50 years after the first outbreak of pirate station in the UK, where does pirate radio stand today? Has the technological advancement of digital media forms, resulted in the decline of underground alternative radio? With the internet enabling everyone to host their own radio program/ station does it better accommodate audio transmission than broadcasting via the radio wave? According to Pirate radio Frequencies (2010), documenting the pirate radio scene in London, on DJ declares that "the Internet has killed pirate radio, and I don't think it can come back."
Historically pirate radio stations provided alternative views, often providing services to minorities or in areas where the public are underrepresented and marginalised within the main stream media, whose interests are in
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In London for example, pirate radio stations provide for black communities where for example reggae and SKA would be under represented in mainstream radio. KISS FM for example, starting as pirate station in London catering for the black youth. Broadcasting primarily RnB, Hip-hop, dance and soul music, Kiss FM had a huge cult following and was a prevalent force within the London club scene.
Illegal broadcasters are now seeking to distance their operations from the likelihood of enforcement action by streaming their broadcasts online," (Mercer quoted in new science 2009). As of recent, the internet provides a legal solution to pirate radio broadcasting, Internet radio gives people a free and legal method of producing and listening to internet radio. Prior to the internet the only way to listen to the music of your choice was through physically owning a copy or through the radio. If however the radio didn’t play the music you wanted to listen to; the only alternative was pirate