I run SterlingTimes mechanically rather like a business, although it is purely a hobby-based site built upon a concept of developing a multimdedia virtual scrapbook. Unfortunately, the site took something of a set-back following on from attacks from the Performing Right Society (PRS). It is amazing to see that many of the low quality music files that were available for download from SterlingTimes are now available for download in super high-quality at Napster. And so the PRS has been outwitted by Napster over the internet just as Radio Caroline and others were outwitted the PRS in the 1960s. And still record sales continue to grow.

SterlingTimes benefits from clear objectives, a good business plan, measurement and feedback. Daily unique page hits are in line with forecast and now average 1,000 [January 2001]. SterlingTimes has strong brand loyalty with several thousand repeat visitors.

I continue to seek out the unusual and rare, and never attempt to replicate what others are doing on the 'net. It tends to appeal to British visitors and ex-patriates who are older than 35, but the site is also popular in the USA and in Australia.

Sterling times is about British nostalgia;
it's about old and vintage television;
it's about old and vintage radio;
it's about old and vintage music;
it's about old and vintage literature; and
it's about Englishness and patrotiism.

Sterling times is not inhibited by modern liberal ideas of political correctness, and you will find that on this site history is not re-written. It's a virtual scrapbook of images from the past and it grows day by day.

It receives about 150 e-mails a week. It has been recently been attacked by the United Kingdom music licensing authorities thereby necessitating the removal of music files. This is sad for Sterling times, but I'm making great efforts to compensate for this shortfall.

It is a hobby site doing its part to preserve music, radio, and television history from the last century.

For my part I have been interested in radio and television from a very young age. Having been involved in "free radio" and "pirate radio" in the past, my interests have now turned to the Internet.

The site is built simply using Frontpage Express. I'm not artistic so everything is characteristically built upon rectangles and tables. This means that I can change content quickly and simply.

I look forward to your return visits to Sterling times and I hope that you enjoy the site.

Kind regards - Stephen Lewis

Sterling times homepage