Auntie Flo presents Ambient Flo

Emerging from lockdown with the desire to provide positive escape and champion a new source of revenue stream for musicians, Brian D’Souza AKA Auntie Flo unveils free 24 hour radio station, Ambient Flo.

Like many, Brian found his mental health strained during the pandemic. Naturally, he sought solace in music. Finding comfort in the immersive live streams he regularly broadcast from his garden and the overwhelmingly positive reaction from viewers that followed, Ambient Flo was born with three priorities:

• Music – an ambient, fourth world and transcendental station curated by Auntie Flo and high calibre guests
• Health –  to transport us from the pressures of everyday life.
• Fair economy – that provides a fairer business model and alternative revenue stream for musicians.

Brian says:“This music helped me through the most intense part of lockdown. It was my therapy, my escape and it’s now become part of my daily routine. After the success of the weekly Ambient Flo live streams from my garden, it made sense to make it available for people to listen wherever they are and whenever they need it. And with the struggle that musicians are facing to make ends meet, I really hope our Artist Profit Share model will create an ecosystem that helps provide some much needed support.

I’m tired of independent artists being exploited by the power and tyranny of big tech. It’s time we, as a community, mobilise to create new, fairer economic systems. This is our first small step towards asking if this brave new world could be possible.

What we need now, is for a community of fellow music lovers to get behind this and to show their love of music by listening, sharing and supporting us via Patreon. If we can reach our goal of 500 supporters in the first 3 months then this could be a sustainable project that can provide calm amidst the madness and an alternative revenue stream for artists during this difficult time. “

Specialising in carefully selected ambient, fourth world and transcendental music, the array of tracks are replenished each month through a combination of older classics, digging and listener submissions. Having recently trained in sound therapy, every track will be listened to by Brian and handpicked to ensure an excellent standard across the station. One-off playlists will also be crafted by masterful selectors such as Shanti Celeste, Optimo, Sarathy Korwar, Free Love, KMRU and Nicola Cruz to help listeners escape these difficult times and find somewhere much more comforting. So much more than musical wallpaper or a predictable ‘chill out’ playlist, Ambient Flo delivers what an algorithm can’t: personally curated sonic therapies that soothe, bring balance and provide an intimate connection between listener, artist and radio station. 

With 300+ tracks chosen each month, every song is given equal footing with the same number of plays and same payment per month per track.  Three playlists will randomise on a daily basis, ensuring no two songs are heard in the same order, and will be meticulously tailored across three time zones, making sure listeners have access to a soundtrack appropriate to their time of day. Morning will ease listeners into the day with a focus on uplifting, consonant and minimal sounds, while Daytime picks up the pace a little with incorporation of pulse and melody and Night transports the station into more understated and dream-like territory. On a separate channel, birdsong can be added, as well as looping videos overlooking Brian’s garden for those looking to get lost in biophilic visuals too.

Alongside a focus on mental wellbeing, a fair and transparent economic model has been devised to provide additional revenue for artists at a time when many have seen their main income wiped out overnight. Along with how disproportionate and unbalanced revenue streams are throughout the industry, Ambient Flo is an attempt to kickstart a new musical ecosystem where we can support artists who have been left behind by the current structure. 

With this model, Ambient Flo’s first goal is 500 subscribers. Until then, the radio station will operate without profit, as any money generated outside of artist payment will be reinvested in running costs. Once we hit 500 subscribers, the APS model will evolve to ensure artists take a bigger share of revenue.

All income received is split three-ways. For every £3 donation:

• £1 goes to the artists whose music we play via Artist Profit Share – This will be split equally amongst the 300 selected tracks. Ambient Flo will proactively contact each artist featured and publicly publish the monthly tracklists. As the station has a radio licence in place, we don’t have to do this, but we feel it is an important part of fair remuneration in a time when it is needed most by the music community.

• £1 goes to the running cost – These include the internet radio licences, the server costs and money spent on buying music every month. This also helps us spend time on the accounting side to distribute payment to the artists. Any money left over will be spent on technical innovations such as an iPhone app, more channels and a player for different different time zones.

• £1 goes to Auntie Flo, guest curators and our internal team – We are not an algorithm. Our curators will dedicate significant time to this project, handpicking every song so the quality remains high.

Ambient Flo is powered by its supporters. Listen to Ambient Flo now: www.ambientflo.com. For all musical submissions, please contact: ambientflo@gmail.com