Soma FM Fluid

Fluid is one of more than 30 distinct programming channels offered by SomaFM, an independent internet-only streaming radio broadcaster based in San Francisco, California. SomaFM takes its name from two sources: Soma, the fictional pleasure drug described in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World, and the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood of San Francisco. The organization operates on a listener-supported, commercial-free model, with all programming hand-selected by in-house DJs and music directors. SomaFM was founded by Rusty Hodge, who began broadcasting from his basement garage in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood as a micropower station at the Burning Man festival in 1999. The operation launched as a full-time internet radio service in February 2000. In 2002, the implementation of Digital Millennium Copyright Act royalty rules threatened the station's financial viability, as per-song per-listener fees to SoundExchange were projected to exceed one thousand dollars per day. SomaFM ceased broadcasting in June 2002 and Hodge testified before the U.S. Congress to advocate for reduced rates. Following the passage of the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002, SomaFM resumed broadcasting in late November of that year under a revised royalty structure. In 2005, SomaFM partnered with Orban to extend streaming to 3GPP-compatible mobile devices, becoming an early adopter of 3G and EDGE mobile streaming. The station participated in the Internet Radio Day of Silence in June 2007 to protest proposed royalty increases by the Copyright Royalty Board. SomaFM continues to operate across dozens of genre-specific channels, each maintained as a distinct curated programming stream.