Mushroom FM has expanded, and gained a degree of popularity, beyond my wildest expectations given that it is only a little over four months old. Already, we're producing nearly 100 hours of live programming a week, and we're attracting new, talented presenters all the time. The credit and thanks of course belongs to you, our listeners, who have tuned to us in such incredibly large numbers.

A couple of the new presenters who have recently become a part of the team, tell me that based on questions they are being asked, there is a lot of misunderstanding out there about Mushroom FM's policy regarding working with other Internet radio projects. Most of it is genuine misunderstanding, a little is deliberate misinformation. So in this post, I'd like to discuss what the policy is, why it is in place, and why it works for us.

When presenters join Mushroom FM, they do so mindful that we have a policy that presenters with us can't broadcast on similar Internet radio projects. That is the full extent of the policy. Does it mean that a presenter can't be interviewed by people on other projects in some other capacity, or publish podcasts? Absolutely not. Indeed there are a number of Mushroom FM presenters who, outside of their work with us, host podcasts and have roles that lead to them being interviewed on all kinds of projects. The policy simply relates to hosting shows.

It has also been suggested that Mushroom FM presenters are discouraged from listening to other Internet radio stations. This is also totally false. One Internet radio project actually has a policy banning their presenters from tweeting that they are listening to other stations. But we do not. So our policy is quite straightforward.

Having clarified the extent of it, let me discuss why it has worked so well for us. If I were to summarise it in a single sentence, it's about playing for one team at a time, being loyal to your team, and good old-fashioned courtesy and respect for your colleagues. Let me illustrate the benefits of this policy with a scenario. Brian Hartgen has produced a documentary on Roy Orbison. It's three hours long, but it has taken many times that number of hours to research, record, and edit. He's proud of it, as well he should be. Then I decide that I want to be on more than one Internet station that potentially seeks the same listeners as Mushroom FM. It's not deliberate, but they give me a time slot that is exactly the same as Brian's. So one minute, I am Brian's colleague. I'm promoting his shows on Mushroom FM, encouraging people to listen. But then, I send emails and tweets urging people to come and listen to me on this other station and thus encouraging people who might have listened to Brian to listen to me instead. Brian put his heart and soul into that work. Does he not have a right to feel a sense of annoyance and betrayal that now I'm not a colleague, I'm a competitor for the same listeners? In my view, he does.

I started this form of blindness-based Internet broadcasting, where a group of people share a server to create an Internet radio station, about 11 years ago. And almost exactly 10 years ago, I founded ACB Radio Interactive. I've seen many things work, and many things fail. People broadcasting on multiple projects is a recipe for poor discipline, and nasty internal politics that tarnish the project. Such politics can't help but spill out into the public domain, and taint what you, the listener, hears on the air.

Some have said that this takes the fun out of broadcasting. I beg to differ. The fun is taken out of it when there is constant bickering, back biting, conflict and tension because of divided loyalties. The dynamics, the team spirit, on our internal email list, is by far the best I have ever experienced on any project of this nature. There is 0 personal abuse, discussions are supportive and respectful, and everyone bends over backwards to help one another out. That's what real teamwork is about. That would not be the case if we were having to deal with people with conflicts of interests, and conflicts of loyalties.

In having this policy in place, are we taking all this way too seriously? We are all volunteers after all. Well, we do take it seriously, yes. Internet radio can be anything the broadcaster wants it to be. Some people are happy to fire up their broadcasting tool of choice, and really just see what happens. There's nothing wrong with that, some people love the rawness of it. But it's not what Mushroom FM is about. All of our presenters prepare for their shows. They think about themes, fun topics for interaction, cool new features. In short, we try to maintain a high standard of presentation. And I think the people have spoken on whether it is working or not.

If you think that volunteering entitles you to produce programming of a lesser standard than if you were being paid, then Mushroom FM is definitely not the station for you in terms of where you should broadcast. I do as much show preparation now, as when I was paid as a professional broadcaster. And I do that because when you broadcast on the Internet, it's about your personal brand as well as the station's brand. And I'm not alone. Our presenters take pride in their work, they don't give it 50% because there's no cheque at the end of it. They give it 100% because they have a sense of personal ethics and pride in what they produce.

Mushroom FM has done some really innovative things, such as our free DAISY tutorial on broadcasting, our Mobile Guide, and much more. We've invested a considerable sum in new things never done before on this kind of project, that you'll hear about soon. I know that the positive working environment is a major motivator for me to put plenty of my free time into the project.

I'm not saying everyone should do it our way, but I am saying that it works really well for us. Broadcast with Mushroom FM, and you're part of an incredibly harmonious, supportive team. It's a team that comprises people with considerable professional broadcasting experience to help you develop your craft, professional trainers who can help you with the technical side, a set of high quality internal tools and documentation the likes of which are found nowhere else, and best of all, your colleagues one minute are not your competitors the next. It is working very, very well for us.

To those genuinely interested in the real facts, I hope this has helped to clarify the situation.