Mail drop

From Freeradio

For obvious reasons, the mail address for a pirate radio station is not normally the same as the studio address or the home address of the station operator.

To allow mail to be sent to a pirate radio station by listeners, a mail drop address is read out on-air which listeners can send letters, demo tapes etc. to.

Mail drops have been the address of a friend or relative of the station operator, or shared accommodation where no one individual could be implicated in the runninh of a station.

In addition, a number of mail drops have hired out their services to station operators. Some have been in the UK, others abroad.

The use of mail drops has declined over the years, as pirate stations now make more use of mobile phones (especially pay-as-you-go ones) and the internet for listener contact.