An in depth look at arguably the most widely listened to underground hip hop internet radio show in the world, Friday Night Lights. Check the latest show + bonus interview with the Founders of Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, DJ Mista Montana and DJ Menace below:

How long have you been on the air?
Mista Montana: It all started in September 2004, as an occasional streaming radio station which adopted a very raw, pirate radio style approach and a play list which was made up of music sent to us directly by listeners, often while we were live on air. Almost instantly, artists reacted to what we were doing and wanted their own show on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, as we offered a 100% regulation-free platform, allowing for freedom in terms of song choice and genre style. As the internet market began to flood with ‘Average Joes’ playing their mp3 collection and murmuring into their Radio Shack microphones, we knew we had to evolve and develop something which could not be replicated. The Friday Night Live Show as you know it now, really began it’s evolution in 2006 with masses of live guests each month and brand new, often non-web hip hop. We have utilized all resources available to us and without a budget created a radio show which some have described as ‘the best hip hop show anywhere in the world’. We glow at such statements and continue to nurture the radio show, gathering 1000s of new listeners each week from all around the world.

What has been the biggest change in the music industry since you’ve started?
Menace: Put simply, it is the artistic prostitution and poison of the culture.

Mista Montana: As hip hop left the 90s, its eligibility for mass marketing and mainstream inclusion increased dramatically. We began in 2004, at a time when the mass media had almost completely turned their back on quality hip hop in favor of synthetic, unchallenging and ultimately generically accessible rap music. Our radio show’s awe-inspiring rise has been synonymous with this ignorance on the mass media’s part and now in 2010, there are some artists whose only chance of airplay and dedicated exposure is via such shows as ours or other successful “underground” shows such as DJ Eclipse or DJ Premier.

Where do you go to find new artists to feature on your show?
Menace: During the shows initial stages of broadcast it was MySpace and a select few other sites/blogs that determined a big role in discovering ‘new’ artists, as did gigs and live events and word of mouth. Since the shows inception and consistent evolution coinciding with technology we have discovered artists via YouTube and more recently social networking sites such as Face Book and Twitter, as well as mix tapes and blogs/sites . Today however it is usually new artists that discover us before we discover them. As one would imagine this can be a blessing and a curse – especially having to sift through countless demo’s/tracks and often albums. Depending on how myself and Montana mutually feel about an artist and them being interviewed or played rests upon their body of work, attitude and above all skills. In past we have expressed our trust and confidence in the many blogs out there who service promotional MP3’s; almost serving as online DJ’s. These blogs are of great convenience for us and have of recent become frequent sources for our shows more so then ever before. In addition to the blogs we are fortunate enough to be a part of various email blast promotion companies and digital services. It is these services and blogs that allow prompt delivery of quality music via email with a pulse on brand new material and often ‘new’ artists. A mission of our show has always been and always will be to break both present and future Hip Hop artists and you can expect us doing exactly that in 2010!

Which do you prefer: Digital or Physical servicing?
Mista Montana: Digital servicing has its advantages such as its instantaneous nature and ease of integration into a digital broadcast studio. However, in contrast to physical, ‘hard-copy’ servicing, there is a high risk of digitally serviced music being missed or becoming lost in a sea of similar files. Due to the vast amount of music we receive for The Friday Night Live Show, there have been occasions where certain preferred tracks have been omitted from the scheduled playlist, simply due to being lost in the vacuum of files and folders. Although this is a rarity, physical servicing serves as a guaranteed delivery method and can assure the sender that the recipient will notice their product. It is a pleasure to receive both types of media.

How do you use the web to save your business money today?
Mista Montana: As a non-profit organization that actually uses it’s own, self-created finance to broadcast, this is somewhat of a complex question for us. We could easily accept advertising and even run a ‘pay to play’ policy regarding the music we play. However, Conspiracy Worldwide Radio thrives on operating without any business-related motivation, allowing for music to be of paramount importance and main focus for our existence. Many are shocked that we do not make any money from what we have built and are often under the illusion that we even pay artists to appear on the show. Money is not synonymous with good radio, if anything money burdens radio.

How do you see the web evolving in the coming years?
Mista Montana: As discussed with some of our recent guests on the show, we recognize the massive potential of the internet and have built our coverage and hands-on achievement, solely upon the many opportunities that the internet has afforded us. With the recent boom in such tools as Twitter and now the equally communicative, Google Buzz, never has there been a better time for artists to handle their own promotion and success. The internet has equipped musicians with all the weaponry they need to make sure that the entire world hears their artistry and that, thankfully, then negates the urgency for them to sign away their life to a corporation such as a record label. In 2010, some of our guests have argued that signing to a conventional record label is now a bad move and that every single musician with an internet connection should be able to build a worldwide following and an army of fans willing to invest in their dream. With the internet’s possibilities, the ants will and already have, overthrown the giant.

Is there any feature or service we could build for you?
Mista Montana: Fairtilizer is already a superb place for musicians and such a site comes at a time when Hip Hop needs collaboration more than ever. We need a site that will bring together the wealth of talent that currently operate in isolation, across all corners of the globe and blurs the boundaries set between “established” and “non-established” artists. Unlike similar sites, which are simply a business venture to rob desperate musicians of their money on a monthly basis, sites like Fairtilizer need to operate without subscription fees. Having said this, there needs to be some degree of exclusivity and some regulation to ensure that the corporations stay away and that each artist that registers IS making quality hip hop that will enhance our culture. It seems that your site is already offering everything that a musician would want, so a specific regulated section dedicated to meaningful hip hop artist cohesion and collaboration would be superb for us.

What are your tech tips for 2010?
Mista Montana: My advice to all artists, whether established or non-established, is to embrace every new development in communication. We get no end of mail from new artists who are depressed that their youtube video only has 45 views after a month, for example. Our response is always the same – how many people did YOU tell about it? The internet is a vast chasm of humanity, filled with billions of global users, so people must spend as much time promoting their talent as they do creating the evidence of that talent. It takes me longer to promote our weekly radio show as it does to create and broadcast it. But the rewards are vast. There are some absolute superstars out there, who the general public have yet to hear and it through this beautiful conception of internet that these artists can change that, without the need for blood-sucking middlemen. Take your career into your own hands from the comfort of your bedroom and utilize every single aspect of the internet to reach your targeted audience. We have developed a network of over 150k unique users across our Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Google Buzz and LinkedIn profiles, fan pages and groups. They didn’t all discover Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Conspiracy Worldwide Radio found them and now they are dedicated fans of what we do.

The Friday Night Live Show on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio broadcasts every Friday at 5om EST (10pm GMT) at http://www.conspiracyuk.com and you can listen to all OF Mista Montana& Menace’s shows at their iTunes archive http://www.conspiracyblog.net

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