everything from indie to hip-hop to electronica and more, is testament to this ethos - something they describe as “a sense of freedom and edginess”. Filling a niche left by the demise of shows like John Peel’s, Roger and Joe are quick to dispel any suggestion that PMS’s appeal is limited to local listeners. “It has always had a much wider audience and is not a strictly local show,” Roger explains, “We have been streamed for some time now and this allows a world audience to tune in.” Whilst the event listing portion of the show remains locally focused, bands from anywhere can plug their gigs on the PMS website. Roger and Joe also encourage musicians to send in their recordings, saying, “Any musical artist or artists with good music from anywhere in the world are, and always have been, welcome to submit it to us for possible play on the programme.” So don’t just stick your MP3s on Myspace and forget about them. Internet radio is growing all the time and, as well as PMS, there are a variety of stations and shows in the Wessex area (like X-Treme Beats and The Get Out) and they all need a supply of music. Here’s one final piece of advice from Roger and Joe; “Make good, honest, unabashed, original, brave, challenging music. And do your research. There are a few programmes that are happy to play your music if it fits that particular programme’s ethos. We’re one of them. But you need to find out where these shows exist and, crucially, what they play.”

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