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For our General FAQ, please go here.

1. Where does the money donated to Groovera go?
2. Does anyone at Groovera get paid?
3. Without listener donations, where does Groovera's budget come from?
4. Is Groovera a non-profit company?
5. Are donations to Groovera tax deductable?
6. How large does a donation need to be?
7. How come Groovera has not overtly asked for donations before?
8. Can I cancel my recurring Groovera Membership and stop monthly PayPal donations?
9. Is Groovera behind on its bills?
10. Why doesn't Groovera run ads?
11. What are Groovera's costs?
12. Why doesn't Groovera cut costs?
13. Will Groovera shut down altogether on July 21, 2008?
14. If Groovera's MP3 streams are terminated, will they be restored?
15. Why doesn't Groovera seek investors and/or venture capital?
16. Why doesn't Groovera charge for subscriptions?
17. What is in it for me if I donate to Groovera?
18. Will I receive a t-shirt, bumpersticker or mug from your Zazzle store if I donate?
19. How many listeners contribute?
20. Is there another way that I can contribute to Groovera?
21. Does Groovera have a business plan?

1. Where does the money donated to Groovera go?
   When you contribute, 100% of your gift goes directly into the PayPal account from which all Groovera's operating costs are paid and it remains there for exactly that purpose - to pay for bandwidth and hosting costs. We take nothing out of it for ourselves. » Back to Top
2. Does anyone at Groovera get paid?
   All production efforts at Groovera are strictly volunteer and nobody earns any wage, including those of the founder himself. In fact, the station itself currently operates at a substantial and continual loss. » Back to Top
3. Without listener donations, where does Groovera's budget come from?
   Whatever is not covered by listener donations is paid for out-of-pocket by the founder himself, a guy whose days are comprised entirely of operating Groovera and earning wages as a tech consultant. Right now, his opportunities for daytime consulting jobs are becoming less frequent with the downturn of the American economy. And no, he does not have any independent wealth, a family with deep pockets or any kind of financial backing. Groovera is 100% independently operated and funded with no subsidies. » Back to Top
4. Is Groovera a non-profit company?
   Although Groovera as a web radio station could possibly qualify to be a non-profit company in the United States, we do not have the resources to make it so and it is a very difficult process requiring a kind of legal representation that is unavailable to us at this time. » Back to Top
5. Are donations to Groovera tax deductable?
   Only donations to a non-profit company are tax deductable in America. » Back to Top
6. How large does a donation need to be?
   We do not require any given amount, however we need a lot of help at this time. Even a small $20 contribution (the price of five lattés, a short happy hour, or a decent dinner for one) helps to cover our ever-increasing monthly operation expenses and regular monthly donations can help even more. However, if you can help with larger donations, this is a time when we really need it. » Back to Top
7. How come Groovera has not overtly asked for donations before?
   We simply dislike asking for help and we like keeping our "chill" vibe going! Our making this gesture is a last-ditch effort, an "S.O.S." to our audience if you will. We would rather seek alternate means to fund Groovera than turning to the audience for help and we have simply exhausted all resources at this point, only one month from being five years in operation. We have amazed anyone knowledgeable of our autonomy! Groovera's founder is not one to "cry wolf" and we certainly cannot continue "as usual" without support from our audience. Our need for your help is long past-due. » Back to Top
8. Can I cancel my recurring Groovera Membership and stop monthly PayPal donations?
   Yes you can and at any time. Simply follow these steps:
   • Log into your PayPal account
   • Go to "My Account" and click the "History" tab.
   • Select "Subscriptions" from the "Show" menu and click "Submit".
   • Choose your Groovera subscription.
   • Click the "Details" link. You will then be transported to the "Transaction Details" page where you may cancel your subscription and all future scheduled donations to Groovera will cease.
   If you need additional help cancelling, please email us with the email address you used when you setup your membership and we will promptly cancel it for you.» Back to Top
9. Is Groovera behind on its bills?
   Not at all. The company that currently provides our bandwidth is simply adamant to terminate service if a bill is not paid in full within six days after invoice (our invoice date is early this month, July 11). Unfortunately, despite their inflexibility they are the lowest cost but highest yielding and most reliable provider we have had to date. We have gone through six previous providers in our history of operation and have even sought alternatives within recent months. » Back to Top
10. Why doesn't Groovera run ads?
    Again, we like keeping our "chill" vibe going and many ads would change the mood, unless they were NPR-styled and produced by us. We will certainly need to run banner ads but we only want to work with companies that offer products that our audience would like to use. » Back to Top
11. What are Groovera's costs?
    
    • Media server colocation (monthly)
    • High grade bandwidth (monthly)
    • Commercial-grade, high-traffic website hosting (monthly)
    • High-output, commercial grade Internet service (monthly)
    • New musical selections (ongoing...and these imports just ain't cheap ?)
    • Attorney's fees (as needed)
    • Software licenses (as needed, we currently need more in order to release new channels)
    • Hardware and equipment (as needed, we currently need more in order to release new channels)
    • Royalties (whenever it is imposed upon us; rates commensurate with serving upwards to 300,000 listeners a month.)
    » Back to Top
12. Why doesn't Groovera cut costs?
    We have. The most obvious to our audience is reverting our 128kbps MP3 streams to our original maximum bitrate 96kbps mp3PRO codec, which is a 25% bandwidth savings and is also CD-quality if your media player supports it. Unfortunately, we have also lost a considerable amount of audience by doing this. In March 2008, we had introduced a ten-hour meter on our MP3 streams (which is not imposed on the AAC+ streams, by the way), which has yielded a bandwidth savings of approximately 30% since many connections are left unattended after awhile. Also, in January 2008 we began stricter enforcement of DMCA statutes to prohibit stream recording which has cut back superfluous usage tremendously as many stream-recording users double-up and triple-up on connections, sustaining their sessions for days on end. » Back to Top
13. Will Groovera shut down altogether on July 17, 2008?
    If we cannot raise the funds to keep the MP3 streams running, our provider will shut off that service that provides them. We will still keep the AAC+ streams running. » Back to Top
14. If Groovera's MP3 streams are terminated, will they be restored?
    The termination of the MP3 streams may only be temporary, however if iTunes suddenly begins to support AAC+, we would no longer have any reason to use such an outdated, expensive, bloated and inferior codecs such as MP3 or mp3PRO. » Back to Top
15. Why doesn't Groovera seek investors and/or venture capital?
    It's a "catch 22" situation. In order to gain investors, a company must prove they earn money. Although our business plan extending from Groovera certainly can, Groovera does not and is not really intended to do that in its role as a web radio station. Groovera is made to be a community-based entity operating free of charge and creating a front line identity whereas activities stemming from Groovera can function more like a traditional business. » Back to Top
16. Why doesn't Groovera charge for subscriptions?
    We may eventually be forced to begin subscription services, but it was not what Groovera was really intended to do. If so, our donors will automatically be offered free subscriptions commensurate with their contributions no matter how long it's been since they helped us and will be eligible for other perks. » Back to Top
17. What is in it for me if I donate to Groovera?
    Aside from keeping your favorite radio station providing the service that you are accustomed to, we are in the process of building a series of Groovera.com "community pages" where you get your very own community listing on the Groovera website! All donors, past and present, may opt to have their name, a website link and a brief bio as long as they present tasteful, inoffensive content suitable for all audiences. This can be especially beneficial for businesses that use Groovera in their ordinary operations as background music, however this is not to supplant banner advertising on Groovera.com. Monthly subscribers of $50 or more will even get to provide a picture, up to two website links, free support and added recognition. » Back to Top
18. Will I receive a t-shirt, bumpersticker or mug from your Zazzle store if I donate?
    We have always wished to do this, just as NPR and PBS (public broadcasting in the USA) provide for their donors, however we do not yet have the resources. The offerings we have on our Zazzle store do not actually belong to us, they are not in inventory and are products Zazzle offers as a service that you are merely buying from Zazzle with our logos printed the item on a per-transaction basis on demand. We have not so far found a cost-effective means to offer "swag" with a donation although we intend to eventually. » Back to Top
19. How many listeners contribute?
    Only between two and eight listeners per month ever come forward to help out, a tiny number when compared to more than 300,000 listeners a month. These donations have still been very helpful to supplement our costs but our overhead still requires exponentially more contributions to begin to even begin to break even. » Back to Top
20. Is there another way that I can contribute to Groovera?
    Yes. We need licensing expertise, business development and more legal assistance, all of which focused upon the entertainment business and intellectual property law. If you are interested in other roles, please contact us and tell us how you might be interested in participating with Groovera! » Back to Top
21. Does Groovera have a business plan?
    Yes and it goes far beyond the potentials of web radio.... » Back to Top