Listeners, fans and friends,
This sucks.
This is the moment all of us hoped would never come. After plugging away at this for the past two years, itâ??s become pretty clear that operating woxy.com as a stand-alone Internet "radio station" is not going to cut it. Our operating costs are higher than you might think, and the revenue we were able to generate from advertising isnâ??t close to supporting what weâ??re doing. Even membership revenue wasnâ??t enough to get us there. When your business doesnâ??t make money, you eventually go out of business.
With this in mind, weâ??ve been looking for either a significant partner â?? someone with a larger plan into which woxy.com could be plugged â?? or an outright buyer. That search hasnâ??t been fruitful. Weâ??re still willing to entertain offers and explore possibilities (email
bryan@woxy.com), but our time is short. We thought it was time to share our situation with you ... to give you a heads-up.
You might be saying, "What can I do to help?" Unfortunately, unless you have significant investment capital and a way to profit from the wonderful programming we create, you canâ??t. As of today, we will no longer be selling or renewing memberships or accepting contributions. Please donâ??t send us money ... it will just mean we have to send it back to you.
Now is a good time to say THANK YOU to our incredibly patient, generous and kind angel investors. Without them ... well, we wouldnâ??t have had the chance to even be in the game. Theyâ??ve enabled everything weâ??ve accomplished over the past two years, and for that, they are saints to indie rock lovers everywhere.
We did investigate an alternative: stripping our operations to the absolute bare minimum by cutting back to one staffer, no more DJs, no more Lounge Acts, etc. We decided it wasnâ??t worth it. It wouldnâ??t have been true to what woxy.com is, and it wouldnâ??t have honored the legacy of 97X.
While woxy.com may have failed in a business sense, weâ??re pretty proud that we managed to put out some of the most passionate, unique and interesting programming on the Internet and elsewhere. We showered love and airplay on countless bands who otherwise would have received none, garnered national press attention and hosted nearly 200 live Lounge Act performances. Not too bad for a little, four-person Internet radio station from Cincinnati.
A radio station is only as big as its listeners make it. Weâ??re not BS-ing when we say that you guys, our supporters, are the most amazing people on the planet. THANK YOU. The dedication and enthusiasm youâ??ve shown for what we do is staggering and inspiring. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to become a member, generously made a contribution, emailed (spammed) your friends, spread the gospel of woxy.com and â?? most of all â?? listened.
Barring something exceptional happening in the next two weeks, we will silence our broadcasts on Friday, September 15th.
Sometimes no matter how hard you try and how special the thing you do, it simply isnâ??t enough to beat the odds. Itâ??s the cold reality of business that not even we could escape. When September 15th comes, weâ??ll meet it proudly with heads held high and celebrate the past two years of woxy.com and the spirit of 97X. For those lucky enough to have been part of it, The Future of Rock and Roll will forever be in our minds and hearts.
So enjoy these last two weeks with us. Shall we rock?
Eternally yours,
