Every year it’s the same, uncle asks between the foie gras and the turkey if “it wouldn’t be nice to put on some Christmas music”. So the attendant at the speaker, or at the TV, does so and often finds a ready-made playlist. Where Mariah Carey and her famous All I want for Christmas is you rubs shoulders with Tino Rossi, the author of Small Santa.
All these seasonal hits are also broadcast on “Very Christmas radio”, an ephemeral web radio created in 2019 by Erick Cala. Its principle? “Already, it is on any listening platform, on the boxes too,” specifies the former journalist and host of the France Bleu network now based in Strasbourg. “This season, from November 13 to December 31, there are just over 700 titles ranging from the 1950s to today. With of course the great classics but also new releases. For example, Cher just released a Christmas album, like Natasha Saint-Pier. This allows you to have songs in several versions. »
Which therefore follow one another without advertising and without false note, the ex-programmer sees to it. “I don’t want the radio to be cheesy but rather jazzy. So I take care that there is a certain harmony. That Luis Mariano does not arrive between two Cher songs for example! It takes me one to two hours a day to look at the skeleton carefully and correct it. I also manage social networks where I offer some gifts. »
All voluntarily. Today at the head of a podcast agency “for businesses and communities”, the just sixty-year-old manages the web radio in his free time. “It costs me more than it brings me in between accommodation costs and those for Sacem. Maybe I need a sponsor but it remains artisanal for the moment. » To the great pleasure of the approximately 20,000 permanent listeners he counts. “People in France of course but from all over the world too. I have already seen connections in South America, California, Hungary etc. I know that marketers also like to broadcast me. »
It is precisely thanks to the thanks received that Erick Cala has continued the adventure for four years now. “It originally started from friends always asking me to send them Christmas playlists. It took me forever! I thought it wouldn’t be bad to create an internet radio station. There were maybe 70-80 titles at the beginning but when I saw the popularity, it overwhelmed me quite quickly and I asked friends for help. »
Today, “Very Christmas Radio” allows you to prepare for Christmas in the atmosphere. The ex-host believes that the same title “comes up every two or three days”. “But never at the same time,” specifies the designer. So uncle, will that suit you?