UVSC sophomore launches RadioFire to showcase local bands

Matt Henage is broke. He's living in his parents' home in Springville, he doesn't have a car anymore, and he's devoting his days to something that, to an outsider, could very well look like a money pit. But he loves it.

Henage, the one-man show behind local Internet radio station RadioFire.net, is being paid in pleased listeners instead of paychecks, but he's as happy as if he were rolling in millions.

"The drive got me to do it," Henage said. "When the hard times came, that's what saw me through it. I'm going to see a change in music throughout the world."

The devoted 24-year-old Utah Valley State College sophomore has given up just about everything for an idea that started out as idle chatter between friends. A pal said in passing he'd like to listen to a radio station that played music exclusively from Utah Valley, and the light bulb turned on for Henage. He set out to create a site to promote the unsung heroes of local music scenes all over the nation.

For six months, he worked with family and friends to build up the idea, and the site went live almost four months ago -- but only, Henage said, after he "got serious" about the project, quit his part-time job and moved home.

But for Henage, it's been worth it. Listeners can sign up for free to create a customized, personal radio station, complete with their favorite kinds of music from the areas of the country they choose. The site boasts 70 genres of tunes and a selection of more than 3,100 songs and 1,600 artists, none of which has signed with professional recording companies. Plus, Henage said, the real talent gets a voice in a brand-new arena.

Henage's site is joining a new wave in music as the Internet and satellite radio expand listeners' music choices beyond the mainstream hits enjoying traditional radio play. RadioFire.net comes to the scene on the heels of such Utah sites as ProvoPodcast.com, an Internet radio commentary show promoting local bands; SomethingLocal.com, where bands can sign up to sell their music via the site; and UtahBands.com, which lists the upcoming performances of local bands. Henage's site is unique, however, because it's devoted entirely to putting this unheard music on the airwaves.

"I have several friends in bands, and I think the music has much more quality and they don't get enough exposure for what they've put into it," Henage said, a note of frustration in his voice. "That's what gives me a lot of the drive and the passion: to see people put a lot of time into their music and see them get the exposure they deserve."

Tanner Christensen, who contributes guitar and vocals to Wasatch Front band Prospect Mali, said the exposure on the site has been great in getting the word out about his band. And there are some advantages to RadioFire.net being small in the beginning, he said.

"Our songs come up on the playlist more often than if thousands of bands were on the site," he said. "It's been a good experience. We hope people learn about it and start listening."

Eventually, Henage said he hopes for something of a revolution on the national scale. Music has become largely about how successfully artists can promote their act, and Henage wants to see talent, not budget, become the main factor in a performer's success.

"With commercial music, it has to do with the talent and their budgets," he said. "I was hoping to make RadioFire to make it more about the talent than the money."

Lilia Velbovets, a Brigham Young University public relations major and friend of Henage's, said she believed in the concept in part because of Henage's passion and also because of the originality of the idea.

"I think people are tired of listening to songs they've heard a thousand times, and they're searching for unique music," Velbovets said. "Matt is really passionate about it because he wants to help the music scene here, and he wants these bands to be heard."

Velbovets and a team of other students took on RadioFire.net as a project for the BYU Bradley Public Relations Agency, a club on campus devoted to public relations, helping Henage spread the word about the site. She said all the project needs now is good advertising.

Henage has certainly donated his share of blood, sweat and tears to the project. He gave up a decent salary at Metrix BPM, a business process management company, to spearhead RadioFire.net, of which he is still the only full-time employee, and his savings are gone. He sold his car for advertising capital and continues to furiously read business, marketing and computer programming books to learn the ropes of the industry. And Henage has learned that working for himself isn't as easy as he thought: With no one watching over his shoulder, the drive to work has to come entirely from within, which isn't easy on the days he just wants to pull the covers over his head and go back to sleep.

Rick Henage, the entrepreneur's father and an accounting professor at UVSC, acknowledged his son had been through the wringer for his business.

"I think the toughest thing is that it's one thing to have a good idea, and it's another thing to be able to do all the hard work," Rick Henage said. "But because he's sacrificed so much, it's been easier for me to support him. He's put his whole heart into it."

The site hasn't turned much of a profit yet, but Matt Henage isn't discouraged. To keep the site free for listeners, RadioFire.net carries advertising at the bottom of the page, and as the site expands, Henage plans to put advertisements between songs, akin to a typical radio station. He also attends concerts to hand out fliers promoting the site and researches city music scenes to encourage bands to upload their music. Henage remains confident that once the word gets out, money will be the last thing on his mind.

And, of course, it isn't all a sob story. Henage has had a lot of support from family and friends -- "I'm not moving the mountain by myself," as he said -- and he has a product that his customers really enjoy. The company is "scratching the surface" of a new horizon in the world of music, and it's a resource for local bands. Though Henage admits to being the No. 1 listener on the site, the number of registered listeners keeps jumping, now up to more than 2,500, and Henage sees nothing but success in the site's future.

"We're just going to work as hard as we can to support local music, because I think the more we help out the artists and keep it free, the more support they're going to give back," he said. "I hope one day we'll see RadioFire as a place where people go to find music in their own areas."

IF YOU LISTEN:

RadioFire.net

Where: Available exclusively online

Fee: Listeners register for free to hear local music

Info: RadioFire.net

BY THE NUMBERS:

2,499: Registered listeners

65: Utah artists featured on RadioFire.net

1,739: Artists nationwide playing on the site

3,366: Songs available from the site

70: Genres of music available

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.