John Watson

John Watson is the founder and manager of Sleep Radio, broadcasting from the North Island of New Zealand. Many disorders result from a lack of quality sleep, therefore his station broadcasts uninterrupted downbeat, ambient, and new age music, with no advertising, no station IDs and no announcers.

From the SleepRadio website:

"HELLO, I'M JOHN WATSON (AKA THE SANDMAN)

I'm  the Founder and Manager of Sleep Radio. We broadcast from Te Aroha  which is located in the North Island of New Zealand. I started this  internet radio station up after going through what was probably the  worst period in my health, ever!  In 2012 I was diagnosed with clinical  depression and anxiety which was bought on by so many factors I think I  could fill a truck with them. One of the many symptoms of depression is  insomnia, or sleeplessness. I tried many ways of overcoming this and the  "zombie-like" days that I suffered the day after but nothing seemed to  help. Then I stumbled across the miracle of specialised internet radio  stations, especially those that featured relaxation music. There was  just one big problem and it took quite some time to figure out what the  solution could be.

Most  of the stations I listened to included in their playlists all sorts of  bizarre music and other weird stuff that I'm sure was quite subliminal.  I'd often wake in the middle of the night with very frightening  nightmares - brought on I'm sure by the strange music coming through my  earbud while I lay sleeping. On top of that was the annoying adverts and  station announcements that were VERY distracting.

So I  decided to take on this project. I already had web development skills as  well as audio engineering as a former projectionist in the movie  industry and as a mobile DJ.  This station and helping others get to  sleep has become my passion through playing neutral and specially  selected music that won't infect people's brains or influence  thoughts.  Hence, SLEEP RADIO. We broadcast an uninterrupted, crystal clear,  digital stereo stream at 128k per second with no advertising (apart from  our annual funding appeal in January each year), no station IDs  and no annoying announcers. You just get pure and soft ambient and new  age music 24/7. We also broadcast locally in Te Aroha on 88FM between  midnight and 6am every day. Almost all of the music we play is sent to  us by artists to get exposure to the market. The best way to listen to  us is to download our premium Android app for smartphone or tablet which also features our playlist, artist  details and on-demand content like our informative monthly podcast and  videos about sleep. It also comes with a really cool wake-up timer.  You'll also find a player on our "Online Player"  link above and listen in to us that way. Some of you will just play us  through speakers but if the person sleeping beside you isn't keen on  that, some inexpensive ear buds will do the trick although if you're  like me and you sleep on your side, you'll be listening in only one ear.  Hopefully listening to us will be of help to you. Please contact us if that's been the case. We love getting feedback and good news stories.

​

Are you an artist or promoter who's keen on submitting music to us for auditioning and featuring on our playlists? Click here.

​

WARNING: WE MEAN THIS ....

Under  NO circumstances should you drive any type of vehicle or operate any  kind of potentially dangerous machinery while listening to us. Our music  sends people to sleep!