LOS ANGELES, (djc) – Los Angeles based, Radio Free Virgin, a privately held unit of the worldwide Virgin family owned by Richard Branson, announced the launch of the new Soul24-7 channel.
The Soul24-7 station broadcasts a diverse selection of soul music culled from the finest collections. Since the station’s launch on May 9, 2000, more than five million visitors have come to the UK-based Soul24-7, making it the Internet’s most successful soul and R&B station. Today’s launch on Radio Free Virgin will bring Soul24-7 to even more music lovers worldwide.
“Soul24-7 represents the perfect match for Virgin in our dedication to providing great music to listeners everywhere, ” said Zack Zalon, general manager of Radio Free Virgin. “We are pleased to have Soul24-7 join our growing list of well-respected content partners including Playboy.com and V2 Records. We look forward to working with them as Radio Free Virgin continues to change the future of radio.”
Radio Free Virgin provides state-of-the-art streaming audio and offers listeners the opportunity to experience CD-quality sound online while working or surfing the Internet. The Radio Free Virgin player can be quickly downloaded free of charge from www.radiofreevirgin.com and fits unobtrusively on the user’s desktop. Listeners of the new Soul24-7 channel or any Radio Free Virgin station can view the album and track title of the artist that is currently being played, explore new music, and even view to the artist page on Virgin Megastore Online to read reviews, listen to the tracks, and purchase the album.
“Soul24-7 started as a way for us to share our passion and collection of more than 100,000 albums with soul and R&B lovers across the globe,” said Brian Hurst, cofounder of Soul24-7. “Radio Free Virgin empowers Soul24-7 to connect even more people with the best of all Soul – from 60’s Motown to advance unreleased tracks from the best musicians around today.”
One of the original DJs broadcasting on pirate frequencies in the UK 15 years ago, Hurst’s personal album and singles collection exceeds 12,000 – “small” in comparison to others at the station. Chris Wells, director of Soul24-7 is editor of ECHOES, the UK’s top music magazine of the music genre which has been in publication since the 1970s. Soul24-7 DJ Terry Jones, one of the station’s evening presenters, is also one of the most well respected club DJs in the UK.
Drawing from Virgin’s global presence, Radio Free Virgin features a customized variety of channels developed by Virgin DJ’s worldwide. From ‘Guilty Pleasures’ (songs that listeners would never publicly admit to enjoying), to ‘Lovesexy’ (a collection of popular & risqué love songs), Radio Free Virgin listeners can expect programming with personality. Additional channels fill out a roster of irreverent and entertaining content from some of the most respected music experts and programmers in the industry.
A beta version of CD-quality digital radio tuner is available free of charge at www.radiofreevirgin.com.
