Hey, gang! Hope you all have been well, and I hope you've been enjoying what
The Jukebox Graduate has been offering since we started as a humble little podcast back in March of 2017.
Dave Rayburn and
Eugene Edwards have long been rabid music fanatics, and their lengthy music chats go back twenty-five years. The long-winded wonders enjoyed a series of podcast episodes well into 2020. That's until scheduling conflicts, pandemics, and all that other nonsense forced them into new avenues of content production. From that,
The Jukebox Graduate Radio was born! 24/7 curated radio, streaming all over the globe. To boot, the station has offered hosted program by the founders themselves. Eugene just completed his 113th episode of
The Know It All Hour, and Dave still features his long-running
New Release Bin program. In between, guest DJs (friends and listeners) have dropped in their own brands of music presentation, keeping the station nothing short of eclectic. When featured programs aren't running, the station plays music from a pool of over 8,700 songs (a typical Jack-FM style station generally utilizes about 850). Rock, Pop, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Country, Rap, Metal...
The Jukebox Graduate Radio promotes diversity in genres, eras, and popularity. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything just like it out there on the interwebs.
OUR PLEA:
Well, this brings us to the reason we've got you reading this. Since the very beginning,
The Jukebox Graduate has been operating out-of-pocket. And, as things have slowly expanded, so have our expenses. Previously, we soft-launched a
Patreon support program, and some very amazing listeners came on board and gave us some much-needed help. Over time, we've lost some of that support, and that... coupled with the pending expenses of our planned improvements, finds us at a bit of a crossroads. With complete transparency at the forefront, we want to share with you the three goals we'd like to achieve through our very first pledge drive.
GOAL LEVEL #1 - We would like to break even and exist at a level that the station is 100% listener supported. We have never turned a penny of profit in the last six years, and we don't seek to at any time. Currently, we are operating 67% out-of-pocket to keep things going as they are.
GOAL LEVEL #2 - With BIG plans to grow and expand our program schedule, we are in need of more media storage through our broadcast platform. We are 95-98% full, and we are almost to a point where we won't be able to add new shows or songs. BOO! We have the opportunity to upgrade, but a price jump is involved.
GOAL LEVEL #3 - We've always dreamed of this. Wouldn't it be nice to listen to a radio station that doesn't play commercials?!? Yeah, we agree. Therefore, we would like to make The Jukebox Graduate Radio THAT MUCH BETTER, and drop all the forced commercials that we currently have to run each hour. Of course, this is another subscription option with our broadcast platform that comes at a cost.
So, without going into the weeds too much here, we'll cut to the chase. Here are the financials that we are summoning our listeners to consider assisting us with as we make our plans for a bigger and better radio station in 2024...
HOW MUCH WE NEED:
Goal Level 1 (to break even as we stand here today): $105.00/month
Goal Level 2 (includes the achievements of Goal Level 1, but adds more needed media storage): $145.00/month
Goal Level 3 (includes the achievements of Goal Levels 1 & 2, but helps us go commercial free): $180.00/month
As of December 19, 2023 we have active Patreon support of $35.00/month. How's THAT for complete transparency?!?
We have faith that these goals are achievable with our growing audience, and... who doesn't like to support a good thing? The old cliché of sacrificing a morning cup of coffee comes to mind, but you can apply anything else in your life that you feel is small enough that you could painlessly go without each month. Every little bit of love adds up. Trust us.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
The Jukebox Graduate has teamed up with Patreon to help us corral our much-needed financial support. Through Patreon you can subscribe for a monthly fee of your choice (whatever is comfortably affordable for you). Some pledge tiers are set up to include some really cool bonus rewards. Two of the key tiers worth mentioning are PLAY MY LIST and BOSS DJ.
With the PLAY MY LIST tier, you get to provide an initial batch of 100 songs of your choice to feed into a WEEKLY randomized playlist show on the station! Each additional month that you on board, you will be allowed to add twenty more songs, growing your pool of material at a pretty fast pace. Tell all your friends that you've got a program on the radio. It's all YOU, baby!
With the BOSS DJ tier, you get to take things to the next level. Not only do you get to have a one-hour WEEKLY show on The Jukebox Graduate Radio, but you get to host it as well. Let your voice be heard! Tell stories. Give detailed background on favorite songs. Be cryptic. Do impressions. Whatever you want... it's your hour!
Even if you choose one of the reward-free pledge tiers, you'll know that you are contributing to the life of this living and breathing entertainment vehicle that we created out of the dust. You can't put a price tag on pride. Find a level that works for you!
AND... WE'RE GIVING AWAY SOME PRIZES:
As an added bonus (and just like all the classic pledge drives of our time) we've got some prizes to give away!
When Goal Level 1 is achieved, FIVE (5) lucky winners will be drawn at random. These winners will be allowed to each select an item from our "junk drawer". The final "junk drawer" prize list has not been finalized yet, but they will include CDs, vinyl EPs, unique music-related promotional items, backstage passes/lanyards (courtesy of Eugene Edwards), and much more!
When Goal Level 2 is achieved, THREE (3) lucky winners will be drawn at random. These winners will be allowed to select from the following: A copy of the "Rat Saw God" indie exclusive purple vinyl LP by Wednesday (one of Dave's favorite albums of 2023); a signed copy of "The Power And The Glory" vinyl LP by The Bad Ends (signed by the entire band, including R.E.M.'s Bill Berry); and a signed copy of Ian Hunter's "Defiance Part 1" CD! Long live Mott The Hoople!
When Goal Level 3 is achieved.... LOOK OUT! ONE (1) lucky winner will be drawn at random. That person will be awarded a true one-of-a-kind item. Our grand prize winner will receive a hand-made
Jukebox Graduate guitar effects pedal, produced for us exclusively by
Satellite Amplifiers. This is a fantastic piece of gear that you could add to your sound arsenal.
PRIZE ELIGIBILITY AND RULES:
No purchase necessary to be eligible. There are three ways you can get entered into our drawings.
#2 - For every time you SHARE our Facebook post for our pledge drive, you'll get one additional entry into our drawings.
#3 - And, for you
Patreon supporters (old and new)... for every dollar that you pledge monthly to the station, you will get additional drawing entries. For example, if you pledge $10/month, you will get ten entries.
Our pledge drive will remain active until all three goal levels have been achieved. As each prize level is unlocked, we will take to
Facebook for a live video drawing to discover the winners. Winners will have THIRTY (30) days to respond back and claim their prizes. If any prizes go unclaimed, a new winner will then be selected. That's it. Simple.
IN CLOSING:
THANK YOU for reading through all of this. In fact, if you think THIS post is long, just wait 'til you dig into the latest two-part podcast that's about to drop. We appreciate each and every one of you, and we thank you for making us the soundtrack to so many of your days. We hope to continue this journey deep into the future. Have a wonderful holiday season, and don't forget to be good to yourself while being good to others.
Cheers!
Dave & Eugene
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