"The Bay's Local Talent" 

 

 

 

 

Public Service: --- 

MUSIC TAMPA BAY  LAUNCHED ITS FIRST PUBLIC SERVICE EFFORT in 2005 with announcements on behalf of the American Red Cross and the unprecedented relief effort begun then for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

Local organizations interested in publicizing events OR non-profit items of local interest are encouraged to contact MTB.  

s2blue imaging
Jam productions
Music Tampa Bay's unique, signature jingles - "The Bay's Local Talent" - are the creation of a specialized recording studio in England called S2Blue.  The counterpart in the United States is a company call Jam Productions.  Links to both companies are available by clicking on the images above. 

There is an unusual story connected with the development of the MTB audio image jingles.  S2Blue Chief Imagineer, Steve England was a young boy at the time of the so-called pirate radio invasion in the UK in the mid-1960's.  Listening to radio, he became inspired by the arrival of the pirate stations that operated from ships anchored in international waters off the British coastline.  As he became an adult, he managed to land a job as a pirate DJ himself, and then later formed his own recording studio designed to, among other things, produce radio station jingles.  At a reunion of former pirate DJs in 2006, Steve produced and made available the jingles heard on MTB today, as a simple token of appreciation for the way radio affected him as a child, and helped shape his career.  S2Blue jingles are now heard on stations all over Europe, while Jams - an outgrowth of a jingle company well known to American radio programmers in the last century known as Pams - produces similar sound images for stations on this side of the Atlantic.

 

 

 

  
Music Tampa Bay Music Streaming is evolving from an experimental learn-as-you-go prototype for a local radio station program format, to a fairly stable and somewhat unique listening source in cyber space.  Geared first for conventional computer users, new media and the emergence of a wireless internet is enabling a dynamic growth model with virtually unlimited potential. Bandwidth limitations restrict the present system to a modest number of listeners, though virtually unlimited expansion is available.  Future opportunities appear to have no limits.

Developments & Limitations

MTB is a web-based 24/7/365 music streaming internet radio station featuring only local musicians playing to a local audience.  The web domain has been active since July 2nd, 2003.  Music streaming formally began in Winamp/Shoutcast mode only on March 6th, 2005. A 2nd audio stream accessible through Windows Media Players was added on February 5th, 2007.  Studio operations originally emanated from a harbor-side home studio in Indian Rocks Beach, but were relocated to private facilities directly overlooking "Great Tampa Bay" at the southern end of St Petersburg in September 2006.  Significant down time was recorded in the first year of operation beginning in September until March of the following year.   Another significant but planned off-line period occurred in the Fall of 2007.   Music streaming has continued uninterrupted since then.

Automated music rotation software was installed and adopted for play-list operations beginning about the 1st of November, 2007.  This improvement makes it possible to greatly expand and diversify the song selection process.  More than 200 songs are currently heard in music programming each day.  New music is added as opportunities present themselves, including a massive infusion of new material in early 2008.   As of early 2011, more than 1500 songs representing the creativity of 300 + local artists were being heard on a regular basis.

In September 2008 a major change in streaming operations occurred when all music files, media players, encoders and music scheduling software was moved from computers at the home studio in St Pete to a new dedicated virtual server in cyber space.  This move enables constant monitoring and updating of content from anywhere in the world (which has already occurred from such distant locations as Europe, Canada and Alaska), without regard for local connectivity conditions at the MTB bayside studio.  Almost exactly one year later in August 2009, storage capacity for maintaining the MTB Music Library was tripled and bandwidth quadrupled to permit an expanded playlist reaching an ever increasing number of listeners.  On September 28th, 2009, an interactive song voting feature was installed in the Top 10 list posted on the homepage, enabling listeners, for the first time, to have a direct voice in the selection of the songs that appear on this list in future weeks. 

Live streaming events also began in late 2009 with live programming from Pro Star Studios in St Pete.  Another event was heard in this fashion a year later from Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa.  More live streaming can be expected to be heard in months and years ahead.

Still a work in progress!

PLEASE EXCUSE THE MISCUES.-   System testing, configuration changes & server issues occasionally force program interruptions, and in rare instances, abrupt program changes lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes or more.  Planned downtime, including estimated time of service resumption, is normally posted prominently on the home page with accompanying announcements in the music stream in advance of these events.  Attempts are being made to keep these to a minimum, and scheduled in off peak listening time periods, usually very late at night.

Limited Music Streaming!  MTB music programming normally operates with FM or better quality stereo with two separate music streams adaptable to the players indicated elsewhere on this website.  The stream identified with the   New Features - Possibly to be added to the site in the future include listener interactivity in the selection of music, download and upload options, podcasts, premiums and give-a-ways (T-Shirts, cups, etc), more live/remote/on-site web-casts, opportunities for social networking and other improvements.  Special program segments such as Blues, Folk and Jazz shows on designated days and times are also under consideration.  Listeners with other suggestions or comments, criticisms, complaints (or compliments) are encouraged to submit ideas by using the guest book on the contact page, or by email to rick@musictampabay.com OR musictampabay@msn.com.