Will Phantom FM, the popular 'alternative music' pirate radio station, avoid melting into the mainstream now it's legal, asks Brian Boyd.
Pirate radio boss Simon Maher had a chuckle to himself while reading media reports about the awarding of the new "alternative music" radio licence for Dublin. The station Maher set up seven years ago, Phantom FM, won the licence last Monday and after all these years as a jolly rodger presence on the airwaves he will begin broadcasting legitimately on July 1st, 2005.
"After working so long and hard to get a licence for Phantom, it did amuse me when it came down to the 'battle between Paul McGuinness and Bob Geldof' in the press," says Maher. "But that's only because our application was backed by Paul McGuinness as well as the concert promoter Denis Desmond (of MCD) while the rival bid (by Zed Fm) was supported by Bob Geldof."
While Maher says the general reaction to Phantom's success was that of a "deserving victory for the little guys", some of the station's hardcore listeners have already accused him of "selling out" and "going mainstream".
"The 'going mainstream' argument amuses me," he says. "The licence that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) had available was specifically for an alternative music station. They didn't want someone applying who would just replicate the 98FM or FM104 formula - they wanted a station that would cater for a genre of music that can't be heard on the main stations - more rock, more indie etc. In fact, in our submission to the BCI we had to define what we meant by 'alternative music' and they wanted to know exactly how much 'non-mainstream alternative' and how much 'mainstream alternative' music we would be playing. Part of the licence deal is that we also have to commit to a certain per cent of different musical genres that aren't currently being catered for on the radio. It's a very rigorous process."
This is Phantom's third attempt at securing a licence. The hugely popular music station (especially among 15 to 34-year-olds) has been operating out of small premises on Dublin's Wexford Street since 1997 and was staffed entirely by volunteers. As a pirate, it was unable to secure any advertising revenue and although never exactly raided by the authorities, they existed on a day-to-day basis and for all who worked on the station it was a labour of love. The station's location was widely known but unlike other pirate operations it never had its equipment confiscated by the authorities.
"Because we were a pirate I can't give you any sort of audience numbers," says Maher. "But you get an idea from the amount of hits on your website and the amount of people who ring in to the station as to the size of your listenership. To get the licence we first had to put together what's known as a 'submission of interest' to the BCI, which details why there should be a licence for an alternative music station. Then, if they believe a licence is appropriate, they consider the merits of the different bidders. There was talk of a multi-cultural radio licence being made available this time, but none of the submissions for it was successful. For us, we had to go off the air for the six months leading up to last Monday, because by broadcasting we are technically breaking the law."
Running a pirate radio music station in Ireland is a surreal experience. Nobody in the music industry can be seen to be dealing with you because of your illegal status and the fact that you don't pay artists royalties on the songs you play. However, because of Phantom's popularity, there was a lot of goodwill extended to them.
"The same music industry people who would be complaining about us in the media would also be looking to us to plug their records. Officially, they had to take a 'they're illegal' stance against us, but privately they did support us. Our very existence over the past few years has been very much an Irish solution to an Irish problem."
As some indication of the station's credentials, consider the number of their DJs who were poached by legal stations.
"Phantom was a great training ground - people would turn up to DJ knowing they wouldn't get paid but doing it for the experience and the fun. 2FM poached three of our DJs - Jenny Huston, Dan Hegarty and Cormac Battle; Today FM poached Alison Curtis and FM104 poached John Walshe. Even though officially we didn't exist."
There have been cases, however, of pirates going legitimate and merely melting into the mainstream. In Britain, the alternative music pirate XFM started playing Robbie Williams once it got its licence and began fretting about advertising revenues.
"That can't happen with us," says Maher. "First of all we have to abide by the licence and that is for alternative music, not Robbie Williams type music. Even if we were to go down that route, as a small operation we would be swallowed up by the likes of 98FM and the other stations. We have an obligation, a brief we must work to, and we are still Phantom after all."
What about concerns that Paul McGuinness and MCD's involvement in the company that now runs Phantom will mean that suddenly the station starts playing a lot of U2 records and a lot of records by bands who MCD is promoting?
"With the MCD part of the question, we would lose all sense of credibility if we started doing that, it simply won't happen. As regards U2, they were not a huge feature of our playlists when we were a pirate but some of their older songs were played. I can't see that situation changing."
With an initial funding of €2 million, Phantom will operate a "low-cost business model". It will broadcast from a new premises - still to be decided - and will employ about 28 full-time staff from next July. It is projected it will take about €1 million in advertising revenue in its first year of operation.
"Dealing with all these figures is very new to us," says Maher. "A lot about going legitimate is very new to us. The important thing for us though is to keep the essence of Phantom. We got our listeners because of how we ran the station, we don't want to lose them now by making any mistakes."
As the pirate flag gets lowered, Maher confesses to a certain nostalgia for the illegal broadcasting days: "It was really great fun and I think we achieved a lot in terms of promoting Irish bands and playing the sort of music we felt was being ignored elsewhere.
"It was a hard slog also and we always felt we deserved to get the licence. I'll certainly miss the fun of being a pirate station, but I won't miss the uncertainty of it - wondering if the station is still going to be there tomorrow."