The invisible people behind the growing popularity of totallyradio – and, on a broader level, internet radio as a whole – are, of course, the listeners.

Driven by a thirst for music that can’t be found on terrestrial radio, they comprise a small but growing number of people worldwide using broadband internet to listen to stations outside their locale.
What is ideal for everyone involved, on both sides of a broadcast, is that the interactive nature of the net means that listeners are only a click away from being part of the show.

And considering just how much loyalty there is among people ‘out there’ for their stations of choice it is not uncommon to hear from them on a regular basis.

“totallyradio has presenters for the shows so it seems more human than unhosted net shows. The hosts do interviews and contests and encourage listener involvement.
It’s a virtual community with a unique idealist/internationalist slant.” Dan - New York City

“For me it’s an escape from the ‘one day wonder’ radio.” Bram - Delft, Holland

The shift away from mainstream radio is becoming more and more noticeable as the growth in broadband connection creates new opportunities for listeners.

The facts speak for themselves. In research carried out in the US by Arbitron Inc it was found that, as of January 2003, 43% of Americans over 12 years old have tried online audio or video and 12% have listened to an online radio station in the last month.

A third of US home internet connections now use cable or digital subscriber line modems, making it easier for them to meet the bandwidth requirements of internet audio.

Interestingly for a station like totallyradio, Arbitron found that around 40% of US net radio listeners regularly tuned to a station outside their locale, indicating that web radio really is taking advantage of its medium to cut across geographical boundaries and isn’t just substituting one set of broadcasting constraints for another.

“Thank God for programs like Viva la Musica. Now we can be made aware in the US of the many other sounds that exist in this world. The radio stations here are very narrow-minded.
I’m originally from Suriname and therefore appreciate the different genres of music.” Freddy - USA

“I am just a lil’ boy from India. I was listening to your music while practising yoga and it just seemed to melt through my headphones like hot butter. I listen to these sounds and wonder what sort of lives, dreams, aspirations you folks over there have... Even though I have travelled on a couple of occasions through Europe, I can’t fathom the immensity and sheer possibilities that life offers you people.”
Gaurav - India

“Where are you? It's great! I love this station! Nora... in the Pacific Ocean on a tiny island with no music!”

totallyradio seems to have struck a chord among many of its listeners not just for the diversity and independence of its output but for treating them as equals.

Something long forgotten by most mainstream stations is just how appreciated a knowledgeable presenter is, someone prepared to sift through the mass for the masterpieces and unwilling to waste listeners’ time on useless releases with no redeeming quality.

As Steven Venn, a regular listener from Toronto, Canada, says:
“It is clear totallyradio DJs are not receiving third party ‘payola’ and incentives to say that a piece of crap is a ‘diamond’.

This is a highly unpopular concept in radio broadcasting which I love a lot.” He goes on to say: “The message that the music is for the discriminating listener who is serious about collecting/listening runs through all the shows that I listen to on totallyradio.
This gives the impression of the station as a resource more than a channel for yet another marketing scheme.”

“She has the ability to make me think she is directing the show at me, of course not in a ‘Play Misty For Me’ kind of way as she obviously has other listeners. In fact, she mentions many of them on the show.” David (on Daily Show presenter Claire Kember), Arabian Gulf

“We listen to Roots Garden every day at our cognitive electrophysiology research lab at the University of North Carolina. Big up Papa Steve! Could we hear Kocaine In My Brain?!”
Jeremy and Odin, USA

“I am 50 years old and can’t find bloody any radio that is playing new music like what I am hearing now. You got me! I’m friggin’ saved from the crap on the radio! Thanks!”
David, Whereabouts Unknown