What is Bob's Ska Radio ?
From the original sounds of 1960's Jamaica, to the British explosion of the 70's & 80's to today's latest wave (whatever # they are on). All that with a bit of reggae, rocksteady, dancehall & dub, you can find it all here. On this fully featured site you can make requests anytime and our trained mini ska-monkeys will load up your song, it will then play after a short delay. You can view recently played songs, look at the top requests and find links to the band's web sites or links to cd or mp3 downloads on Amazon, Itunes or Bandcamp.
Do I have to register to use the site or listen to the radio ? Are there alot of ads on the radio ?
No. This is an ad free zone !!! No registration, No pop-ups and no in music advertisements. 100% music. Station and web site supported by me, Bob. If you are getting pop-up's then it's likely from a spyware, adware or toolbars on your computer. I do not collect email addresses or personal info of visitors.
Does it cost anything ? Do you want donations ?
No. The station is ran and paid for by me, Bob. If you really wanted to make a donation you can from a link on the front page. This site is funded by me and it does loose a money each month, but as long as I can afford to keep everyone entertained I will keep it up. If I was trying to make money, I likely would not be running a ska radio station. I recommend you buy albums from the bands played on Bob's SKA Radio to keep them going and putting out new music, maybe let them know you heard their music on Bob's Ska Radio.
You can listen on most any portable device by downloading any number of internet radio apps, then searching for Bob's Ska Radio.
Can I download your podcast or music to listen to offline ?
The station is live streaming only, like a regular radio station. There are no music, podcasts or song download's available.
I can not connect...
There could be several reasons. Planned outages (computer/software/network) updates should be posted on the Facebook page.
At times the stream may have reached the maximum numbers of listeners, just wait a few minutes and try again. Check the Now playing page, if the listener count is in the 60's then the stream has likely reached it's limit.
The host computer(s) or internet may be down. Check the Now Playing page, if the song title, date and time is not changing every few minutes then the stream may be temporally down also.
Last, check the news in Seattle, WA. Was there a major windstorm, snowstorm, flood or earthquake ? When the power may be out and there is little I can do.
I am listening at work or school, will I hear anything inappropriate ?
Most likely, if you listen for long enough. Some music is NSFW and may contain bad words. These songs are not marked and can be played at anytime. Most bands played on Bob's SKA Radio do not release radio or edited versions of their songs.
Sometime songs in the upcoming artist list do not play in order....
No, they do not. Listeners may be making requests or I may be at the helm adding in songs I want to hear.
Can you play music from my band ?
Yes if they are ska or ska-ish.
You can email Bob or send a message on Facebook with a link to dropbox, google drive or bandcamp.
I like that song, can you email it to me ?
Not really. The best way to make it possible for your favorite bands to keep putting out music is to buy their music. You can probably find it on Amazon MP3, Itunes or Bandcamp for $1 or less. Clicking the CD Icon on the playing info will usually take you to a site where you can buy that album.
Technical info
Bob's SKA radio is running SAM Broadcaster.
You can make requests 24/7, the tiny trained monkeys will add them in the playlist weather I am here or not. There are limits to the number of requests one listener can make in an hour and limits to how often a song, album or artist can be played. If you get an error saying that song or artist was recently played just give wait for a bit then try it again.
It broadcasts using Shoutcast.
Bob's SKA Radio offers live streaming only, there are currently no downloadable content(songs, podcasts, etc...)
Is Bob Famous ? Do you make any money from the site ?
I have not gotten many requests for Bob's SKA Radio merchandise or signed pictures, so apparently not. I am not & have not been in a band, I am just a ska fan turned dj. I play my favorite music all day and hopefully someone will want to listen along.