At DJTT, we’re big fans of independent upstart platforms that help DJs share their mixes with the world. Chew.TV has been one of the best services out there for streaming video of DJ mixes – and over the last few years has added features and built out their service to be one of the best around. Sadly, due to someone misusing their site to stream a sports game, they’re now in dire straights financially. Keep reading to learn more and find out how lend your support.
Update 3/15/17: Chew has raised over £8,000 of their £12,000 goal, but still needs more support – and subscribers on their site. Read the most recent update here
Chew.TV: A Powerful Streaming Tool
If you’re not already aware, Chew.TV is a great streaming tool because it’s specifically designed for DJs – with a feature set and web platform to match. It’s also run by a very team of real DJs in London – unlike a lot of other streaming sites, which have massive offices around the world.
In order to stay financially viable, the site reorganized their streaming policies at the end of last year and launched subscriptions, which add additional features, archiving of old shows, etc. They also started limiting how long they keep older shows archived to reduce their storage costs.
Undone by A Sports Game
Something as useful as Chew.TV’s platform will also attract people who misuse it as well. And sadly, just over two months ago, that’s exactly what happened:
“Pirates(s) had used Chew’s platform to illegally rebroadcast a major sporting event?—?streaming their live content on our infrastructure, while delivering it on their own ad-supported websites. The required hotlinking safeguards were not available as a feature of our Content Delivery Network provider until a few months before the compromise (long after our system was first developed)?—?and as such those preventative measures were not in place.
Prior to subscriptions and the optimisation of our infrastructure, we were spending £8–10k a month on infrastructure. December’s invoice came to just under £30k with the fraudulent usage.”
Help Save Chew.TV
So now to keep the lights on and streaming the site is running a GoFundMe campaign to cover the backlog of expenses – and if it fails, it looks like the service will sunset immediately.
Click here to keep Chew.TV alive and support them with your dollars.
DJTT has made a small contribution to help them out as we want to see them carry on – but if you all (the real users of platforms like Chew) want to see it continue, let them know your thoughts in the comments.