Everything you might want to know about CloudBuster memberships: what each tier includes, what stays free forever, how to change your mind, and the “small print”.
Donating more does not grant higher access. Every CloudBuster member, free or paid, gets the same schedule, the same streams, the same blogs, the same forums. The paid tiers exist so that listeners who can afford to help us cover the station’s running costs have a way to do so, and so that we can say a proper thank you in return. If money is tight, the free tier is yours and always will be. If there’s interest, we’ll look into ways of gifting higher tier memberships to community Members.
We publish an itemised breakdown of the station’s running costs here.
What stays free for everyone
These are public and always will be, whether you have an account or not:
- The full schedule and all show pages
- The live stream, at full quality
- The episode archive
- Submissions to CloudBuster
- Community Hour, Metal Night, and every other broadcast
What membership (free or paid) unlocks on top of that: posting, messaging, saving favourites, and everything below.
Turning things off
Every perk can be turned off, and most of them are off by default until you register interest. In your profile settings, there are three simple toggles:
- No emails except receipts and account notices. Stop receiving any non-essential updates – new blog posts, new episodes, event announcements, general CloudBuster news.
- No physical post. If you’d rather not receive anything snaily maily, we won’t send it.
- Keep my name out of your mouth. ANONYMOUS on the Wall of Friends, the header ticker, on-air thank-yous, and Executive Producer credits. You can still be a member of any tier; your support just stays quiet.
If you want a custom combination like your name on the Wall of Friends but not in the ticker. Just email members@cloudbusterradio.com and we’ll set it up manually.
The Tiers
CloudBuster Member
For anyone who wants to be part of CloudBuster.
Free, forever. No payment details or data beyond the minimum for the following to work:
What you get
- Post in Chat and on the Forums
- Send and receive private messages
- Read and comment on all DJ Blogs (DJs/Admin may close comments at their discretion)
- Save your favourite shows, episodes and DJs to your profile
- Optional email updates when DJs post to their blog, and when your favourite shows are due to air.
What this tier means
Being a Member means you’re part of CloudBuster, and a welcome part at that. You can talk to other listeners, talk to DJs (According to our Guidelines), keep track of the shows you love, and shape the station through the community side of things. It’s the base tier for everyone, and it costs nothing.
What we ask of you
Be nice, be cool. Be part of a community that acts on its conscience. The full forum rules are on the forum itself, but the short version is: no harassment, no spam, no bigotry.
The small print
- Free accounts may be suspended for rule violations. Reading the site, listening to streams, and accessing the public archive is never affected.
- Email updates are opt-in. You can turn them off at any time in your profile settings.
CloudBuster Supporter
For listeners who want to help keep the lights on.
£4 per month. Billed through Stripe. Cancel any time, your Supporter status lasts until the end of that billing period.
What you get
- Everything in Member
- A Supporter badge next to your name on the Forums
- 10% off CloudBuster merch
- Early notice of CloudBuster events
- CloudBuster sticker pack on joining (UK only, while stocks last)
What this tier means
Being a Supporter means you’re helping cover the basics. Streaming bandwidth, hosting, the overheads a volunteer project carries just by existing. The fundamental day-to-day.
What we ask of you
Nothing beyond the Member tier. If your situation changes, cancel without guilt!
The small print
- Sticker packs are sent once, on joining. UK addresses only for now, because international postage is expensive.
- The merch discount applies to full-price items in the CloudBuster shop. It doesn’t stack with sale prices or other offers.
- Early event notice is sent by email at least 48 hours before public announcement, and can be turned off in your profile settings. This will become quite useful in the future, but as of yet no events are planned.
CloudBuster Friend
For listeners who want to help shape the station.
£10 per month. Billed through Stripe. Cancel any time.
What you get
- Everything in Supporter
- 15% off CloudBuster merch
- A Friend badge alongside your sticker pack; pick from our designs
- Your name in the Wall of Friends – a full page roll call of Friends and Partners
- Send us a voice clip, we’ll feature it in a CloudBuster station ident
What this tier means
Being a Friend means you’re part of what CloudBuster sounds like. Your voice can be in the station idents that play between shows. Your name can sit alongside everyone who’s helped keep the place running. Your support is what lets us know we’re going in the right direction.
What we ask of you
If you send a voice clip, keep it clean and brief. No more than a minute, no less than a couple of seconds. Choose from a few set phrases – “This is CloudBuster Radio”, for example. Plus a few you might think are fun to include, plus your name. We guarantee we’ll put one clip of your voice in an ident but more if we can make something fit. Any reasonable recording device works, phone is fine, though a decent microphone gives us more to work with, and more chances of more clips ending up in rotation.
The small print
- Voice clip is one per account, across all paid tiers. That is: one station ident clip, and one show ident clip (see Partner tier). You don’t lose either by upgrading, and it won’t be removed if you cancel your subscription (unless you’re cancelled or you ask us :).
- The clip is used at the station’s discretion. At least one clip from each Friend/Partner will air, and we hope to keep a frequent rotation.
- Once a clip is recorded and in the rotation, it may stay indefinitely. If you’d like a clip retired, email us and we’ll remove it.
- Wall of Friends listings appear automatically. They can be turned off in your profile settings.
- Badge designs change occasionally, and we can’t always keep old designs in stock.
CloudBuster Partner
For those who can give most, knowing that their contribution is well appreciated.
£25 per month. Billed through Stripe. Cancel any time.
What you get
- Everything in Friend
- 20% off CloudBuster merch
- Choose a show to support as its Executive Producer, credited on that show’s page (with optional social link)
- Send us a voice clip — we’ll feature it in a show ident of your choosing
- Your name in the CloudBuster header ticker (opt-out in your profile)
- Host thanks on the Extended Saturday Community Hour (opt-in)
What this tier means
Being a Partner gets us closer to becoming an established voice in radio. A show gets its Executive Producer line on its info page. Your voice helps identify that show. Your name rolls across the top of the site. Your support is the reason CloudBuster can say yes to the things we couldn’t otherwise afford.
What we ask of you
If you’re happy to be Executive Producer on a show, pick one from the shows page and let us know in your profile. You can change your choice at any time. Multiple Partners can support the same show — the credit lists everyone. There are no responsibilities associated with this title, though you may get shoutouts or other recognition from show hosts, for example.
The small print
- Executive Producer credit is honorary. It doesn’t carry editorial control, production input, or any say in the show’s content. The credit lives in the show’s notes section.
- The credit stays with your membership. If you cancel, the credit is removed at the end of the billing period.
- Voice clip is one per account across all paid tiers, separate from the Friend tier’s station ident clip. If you’ve already used your Friend clip for a station ident, you still have one Partner clip for a show jingle.
- The header ticker appears in cycles. We can’t promise a specific frequency, but we can promise it’s there.
- Community Hour thanks are read on Saturday broadcasts, and are opt-in. If you don’t opt in, your name is simply not on the list. Turn it on any time from your account page.
- Executive Producer credits can be shown as name-only, name plus social link, or hidden entirely. This is set in your profile settings.
Changing your tier
Please cancel your current tier before signing up for a new one. Stripe treats these as separate subscriptions, and signing up for a new tier while an old one is active will charge you twice. We’d rather you didn’t.
To cancel: go to your billing page and cancel the current subscription.
To change tiers: cancel first, then sign up for the new tier. Your account, forum posts, saved favourites, and messages all stay exactly the same.
If anything goes wrong during this – double charge, missed confirmation, stuck subscription – email members@cloudbusterradio.com and we’ll sort it.
Questions
If anything here isn’t clear, or you want an arrangement that isn’t on this page, email members@cloudbusterradio.com. We’re a very small team, we read everything, and we’d rather work something out than have you sign up for the wrong thing.
FAQ
Can I cancel my membership anytime?
Yes. If you cancel, your access continues until the end of your current billing period. After that, you stay a CloudBuster Member (free tier) with full forum and community access. You can of course remove that account also.
How do I change my membership level?
Our membership system doesn’t yet support seamless upgrades or downgrades – it’s a limitation of the software we’re using, and we’re working towards a fix.
For now, changing levels requires two steps:
To move to a lower tier (downgrade):
- Go to Billing & Payments
- Cancel your current subscription first
- Wait until the end of your current billing period
- Sign up for the lower tier from the Support page
To move to a higher tier (upgrade):
The same process applies — cancel first, then sign up again. Ideally do this near the end of your billing period so you don’t lose any time you’ve already paid for.
We know this isn’t ideal. The station is entirely volunteer-run and we’re using a free membership plugin, which handles level changes in a way that isn’t quite right for how we’d like CloudBuster to work. A proper fix is planned for very soon.
If you get stuck at any point, email us at members@cloudbusterradio.com and we’ll sort it manually.
Will I lose all my profile information and forum contributions when I cancel my subscription?
No. Cancelling stops your subscription, nothing else. Your account remains, and so does everything attached to it:
- Your profile, username, email, and password
- Your profile picture and any information you’ve added
- Your favourite shows and saved episodes
- Your comments on DJ blogs and elsewhere on the site
- Any blog posts you’ve written as a DJ
- Your forum account and all your posts and replies there
- Your order history and receipts
You can rejoin at any tier later — even months afterwards — and pick up exactly where you left off. WordPress will recognise your email and log you back into the same account.
The only thing that changes when you cancel is your access to paid-tier content (like DJ blogs and locked mixes), which returns to the free Member level at the end of your billing period. Everything you’ve contributed stays.
If you ever want your account and data removed entirely, that’s a separate request — you can email us at members@cloudbusterradio.com and we’ll handle it.
Can I pay annually instead of monthly?
Coming Soon! yes.
What if I already have DJ access?
CloudBuster DJs automatically get free member access. If you want to upgrade to Supporter or higher, you can do that from your account page.
Who is DJ Blogs?
What are DJ Blogs?
When a DJ gets a regular show at CloudBuster they are provided with some webspace to do whatever they like with – they can post playlists, art, journal, anything. If they choose to utilise this, it is viewable by all (free tier) Members.
How do I access the forum?
Once you’ve signed up, your CloudBuster membership works across the whole station, including the community forum at community.cloudbusterradio.com/. One login is enough in my opinion.
Is my data safe?
We don’t sell your data, or provide it to 3rd parties. We don’t run adverts, and we don’t use AI. Your information is used only to run the station’s membership system. You can read our privacy policy (coming soon!) and our AI policy here.
Don’t hesitate to contact us at members@cloudbusterradio.com with any other questions!
