Soma FM Digitalis

A channel operated by SomaFM, an independent internet-only streaming radio network based in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco. SomaFM was established as a full-time internet radio station in February 2000 by founder Rusty Hodge, following an initial broadcast experiment at the Burning Man festival in 1999. The station takes its name from the "perfect pleasure drug" in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World and the SoMa district of San Francisco. SomaFM operates entirely without advertising, relying on listener donations to fund operations. The network faced an existential crisis in 2002 when the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel issued a per-song, per-listener royalty ruling retroactive to October 1998. Hodge testified before the U.S. Congress that year alongside other webcasters, contributing to the passage of the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002, signed on November 15, 2002, which permitted small webcasters to negotiate reduced royalty rates with SoundExchange. SomaFM resumed broadcasting in late November 2002 under the new framework. In 2005, SomaFM partnered with Orban to begin delivering streams to 3GPP-compatible mobile devices, placing it among the earliest internet broadcasters to support 3G and EDGE mobile streaming. The network has since grown to offer over thirty distinct channels, each curated by hand by SomaFM's music directors and DJs. The Digitalis channel is part of this broader multi-channel lineup, which spans ambient, electronic, classical, reggae, and numerous other genres. SomaFM celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary as of 2025.