photo: curtis.kennington
It’s been quite a while but we finally came up with a new edition of The Berlin Experts – an interview series that introduces you to some amazing experts of Berlin and its cultural scene including art, fashion, music, nightlife and media. As you may remember we already interviewed Finding Berlin, überlin and Johann from Circle Culture Gallery among others.
This time we want to introduce you to the Berlin radio station BLN.FM. Founded in 2009, the aim of the radio station is to provide an independent media offer with a focus on electronic music.
If you enjoy listening to electronic music of all styles you can tune into their radio stream from all over the world – 24/7. Furthermore BLN.FM runs its own web magazine, where you can read interviews, artist features and get some tips about Berlin’s city life, society, movies and art. Read the interview with the guys from BLN.FM and find out more about their recommendations for the best Berlin bands and career tips for musicians after the jump.
photo: Markus Werner
How did you come up with the idea to start your own radio?
Well, first of all BLN.FM is not “only” a radio. We are a media distribution company based on a non-profit organization and with that we are really unique as most of the other media companies are focusing on “how to make money with the content we produce?”. In case of BLN.FM our main goals were and still are to deliver people journalistic content that’s free from advertising or meddling by a sponsor as well as educated people in all sections of “media”. We don’t care if these people are studying or if they worked in media business before; when we spot talent we grab them.
So when the Berlin government shut down their funding for Berlin based campus radio stations we got the idea to start BLN.FM. Before BLN.FM we did “3headz radio” and “sonett77” – both more projects than real business. During that time we gathered more and more people around us and so one day we came to the conclusion that we must base BLN.FM on a more solid ground.
What makes sets you apart from other Berlin radio stations and why should we listen to you?
We are the only radio station / web-magazine for electronic music and culture in the so called “electronic music capital of Germany” – that differentiates us from other stations.
You might wonder why people are listening to radio stations these days. Being a tutor for journalism I would prefer to say things like “because they like to get informed” or “they like our excellent journalistic content” but facing the reality I have to admit that people listen to radio stations because the like the music.
So, people should listen to BLN.FM because we deliver the BEST soundtrack for cooking, waking up, staying awake during the night, making the laundry, biking to university, being in the fucking annoying public train on your way to work, partying at the weekend and last but not least we do have the best vibes for making love to your boy, girl or hand!
You’re living in and writing about Berlin. What do you enjoy the most about your life in the capital city?
Honestly I think that Berlin offers the most possibilities when it comes to media business in general. Something like BLN.FM simply wouldn’t be possible in Cologne, Frankfurt or Munich. Berlin is so DAMN packed with culture, music or networking – you can drown within days. But if you found your niche you can work so much on things you really love.
How would you describe the music style of BLN.FM?
That’s simple – “all kinds of electronic”.
Which Berlin acts can you recommend?
That changes day by day. 😉
BLN.FM has a cool team of music editors and they know much more about the “state of the art” artists than I do. Personally I like a young band called “delta.”, another band called “Danke”, I L.O.V.E. Apparat, I like Beroshima (Frank, we do have to finish the remix of “We Who Are Oppressed”!!!!) and the more I think the more names have to be written down.
What could you recommend to young people in Berlin if they want to start their career in the media and music business?
First thing: stop thinking of making a career!
These days everyone is waiting to get spotted as “the next superwhatever” – I call it the “DSDS or American Idol syndrome”. People often think that being unique would do the job. The rest will come their way when they “network”. That’s the fault of my generation. We told them so but we have been wrong with that.
Educate yourself, train your skills, search for good teachers and listen to them, collect EVERYTHING you ever worked on, take care of your network and treat it like a spring flower, a “network” is created OFFline and online, learn to get organized, learn self-reflection and be honest to yourself, build up a circle of people that will carry you with whatever you do – this will be your “secret retreat” when you need to get energy again.
If you want to join our team – we are always searching for new people! Just visit our page.
Thank you for the interview!
