Contribute to Big Shoulders Radio

Bringing the fantastic music of the Chicago area to an international Internet audience, Big Shoulders Radio is a music publishing project presented by The Site of Big Shoulders, a non-profit online magazine dedicated to publishing original Chicago content.  Online since 1996, The Site of Big Shoulders is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that features local writers, artists, photographers and musicians in a non-commercial magazine format at http://sobs.org.

Big Shoulders Radio is The Site of Big Shoulders' presentation of the music of Chicago, beginning with a monthly podcast that features original Chicago music and eventually growing to one or more 24/7 streaming Internet radio stations, inclusive of all genres of music, but always with a connection to the greater Chicago metro area.  For this effort, we solicit original music content, which we then reserve for future use in Big Shoulders Radio podcasts and streaming Internet radio.  All contributed content is used solely for non-commercial music programs freely available to the Internet-using public under the auspices of The Site of Big Shoulders' role as a not-for-profit organization.

Contributing bands and musicians grant The Site of Big Shoulders a non-exclusive license to use submitted content for Big Shoulders Radio programming; in turn, Big Shoulders Radio highlights musicians' involvement through on-air mentions and listings of bands, songs and other information on accompanying Web pages.  Since contributing musicians must be able to grant The Site of Big Shoulders an unencumbered license to use submitted audio within Big Shoulders Radio, this content must consist of original compositions and performances, or performances of musical compositions that lie within the public domain. (So, in general, we do not accept covers of contemporary songs.)

In order to contribute to Big Shoulders Radio, we need to receive the following from you:

1. Your original audio content, delivered in a high-quality digital format.  This can include audio CDs, lossless digital audio files (WAV or FLAC formats), or very high-quality MP3 files (256 kbit/s and 44.1 kHz or better).
    
2. A signed licensing agreement (click here for a printable PDF file) that confirms your ownership of the copyright of your submitted content and that grants The Site of Big Shoulders a non-exclusive license to publish your content within Big Shoulders Radio programming.
    
3. A completed submission form that provides additional information about the audio content and participating musicians; this will be used for creating accompanying Web page content, linking to bands' Web sites, and other informational purposes. (Click here to download a form-fillable PDF version of this document for e-mailing or printing.)

Get the above three items to us by e-mail and/or postal mail, or you can send e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to arrange a time to stop by our offices. Our address is:

Big Shoulders Radio
1543 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Suite 200
Chicago, IL 60622

Contact Big Shoulders Radio today at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to contribute or to ask any questions — it's a great way for Chicago-area bands and musicians to share original music with an international Internet audience in a high-quality, non-commercial format. We look forward to hearing from you!