Livestreamed discos by Haverhill DJs are raising thousands of pounds for charity

A simple desire by one Haverhill DJ to entertain a few friends and family during the coronavirus lockdown has now resulted in over £6,000 being raised for charity.

Andy Palazon – who usually trades under the name Soundwaves Disco – set up the ‘Disco Kitchen’ Facebook group four weeks ago.

The group is a private one and anyone wishing to join has to apply to do so online, but once in they can have the sessions streamed into their homes – bringing the disco to their own living rooms and kitchens.

Andy started out with one session on a Saturday night and had 400 members in the first week, but the group now has over 5,000 members and has raised £6,000 for The Joshua Tarrant Trust.

“It’s been an absolutely amazing group,” said Andy. “I just can’t believe it. I was just setting out to play to a few family members who live locally.

“I invited a few friends and three weeks on, before I know it I have got 5,000 members and have raised thousands of pounds for charity. It’s gone crazy.”

There were now six to eight local DJs playing sets, he added, with more queuing up to help.

Sets are now streamed on a Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon and evening, all by different DJs, none of whom are paid for their time.

This Sunday, for the first time, a Mini Disco (for children) will be streamed from 2-4pm, with DJ Spiderman on the decks.

There are now people listening across the world, including New Zealand, Dubai, Australia and even Honduras.

The owners of KiiWii Clothing & Promotions, in Steeple Bumpstead, have also produced Disco Kitchen T-shirts for Andy, and every one sold raises £2 for the Joshua Tarrant Trust. Currently over 350 have been sold.

Donations are made by listeners and raffles held each week, with prizes donated by local businesses and individuals, to raise even more money for the charity.

Andy said: “I’ve not asked anybody for anything. I’ve not asked anyone to DJ, it’s all been voluntary and I’ve not asked anyone to donate a prize, it’s all been voluntary.

“It’s just people wanting to do the right thing.

“It’s the people who deserve the recognition, the people in the town, everybody that has donated money to the charity.”

Andy also raised concerns that the livestreaming may fall foul of copyright or licensing regulations, and therefore be blocked or muted by Facebook.

These were addressed by a spokesman for the PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) the regulatory body that licenses radio stations, TV broadcasters and certain digital media services to play recorded music in the UK as part of their programming. #

He said: "Playing music in this way does require licensing, both for the rights in the song (on behalf of songwriters and music publishers) and for the rights in any recordings used (on behalf of the performers and their record labels).

"PPL understands that Facebook has licences in place with PRS for Music and other publisher licensing bodies to cover the use of the songs.

"For the use of the recordings, PPL understands that the record labels licensing with Facebook choose whether to allow live streaming of their recording on the service or not.

"Where they do not choose to do so, streams featuring particular recording may potentially be blocked or muted.

"Based on this, the recordings being played may be covered by licences already in place between Facebook and the copyright holders of the songs/recordings."