What happened to Deviant Audio?
This page is for all listeners of Deviant Audio.
NOTE! If you'd like to make one, big, really useful final act of support for the station and myself, please register your interest in the OpenSSL AES encryption-breaking project, to break an encrypted backup that we need both to recover information that is required to re-launch the station at a later date, and to assist me recover a lot of other important personal data that has been lost. Your support with this would be really appreciated!
Deviant Audio will not return in its previous/current form. In early April 2008 we had a financial problem regarding funding the audio servers. We raised easily enough money in the 3 days April 12th - April 14th 2008 to cover the server costs so money wasn't ultimately the issue, the reason it went down is because the server host reformatted the hard disk due to non-payment while I was out of the country - after the server was billed for and we were notified that it would be put back online "very soon". That company was Server4You and we had been their customer for 4 years. The deleted data also included all the email addresses of the DJs and listeners, we have a backup which is handily encrypted with a password the server host also deleted, the server also had all of the station's email accounts, my business site (now resurrected here), personal email addresses and other people's web sites that I was maintaining, so as well as destroying the radio, the server host also damaged my income-generating business and reputation with my clients.
We have considered suing S4U over this but since they are based in the US it would probably cost alot more than it is worth.
Since my income was removed as well as the radio, restoring the radio was therefore not my first priority and indeed it took a long time to get the business site and email back up and running.
After much reflection and discussion with the assistant manager Thomas Johannesen we decided not to re-launch the station. This decision was taken for a variety of reasons including our personal circumstances, but mostly due to general dissatisfaction with the attitudes and politics happening in the trance industry, together with the very uncertain prospect of ever being able to make the station profitable, which was a requirement for me to continue working on it mostly full-time from home as I was.
I will state publicly that Thomas and I are both quite disgusted with the sheer stupidity, arrogance, ungratefulness and general attitude and lack of professionalism with some of the artists and also one of the online stations serving the same market sector as us. We have discussed whether to name names publicly or not since these people really do not deserve your time or money in our opinion - or our support - but for now I will just say that these people treated the radio station and Thomas's and my hard work to support them with such callous disrespect that it really left a bitter taste in both our mouths to a point where there are some artists whose tracks we can't even listen to and enjoy anymore, and if we showed you the correspondence, you'd probably feel the same. With this attitude, the industry will continue going downhill and fade out as it currently is.
We both talked with many of our previous favourite DJs and for the most part they treated us like shit.
Compounding this, there was alot of backstabbing by both artists and even volunteers who had been with us for some time that we believed were loyal and that we thought we could trust. Instead, they took the opportunity to step on us on the way to better things as soon as something more appealing came up. There is in addition one station - a very large trance station, and believe me, every record label and agent knows which station this is, the owner is notorious for being shall we say, less than scrupulous in his business ethic - but unfortunately, alot of naive artists don't know about it and are in fact causing desperately needed money to be sucked out of the industry by airing their shows on that particular station.
I must add that the majority of the artists we did actually work with up until the time of the station's closure were a pleasure to work with, and the idiots probably know who they are.
The listeners have also been great, and it was amazing to see lots of unfamiliar faces chip in when we had our financial crisis in April. The station's final balance sheet was calculated to be about £130, after many thousands of pounds of donations; this amount was used to pay off a bit of the station's credit card.
Another factor is that Thomas and I no longer live together or nearby, and we were both diagnosed with clinical depression in the March/April 2008 period and have both been receiving treatment of one kind or another for it. We weren't taking any satisfaction from our work at the radio because of all the fighting, and because the hobbyist, underground, unique element got replaced by something that sounded just like a professional FM station when we tried to cater to the mass market, a substantial increase in work with no increase in listeners or reward.
So, with all these things combined, it does not make sense at this point to re-open Deviant Audio.
However the door is not entirely closed. Long time listeners will recall the station was off air for the whole of 2002 and 2003 and was eventually re-lauched. All the software and music will be kept. We have a library of almost 120,000 songs and I have invested hundreds or thousands of hours writing over 60,000 lines of code to run the station and its services. The servers are all kept and the record labels are still sending us music on a regular basis.
We can therefore re-launch at any time. However, Deviant Audio will not appear in the format that it was in before. It would be run as a hobbyist rather than a professional monetized station, with radically different management policies designed to give us personal reward like the station used to. Or, it would be re-launched as more of a do-it-yourself service where everything is automated completely, including artists signing up and scheduling their own shows and mixes, nothing is verified or quality checked and we wouldn't be open for general correspondence.
There are no immediate plans to do anything. My priority now is to focus on fixing my own life, finding new clients for income and trying to be happy again in my personal situation. Music and radio projects will come later.
If you're a listener, we recommend you listen to Sense.FM (formerly SenseGenerate) whom we had a good working relationship with, or DanceRadio.gr which is a professionally run station with good business ethic. The same applies if you are an artist looking for a new place to air your show.
If you want to be notified if the station relaunches or of other related news, please subscribe (add yourself as a fan) to the following Facebook page: Deviant Audio Facebook page and add yourself to the Deviant Audio Facebook group.
Thank you for all your support over the years, and best wishes to all. Feel free to leave comments below.
Katy.
- Add new comment
- 43454 reads
Trick for young players
Always back up the site from your web host. i had the same problem but backed up a week before. And hardly lost anything.
Re: Trick for young players
The site, database, mailboxes and all the other sites on the same server were archived, encrypted and backed up automatically onto a server in another country every 24 hours with 14 days of backups being kept before the oldest ones are deleted, via a script I wrote to automate the task. The backup was made to another remote server because they have 100Mbit and my desktop doesn't, and the backup size averaged 1.7GB per day. The backup was encrypted so that I didn't have to trust the other remote server in order to store data on it.
My trick for "older" players is therefore, while an unencrypted manual backup to your home desktop once a week might suffice for a small web project, for enterprise-level operation it doesn't. We have the backups from the backup host. We don't have the key to open it, which is my fault.
Sorry to hear about that
I had no clue that the station went down. I'm a listener in America and I'd been wonering why it wasn't up and I must say that I enjoyed your station immensely. It's too bad that all that bullshit happened. So on behalf of all my fellow listeners here; We hope that all goes well with you! Oh and don't worry the artists and that company will rightfully get whats coming to them!
Hey Katy! Proper shit news
Hey Katy!
Proper shit news all of that is! I was just about to tune in whilst at work :(
Really sorry to hear about all of it really, and hope that all is well soon.
Best wishes, Breamo x
i had no idea
I cant say that i was ever a great contributor to your cause or there from the start like many other individuals that have expressed their feelings below. I did advertise you on TrancePodium.com and i felt, as a promoter, i was helping the cause.
But i will say that just reading your reflection above here, i feel compelled to thankyou quite sincerely for your hard work and dilligence in bringing such a class service to a public. You gave us all a way to listen without being ripped off by other services. By definition, your actions can be described as no less than selflessly benevolent. The length and breadth of the globe contains few individuals that are like that and it is such a bloody shame you were treated with lower than dirt status.
I owe it to DeviantAudio for much of my musical passion today. i was hardly interested in trance, dance or the community involved before i tuned in. Really, in retrospect, i owe it to you Katy for taking the time out to talk to me and answer my questions. I have experienced rather harshly the hot tongue of narcissistic DJ's caught up in their own fame. It sucks.
I wish i knew how to help. I am a training lawyer, but Australian law wont help you. We are taught that the law is fair, just and right in approach and outcome. I cant help but second guess that now.
all the best for the future.
Alex
T_T I'll miss the station i grew up with
I've been a very long time listener and I even donated a few times. I always loved the station, and have fond memories associated with you. I hope everything works out and you eventually get things up and running again.
I hate it when artists get big and they change into cold people. i miss the days of PLUR which seem all but lost in the haze of business and profits.
Sorry for not finishing the logos for the site back in 2002/3. I was dealing with a lot of things and the project got pushed back and pushed back.
DJ Dryon
Seattle WA USA / Ibaraki, Osaka JAPAN
Hope you are ok after all this
It was really good to me to be in this radio, I liked very much to be part of your station, if you ever come back I´ll be very happy to be part of it again.
My best feelings go with you Katy and Thomas, from the distance (Argentina) but together in the love of the good music.
mycbeat@hotmail.com
ah.fm FTW!
ah.fm FTW!
deviant audio shutdown
Dont let the stupid clowns and boobs bother you! katy and thomas. just bring deviant audio back larger and stronger than ever.
deviant audio shutdown
My heart is broken at the discovery of your closure. It was hot. very hot music. I eagerly await the return of deviant audio.
Re What happened to Deviant Audio?
Hi Katy and Thomas
Glad to read that all may not be lost. Fully appreciate how you both must feel, when it gets tough the tough get going. As for the clown who posted a personal insult into the mix, which was totally needless, they are a prat. But its proof how many idiots will kick you when you are down.
Hope to hear the station back on sometime, fingers crossed. Good luck with your health too Katy.
Rob the Rave
X
Deviant Audio, 2009, and Things To Come
I just wanted to post a little something regarding the station. First and foremost, thank you so much for the years of great music all hours of the day! Deviant is a major reason I got through my undergraduate years as a design major spending night after night up until the wee hours of the morning...I could always hit the Play button on the stream and forget about it for awhile...
As far as the situation with the server goes, I am sorry that things work out the way they do. I have had my fair share of troubles with employers and finding steady work and despite whatever people say about the economic situation to date, I know things will work out because the sun will come up and the days will go on. All I can say though Katy is that it is only in the troubled times that the true character of individuals shine. I have much respect for both you and Thomas for professionally ending your run and leaving the names, side-conversations and petty antics (such as naming the artists, etc.) out of the situation. It shows much class and I'm glad I could support an organization that exudes that work ethic in hindsight.
All in all, I just wanted to say thanks...it isn't much but it is something...
If you ever visit Los Angeles or the western coast of the US, feel free to give me a shout...
Best of luck!
-J
Re: Deviant Audio 2009, and Things To Come
Thanks J, those comments were very heartwarming, it's always nice to get some feedback when people appreciate the work we put in! :-) Glad we helped you get through your degree *grin*, and happy new year to you!
Katy.
I wouldn't worry about Vasco de Gama...
There's all sorts of evil people out there who want to hurt others. When they're out in the 'real world' they're usually pretty careful because they will be found out and be dealt with - but when they get on the Internet a lack of accountability means they can truly be themselves.
They're pretty ugly aren't they?
Pay your bills deadbeat
Katy:
Just wondering...
When you fell out of the "Ugly Tree" did you hit every branch on the way down...? Nice photo - NOT! Jesus, see a dermatologist.
As for your explanation as to the demise of Deviant Audio "you doth protest too much me thinks!" Rather than pointing the finger of blame at others perhaps you should take a long hard look at yourself for it seems that if you have to give that long an explantion then the fault truly lies with you. Try not to blame others for your own shortcomings. Sounds to me like you were a deadbeat and just didn't pay your bills! LOL!
Oh well, one less channel/chatroom for me to dope slap the Euro-scum.
Your pal,
Vasco da Gama!
WTF
you are such a toolbox (one full of tools) Va"scum" da retard! Running a site like hers is incredibly expensive, and time consuming! Laws, politics,and run-away client-base makes it a gigantic pain in the ass also! If you can do better... go for it! I would like to un-officially speak on behalf of Deviant Audio and announce to the world what a flaming moron you are.
PS. Katy... Good luck, Hope to hear some good news about things
Groove D
Personal insults and a
Personal insults and a generalisation of 500 million people in three paragraphs - nice post. As for the radio station, the bill was paid on time. Takes all sorts to make the world eh :-)
Katy.
I can help DEVIANT
I KATY, it's MS, i can help DEVIANT.
I've got my own servers and can host DEVIANT for 0€ !!!!!!
I'll sell U FTP for 0€ too...
DEVIANT PROJECT got to reborn, and I'll help U.
Martin SVENSON (MS) is ready to catch stream on his own server (200 slots in 128kbts)
U got my contact gunthAAAr@hotmail.com
The matter is all plateforms are Microsoft 2003, TSE admin.
Don't worry i'm here
MS
I will truely miss talking to you in the forums!!
Katy,
Firstly, I hope you feel well soon, you sound like a bright, strong, person.
I would also like to officially thank you and your staff at DA for giving me the motivation to pick up DJ'ing and shoutcasting my playlists on my "small, small, small", but fun web radio station. Like you said its all about the hobby, and not so much as being a corporate bore! I would love to be able to get a weekly recording out and try to generate some momentum. Take good care, you and Thomas. Hope to see/her from you guys real soon!
Dj GrooveD
AKA Brian Diehl
http://radio.groove.selfip.com
Woohoo
yay your alive :D
are you still gonna have the new years eve part
Hey Katy! Pity to hear things
Hey Katy!
Pity to hear things went this way. I already guessed DA was down due to money issues (though that wasn't the ultimate problem). At least thanks for letting us know. When it went down I was just allowed to have a show, but I never got the chance to air one.
Anyway, good luck with reorganizing your personal life. Oh, and nice that you have Enigma in your wish list, they rule. \m/
Greetings Asteroid / Jonathan
Hey Katy! Really nice to hear
Hey Katy!
Really nice to hear you again. I was wondering, what happened to DA, and I finaly got the answer. It was pretty sad to read all that, I really enjoyed working with you and I liked all the DA community, it was warm and friendly :) Your station was a good start for me, thank you very much for all the work you've done with DA. Now I'm working with DanceRadio. If DA will be back again, please let me know! :)
Wish you the very best!
Hytex
Thanks for the catch up
That's a pretty good explanation.
I really liked the station and I used to listen to it as much as possible.
I do hope that one day it will relaunch but with a bit of moderation instead of full automation since it could get out of hand. Mind you, either way I would still be listening and perhaps helping out as much as I could.
Hope everything works out for you in the end, that you can get your life back on track and maybe Deviant Audio as well.
Best Wishes,
James Pain
blaming blaming & blaming
I read your article a few times over, and it's sad that you had to close down, however I would like to say a few words.
I totally disagree you trying to blame other station/s for your weakness to make deviant a more appealing radio. You have launched in 2002-2003? and your trying to blame a station that has launched way after you?? come on!! every station has its own model of promotion and function, why spend all this time blaming other station or DJ/s etc.. use this time to make a station grow.
It's human nature to blame someone else or something else and feel better, the truth is you were the problem kate, many dj's/ producers were s**k of your s*it :( sorry to say but your one of the hardest people to deal with, I had my own radio show here for 2 years, and up until I changed to a different station I see the real difference in professionalism & how Im being treated as a DJ.
Learn how to react with people first, that's my tip for you.
RIP deviant hell
Re: blaming blaming & blaming
Well, the station was only run professionally since 2007 and before that it was just a hobby project. The article only reflects my and Thomas's opinion of the state of affairs in the industry and there is widespread agreement that the business model of the station in question is rather damaging and unethical. I certainly don't blame them for the shut down of Deviant Audio - we closed it for our own reasons which were not related to any other station or our position in the market, as stated in the article. Nobody was responsible or to blame for the closure of the station except our own decision to do so.
We worked very hard to make the station grow. We worked with over 100 artists, 30 record labels and about a dozen agents and there was a flood of messages of support when we decided to close. As both a radio station owner and a freelance programmer it's part of my responsibility to deal with people on a daily basis, so I would like to think that my clients would disagree with you - if they thought I was hard to deal with, they wouldn't be working with me.
Katy.