Resonance is a broadcaster like no other.
Every day of the year our two extraordinary stations - Resonance FM and Resonance EXTRA - each broadcast 24 hours of original programming, entirely free of commercial influence. Our pioneering, award-winning and ever-evolving schedule of extraordinary broadcasts covers all kinds of topics. Not just music - from ambient to zydeco, grime to improv, folk to feedback - but literature, fine art, theatre, film, video-games, field recordings, climate change, social justice, finance, international development, civil rights, technology, radio-art, and so much more.
Our live shows are all archived, with more than 34,000 programmes currently available to listen again on Mixcloud - free and ad-free, forever.
Resonance is not just a broadcaster.
It is an invaluable cultural resource that directly and indirectly impacts on people’s lives. Over twenty two years, hundreds of people every week, and thousands each year, have volunteered their time to feature on our airwaves, visit our studios, produce programmes, engineer live bands, create jingles, perform live music and poetry, host and co-host programmes, conduct interviews, appear as guests - and, of course, listen live!
Resonance’s impact was recently recognised by the broadcast industry when - for the second year running - we won Gold as “Publisher or Network of the Year” at the 2023 Audio Production Awards, ahead of Audible, BBC Asian Network and Wondery. The judges’ verdict:
“This entry stood head and shoulders above the rest with its passion, innovation and ambition. The depth of content, the astonishing creativity and the dynamic production styles propelled this entry unanimously into the top spot - despite coming from a small organisation with limited resources.”
“Resonance’s Gate Kicks series has been a marvellous journey full of wonderful surprises which has taken disabled musicians from an almost completely unknown music scene to receive dozens of invitations to play in great music venues and prestigious music festivals.
These experiences have empowered people to create new and more ambitious projects. This kind of inclusive community media project is now more needed than ever before.”
Javier Chandia, producer Gate Kicks
Resonance is not just a radio station. It’s a passionately engaged community of listeners as well. Here’s the kind of thing they say about our programmes:
“The vibes, the energy, the songs, the insight, the metal chimes, the hosting. It’s so perfect and powerful.” - “We need you more than ever.” - “Many thanks for the music during these trying times.” - “A voice of sanity in the gale of the world!” - “Thank you for sending antidepressants down the radio waves every weekend.” - “It’s wonderful to see this kind of excitement!” - “You just don’t get this in the dross of most other radio.” - “I love Resonance because it gives artists space to be creative and be themselves in a crazy time like this!” - “A truly unique outlet.”
Resonance is not just a broadcaster. It's by turns a lifeline, a toolkit, a toy, and a utopia.
“It's such a privilege to have this opportunity to play the finest music from all over the globe to people all over the globe. They deserve it.” Ivor Kallin The Ambrosia Rasputin Show
“My show has become a personal odyssey.” Jude Montague The News Agents
“What a dream endeavour!” Nick Brown Intoxica Radio Hour
“My life has been unfathomably enhanced via my 20+ year involvement with Resonance.” deXter Bentley The Hello GoodBye Show
“Creating radio shows is thrilling and nothing beats live radio!” Anna Crockatt The Relatively Good Radio Show
“Resonance stands a proud and strong figure against the tides of banality.” Cameron Dodds Haunted Network Research Initiative
“It means the freedom to play anything and everything on the air.” Ed Pinsent The Sound Projector Radio Show
“I am still amazed at the great support, the range of people I've met and the range of music and other arts programming to which I have had access.” Kevin Sheils The Traditional Music Hour
“My show has brought me new ideas and new friendships. I love it!” Josh Thorpe Unusual Music Exchange
“Before I had heard of Resonance FM, I was lost at sea. My dreams of becoming a fully-fledged filmmaker were being placed on a raft to be sent to drift out into the beyond, as the doors into the industry slowly closed and responsibilities of fatherhood and husband-hood began to take hold. While I was still happy to focus on providing for my family, a part of me I never thought I showed even to my wife slowly died inside (though she would later go on to tell me she saw it in my sad smile everyday). Then in July 2017, fate intervened. Arriving earlier than usual to catch a flight overseas for my day job led to me having a conversation with a lady who was sat next to me. We talked films, tv shows and everything in between, whereupon she told me she was a volunteer sound engineer at Resonance FM and thought I would fit in as a radio presenter talking about films and tv shows.
“Shoot The Breeze is our weekly one-hour talk radio show where we shoot the breeze with personalities from the film and tv world about their projects and their favourite films and tv shows.
“Had I not sat next to Laura that day, I wouldn’t have heard of Resonance FM. I wouldn’t have met the wonderful people that run the station and keep the shows running. I wouldn’t have had any of the opportunities afforded to me since which have led to me developing two feature films which will shortly be in production.
“A couple of years ago, my wife told me how glad she was that Resonance FM came into my life, because she feared the downward spiral for which I appeared to be heading. I can comfortably say - for me - Resonance FM saved my life, and I will forever be grateful to all involved for doing so.”
Marcus Ako, filmmaker and host of Shoot The Breeze
Resonance is not just about live radio.
It also offers a fluid and unbroken 22 year audio documentary of the world’s arts and a diary of our cultural history. It offers unparalleled insight - like no other radio station ever could - into how the UK’s creative and cultural life has evolved, how people live and create. And it underlines the essential and under-appreciated importance of the arts to public life.
Our goal is to keep Resonance’s output available and make it as accessible as we can, for all. That is why we’ve made available more than 35,000 broadcasts on our Mixcloud - totally free and ad-free, forever.
The incredible collective efforts of our community of volunteers meant that last year’s Annual Fundraiser raised £22,500. Since then, we’ve raised a further £15,000 in donations. However as the cost of living rises, so does the cost of running our charity, particularly at a time when we need to relocate its premises and deliver the next three years of activity.
If we cannot raise further funds before Easter 2024 Resonance’s future is deeply uncertain.
We need funds NOW to:
Complete our planned relocation to new premises in the London Bridge area.
Stay ad-free and independent and support the production of 24 hours per day of original industry-leading audio content across Resonance FM and Resonance EXTRA - broadcast day and night to our 1.8 million listeners.
Keep helping broadcasters like Paige and Marcus as well as other emerging producers, musicians, artists, engineers, as well as guests, and - of course - our listeners.
Keep rapidly-growing global experimental audio channel Resonance EXTRA on DAB in Brighton & Hove, Cambridge, Norwich and Greater London and online worldwide.
Preserve the more than 34,000 broadcasts archived on our Mixcloud pages, a nationally-important historical archive and a vital cultural resource.
Help maintain a bastion of independent media and a “thrillingly unpredictable racket” (Robin Ince, The Big Issue), free from outside interference and commercial influence, on DAB Digital Radio and FM - for many years to come!
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With Arts Council England funding secure until 2027, Resonance still needs to build on this support to maintain and extend our activities over the next three years.
To achieve that, monthly donations are critical. Not only can monthly giving be more convenient for supporters, it also eases our cash flow, allows us to budget more accurately and, critically, allows us to do better work overall, over a longer period, to support the Resonance community of makers and listeners.