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Rare FM is the student radio station of University College London.


Background

Rare FM was set up in 1998 as an affiliated society of UCL Union. Rare FM broadcasts continuously over the Internet with approximately 15 hours of live original programming, starting at 9:00a.m. and finishing at 12:00 midnight from. Rare FM has started to provide some content via podcast which is published through Anchor to Spotify and Apple Podcasts among other locations. Rare FM now broadcasts a published schedule of shows from November to June between the hours of 09:00 to 00:00. When not broadcasting set shows, the station plays a curated playlist. Rare FM has moved home over the last two years in a process overseen by the 2021-23 president, treasurer and studio manager: Yiannis Goeldner-Thompson, Dan Amery and Jack Ward respectively. The new studio has been fully upgraded with broadcasting and mixing equipment. Rare FM also hosts several club nights throughout the year at venues such as The Cause and The Pickle Factory. From 2022-23 these are overseen by Louis Miller, the station's Head of Events. Rare FM also promotes its music based journalism magazine and online platform, Under City Lights, which goes to print annually. FM Broadcast History: {, class="wikitable" border="1" , - ! Year ! Date , - , 1998 , 27 September - 24 October (4 weeks), from BBC Swain's Lane , - , 2000 , 2 November - 29 November (4 weeks) , - , 2004 , 1 February - 28 February (4 weeks) , - , 2005 , 23 September - 5 October (UCL Fresher's Week) , - , 2006 , No FM broadcast , - , 2007 , 6 March - 19 March , - , 2008 , 4 March - 18 March , - , 2009 , No FM broadcast due to lack of available frequencies , - , 2010 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2011 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2012 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2013 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2014 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2015 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2016 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2017 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2018 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2019 , 1 December - March , - , 2020 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2021 , 1 November - End of the academic year , - , 2022 , 1 November - End of the academic year Rare FM DJs also broadcast live at UCL and UCL Union events, such as the Freshers' Fayre and the Summer Arts Festival.


Content

Rare FM is primarily a music station, which in past tended to focus on indie/ alternative music. However, in recent years this focus has dwindled and a diversity of genres and interests is now widely catered to. Shows specialising in
Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, Soul,
Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
, Jazz,
Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
,
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
, Electro, Hip hop, DnB, Dubstep, Grime, Psytrance,
Dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
and Reggae all now feature on a schedule that of 2008 amasses over 130 DJs with a vast variety of tastes. Rare FM also broadcasts the weekly
Student Radio Association The Student Radio Association (SRA) is a representative body which supports and acts on behalf of the UK student radio community, comprising radio stations that are associated with or linked to a place of education. It is a not-for-profit organi ...
chart show each Sunday.


Broadcasts


Broadcasts in 2020

Rare FM for the first time since its formation, changed broadcast location, choosing to broadcast from presenter's homes through Mixlr whilst the UK continued to inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The station now hosts 90 different shows with over 150 current members.


Events

Rare FM regularly puts of events which fill some of London's largest nightclub venue. From 2020-2023, this has included The Cause, Corsica Studios and Pickle Factory. Rare FM members including president from 2021-2023, Yiannis Goeldner-Thompson, Ibra Ali and Rob Norris also played at the Seaside Beano Festival with The Cause in June 2022.


Station alumni

*
Aliza Ayaz Aliza Ayaz is an international climate activist, and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. She jointly won the United Kingdom Youth Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability Award at University College London (UCL), and has spoken at United Nations ...
- Pakistan City FM89 RJ * Alex Zane - DJ in 1999-2000 (with weekly show ''It's Alex Zane!''), went on to be a presenter for
XFM Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
,
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and Channel 4 where he hosted '' Popworld''.


See also

*
Student Radio Association The Student Radio Association (SRA) is a representative body which supports and acts on behalf of the UK student radio community, comprising radio stations that are associated with or linked to a place of education. It is a not-for-profit organi ...


References


External links


Official Rare FM websiteUCL Union's Rare FM pageThe Student Radio Association's list of members
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rare Fm Clubs and societies of University College London Student radio in the United Kingdom Radio stations in London