We built a radio station for the artists nobody's playing yet. Here's what it is, who Rex and Berryl are, and how to get your own track into the rotation.
There is a particular kind of Australian band that never gets played on the radio. Not because they are bad — because they are unsigned, unrepresented, and not on anybody's spreadsheet. They sell out a room in Thebarton, they put a record out themselves, and the national playlist never notices.
musick radio exists for those bands. It has been running quietly behind a password for months. It is open now.
What it is
A 24/7 internet radio station playing only unsigned and independent Australian artists. Not "mostly". Only.
Weekly live music guide — free.
There are no playlist consultants. There is no major label money. There is nothing in the rotation you have already heard four hundred times at the servo. Every song on air is there because the artist who owns it said yes.
It started, of all things, as a gig guide — one person, a database, and a stubborn hunch that Australian music deserved better than whatever an algorithm felt like surfacing that afternoon. The gig guide is still here. The radio station is what happened next.
Rex and Berryl
The station has two hosts, and neither of them is a person.
Rex is the DJ. He introduces tracks, tells you something true about the band you are hearing, and has opinions about Adelaide weather he was not asked for. Berryl reads the news — dry where Rex is playful, and considerably better at getting to the point.
Both are synthesised, both are Australian, and we would rather tell you that plainly than have you work it out and feel tricked. What they say about your band is written fresh for your band. It is not a template with a name dropped into it.
What we pay attention to
musick radio holds an APRA AMCOS Online Mini Licence. That means songwriters get paid when their work is broadcast — including yours, if you are an APRA member. We hold the licence whether or not the artists we play are members, because getting that part wrong is not something we are prepared to do to the people who trust us with their music.
Your masters stay yours. Your songs stay yours. You are giving us permission to play a track, not signing anything away, and you can withdraw that permission whenever you like.
How to get on air
It takes about two minutes.
- Upload an MP3. An original track you own the rights to, recorded well enough that it can sit next to everything else in the rotation without anyone reaching for the volume.
- Tell us who you are. Band name, your city, your genre, and a link or two — a Bandcamp, a Spotify, a website. This is what Rex uses to say something real about you instead of something generic.
- Tick the permission box. You confirm the track is yours to give and that we can play it. That is the whole legal weight of it, and the full terms are short enough to actually read.
What we are actually after
The bands nobody is playing yet. That is not a consolation prize or a filler slot between the real songs — it is the entire point of the station. If you have just finished something in a shed in Elizabeth and you are not sure it is ready, send it anyway. We would rather hear it and tell you than never hear it at all.
And if you are not in a band but you know one — the cousin, the housemate, the bloke from work who mentioned once that he records — send them this. Most artists who should be on air have simply never been asked.