FAQ

Frequently asked questions, and answers

Who are you?

We are 1 Pure Radio Network, an independent, non-commercial enterprise that believes that radio shouldn’t be confined to just what “they” tell us to play. We want to give every musician a chance to be on our airwaves!

The staff have considerable experience in programming, particularly with alternative, rock, pop and dance music.

Where are you?

We are broadcasting from Richmond Hill, a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

How can I suggest a song to be played?

There are several options!

// send an e-mail to [email protected]
// send a text to +16302967562
// you can also visit our online submission form. Just look on the top menu for “LISTEN NOW”, select it, and the form is available under “SONG REQUESTS”. This is the fastest way to get your song on the air, typically taking just a few minutes.

How is licensing handled?

All materials are broadcast in accordance with the legal requirements of TorontoCast (our streaming partner), as well as SOCAN, a Canadian Performance Rights Organization. Further, 1 Pure Radio Network has also obtained direct permission for all of the works heard on this station through all relevant rights holders or their intermediaries. Any song that you hear on our services has rigorously passed these requirements.

The music on all services produced by 1 Pure Radio will never be made available for download in any form.

Licensing and royalty fees are paid for each song, based on listener counts, to SOCAN. All broadcasts are monitored and each song is logged to ensure accurate monthly reporting.

If you own the rights to a particular work, and still wish to file a DMCA complaint and have your song removed from our service, please e-mail [email protected].

What kind of music do you play on your stations?

1 Pure Alternative Radio: The latest and the best in alternative rock, indie pop, and many other “left-of-center” tracks. The core experience is for music from 1990 to today, with specialty programming involving the beginnings of the genre (1970s and 1980s). Examples of major label artists include:

Coldplay, The Killers, Green Day, LINKIN PARK, The Offspring, Radiohead, twenty one pilots, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, The Black Keys, The Lumineers, Vance Joy, The Head And The Heart, The Neighbourhood, X Ambassadors, Young the Giant, Foster the People, Arctic Monkeys, Florence + the Machine, Lorde, Panic! At the Disco, Blink-182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse, Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, The Strokes, Phoenix, The Kooks, Death Cab for Cutie, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, The Shins, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse, Interpol, Bloc Party.

Who listens to your station?

Based on market research conducted during May 2025, we found the following attributes:

// the typical listener is aged from 35 to 44
// higher income than the median
// approximately 60 percent male, 40 percent female
// listening time is typically over one hour
// into photography, technology, movies/film, multiple styles of music, attends music festivals
// listens nearly exclusively on mobile devices, overwhelmingly Apple over Android
// tends to be from the US, Canada, The United Kingdom, or Brazil
// within the US, tends to be from the Pacific Coast, Florida, or New York
// within Canada, tends to be from Ontario or British Columbia

How can I be a presenter (DJ) on your stations?

We are not featuring any live presenters at this time due to budget constraints, instead, our existing staff programs the stations on a daily basis to ensure a fresh music mix.

When our finances improve, we will revisit this idea, including seeking persons that are passionate about the types of music we play and who want to help further guide our vision of providing entertaining radio with features and songs you won’t find just anywhere.

However, if you do have any pre-recorded, weekly shows in the genres of EDM or Alternative/indie, we are interested in hearing from you for a potential slot in our schedule. Please submit a sample programme to [email protected].

How can I send music to you?

Our general rules are as follows:

Email your song to:
[email protected]

No Demo Tapes.
Your Music Must Be Mixed & Mastered, and Ready for Airplay.
We suggest a conventional song length (i.e. 2.5 to 5 minutes) to best integrate with our existing programming.

• Serious Inquiries Only •
Please provide your phone number, mailing address and email address with your submission. If we are interested in playing your music we will contact you with further information.

All submissions become the property of our radio stations and will not be returned. No acknowledgement of your submission is guaranteed. If the radio stations are interested in your submission, we will contact you directly. All submissions must be original works. By sending your submissions to the radio station(s), you are granting the radio station(s) permission to play the submission on-air in the sole discretion of the station. By sending in your submission to the station, there is no guarantee that it will receive airplay, but we will give it every possible consideration.

Thank you in advance for your submission.

Tell me more about the music you play on 1 Pure Alternative Radio?

Modern rock didn’t arrive as a single sound. It grew out of collisions: punk’s defiance meeting pop sparkle, art-school experimentation brushing up against radio hooks, and later, the internet widening the stage for anyone with a laptop and a melody. From synths and eyeliner on early MTV to laptop-born indie with field recordings and glitchy beats, this music keeps absorbing new tools and new voices while staying tethered to that core alternative spirit.

At [1 Pure Radio Network](https://1pureradio.com/), our day-to-day programming lives inside that story. We keep the guitars loud, the beats curious, and the catalog deep, because the timeline of modern rock still feels alive on every playlist.

## The early spark: New Wave gloss and post-punk grit

By the start of the 1980s, rock had collided head-on with machines. Synthesizers and drum machines weren’t just accents; they were the backbone. New Wave embraced tight, danceable grooves and glossy production that stood out on the TV screen. Music videos amplified everything, from haircuts to handclaps, and the hooks felt engineered for instant recall.

Running alongside it was post-punk, a darker mirror that pulled ideas from funk, dub, disco, and experimental art. Bands chased texture and tension rather than blues-based soloing, and lyrics explored anxiety, political unease, and urban isolation. The guitars chopped and chimed instead of roaring, and bass lines got rubbery and rhythmic.

Both strands opened the studio up to new possibilities. Multi-tracking and early digital effects invited layering and collage. What mattered wasn’t purity, it was chemistry: a catchy chorus over a cold synthetic beat, or a haunted baritone floating over a motorik pulse.

## When “alternative” takes the main stage

The 1990s knocked the door off its hinges. Grunge hit like a shockwave, roughening up the airwaves with fuzzed guitars and unvarnished emotion. The sound was heavy yet vulnerable, carrying the weight of personal struggle and generational disillusionment. The dominance of slick hair-metal receded fast.

Beyond Seattle, college radio graduates were suddenly headliners. R.E.M. showed how jangle could fill arenas. The Pixies’ loud-quiet-loud dynamics became a writing handbook. The Cure’s goth shimmer crossed into widescreen pop. Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins flirted with art-rock ambition and electronic textures, opening new lanes that would expand through the 2000s.

In the UK, Britpop built its own mythology, trading in swagger and sing-alongs. Across the Atlantic, powerful female voices reshaped the center of gravity, with confessional writing and daring production pulling modern rock into more intimate spaces. By the late decade, “alternative” had become a catchall, and “indie” started to signal a different set of priorities: smaller labels, DIY ethics, and sounds that didn’t need mainstream approval to matter.

## Indie 2000s: a new toolkit and a wider map

The new millennium redirected attention to the garage, the basement, and the bedroom. Affordable software and a fast-growing web ecosystem turned personal computers into studios and publicity machines. Bands could write, record, and self-release at a pace that left older industry calendars behind.

Stylistically, the decade was a playground. Lean, angular guitar records sat next to lush chamber-pop. Lo-fi made a virtue of tape hiss and imperfection. Mathy rhythms shared space with clap-along choruses. Pop-punk and emo brought high school notebooks into stadiums, while rootsy folk-rock found fresh energy in stomps and harmonies. The variety felt as if modern rock had split into districts, all sharing a border but building their own skylines.

Radio formats reflected that splintering. Some stations kept “modern rock” branding, others moved toward AAA, and satellite and streaming platforms carved out binaries and blends. For listeners, the choice expanded. For artists, the path to an audience no longer required a massive marketing machine.

## 2010s to now: hybrid sounds and broader voices

By the 2010s, the old lines between guitar bands and electronic producers started to blur in plain view. Indie became less a single sonic profile and more a mindset that welcomed collaboration, sampling, and texture-sharing across genres. One record in a given year might pair warm acoustic guitars with granular synthesis, the next might bring trap hats to a post-punk bassline.

Lyrics shifted as well, leaning toward interior narratives and identity. Mental health, gender, sexuality, and community are at the center of many modern rock albums, and the artists shaping the conversation look and sound more diverse than the scenes of decades past. That diversity widens the emotional palette, from radical tenderness to protest anthems, and it keeps the genre feeling current in a cultural sense, not just a musical one.

Streaming accelerated these changes. Algorithms reward repeatable moods, while tastemaker playlists can vault a song from bedroom demo to festival tent. The flip side is that longevity depends on connection, not just a single viral spike, which brings us back to curation as a form of storytelling.

## A quick decade-by-decade snapshot

Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the shifts that shaped the sound.

## The studio and the stage: how production shaped the feel

Listen closely, and you can hear technology changing the emotional character of modern rock. In the 80s, drum machines tightened the groove and sharpened the edges of a chorus, while chorus and reverb plugins airbrushed the mix with cinematic sheen. That sense of design fit the video age and its emphasis on iconography.

The ’90s pulled the microphone closer to the throat. Overdrive became a delivery system for anxiety and catharsis, and bands prioritized room feel. Imperfection read as honesty. When the 2000s brought back large-scale experimentation on small-scale budgets, artists treated the studio as a companion rather than a cathedral. You can hear hands touching instruments, and you can also hear tracks built from cut-up samples and laptop edits, all living side by side.

Today, that openness invites unusual combinations. A tight post-punk rhythm section can be draped with dreamy synth pads. An acoustic confession can bloom into a squall of shoegaze. The production choice is a narrative choice, and modern rock’s story gets richer when those choices stay bold.

## Why this history still matters on a playlist

If you only play hits from one corner of the timeline, you miss the cross-talk that makes modern rock exciting. New bands often write inside conversations that started decades ago, whether it’s a scratchy Gang of Four rhythm tucked into a dance-rock single or a synth line that nods at 1983 while the lyrics speak to 2025.

At [1 Pure Alternative Radio](https://1pureradio.com/), we weave those conversations into daily listening. Daytime hours lean into the 90s to present, and every hour we drop a “Rewind” to spin a cut that helped shape the present. On weekends, our MegaMix format draws from our entire library, shuffling gems across six decades so a brand-new single can sit next to a vintage art-rock classic.

## Traits that keep modern rock modern

Modern rock keeps moving without losing its core. A few threads show up again and again.

– DIY as a compass: independence remains a value, whether you record to tape in a basement or on a laptop in a spare room.
– Hybrid curiosity: guitars and synths aren’t rivals, they’re colors on the same palette.
– Voices that risk something: the most memorable records share candor, whether the subject is love, grief, or social change.

– **Hooks and friction**: catchy melodies with rough textures create energy that sticks.
– **Groove that moves**: rhythm sections carry as much personality as guitars.
– **Texture as storytelling**: effects and layers aren’t decoration, they shape meaning.

## How an independent station curates this timeline

We designed [1 Pure Alternative Radio](https://1pureradio.com/) to reflect modern rock’s range without squeezing it into a narrow lane. That starts with a deep catalog, stays ad-free, and invites listeners into the process.

– **Ad-free focus**: our streams keep the music front and center, supported by donations instead of commercial breaks.
– **Licensing clarity**: we broadcast through TorontoCast and follow SOCAN rules so artists get their due.
– **Fast requests**: send a note, text, or form, and we move quickly to get it on air.
– **Open door for artists**: emerging acts can [submit for airplay](https://1pureradio.com/faq/) and find a home beside veteran names.
– **Everywhere access**: web player, smart speakers, and radio apps like TuneIn or RadioBox keep the station a tap away.

That mix of transparency and responsiveness keeps the feedback loop short. Hear a new band that knocks you out, tell us, and we’ll try to place them where they shine. Have a deep cut that shaped your life? We love folding it into the “Rewind.”

## Subgenres that widened the canvas

One reason modern rock still feels vital is how many side roads feed the main route. Post-punk revivalists sharpened bass-forward grooves and taut drums for crowded clubs. Dream pop and shoegaze wrapped voices in sparkling fog, using reverb and delay as instruments. Folk-inflected records brought banjos and harmonies into festival tents, while dance-punk pushed the tempo and invited remixes.

Even when hip-hop or R&B elements enter the picture, the result often reads as modern rock because of the songwriting backbone and the way guitars, drums, and vocals interact. Instead of defending boundaries, artists keep testing them, and listeners reward that risk-taking with repeat plays and word of mouth.

## Listening across decades pays off

Play an 80s New Wave track with glossy keys right before a current indie cut that trades in hushed confession and glitchy beats. The contrast heightens both. You hear how a drum machine builds tension that a live drummer resolves, how a baritone croon sets the stage for a whispered chorus, how a chorus pedal from 1984 paints the same color as a soft synth today.

That’s why we keep six decades within reach at 1 Pure Radio Network. The timeline isn’t a museum wall, it’s a living set of tools and moods. A listener in Toronto on a morning commute, someone in Vancouver on a late-night run, a fan in Montreal [sending a request](https://1pureradio.com/faq/) at lunch, they all meet inside the same stream. And the stream stays modern because it never forgets where the sound came from while always making room for the next voice to join in.