Rare FM is the student

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Background

Rare FM was set up in 1998 as an affiliated society of

UCL Union Students' Union UCL (formerly University College London Union) is the students' union of University College London. Founded in 1893, it is one of the oldest students' unions in England, although postdating the Liverpool Guild of Students which ...

. 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 A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

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 Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The 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,

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, Disco,

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, Blues, House, Electro, Hip hop,

DnB Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

Dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

Grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

Psytrance Psychedelic Trance, Psytrance or Psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full ...

, Dancehall and

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

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 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 - Pakistan City FM89 RJ *

Alex Zane Alex Zane (born Faris Alexander L. Albayaty; 3 March 1979) is a British television presenter and DJ. Early and personal life Zane was born in Leeds and attended Boston Spa School before going on to study Medicine at University College London, ...

- DJ in 1999-2000 (with weekly show ''It's Alex Zane!''), went on to be a presenter for XFM, MTV and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

where he hosted ''

Popworld ''Popworld'' is a British television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the T4 strand, featuring pop news, trivia, gossip, interviews and music videos, as well as musical performances from contemporary artists. The show bega ...

''.

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