Nico Schouw

Prog Top 1000 of All Time

The Story Behind the Prog The ProgTop 1000 of All Time.

A Conversation with Nico Schouw.

The Prog Top 1000 of All Time is an initiative by Jan Bracke (Epic Prog Radio) and Nico Schouw (Massive Prog Radio). After the first succeful year the two improved the voting method and expanded the list of songs. Time to have a chat with Nico Schouw!

Arne: The voting month for the all-time Prog Top 1000 has started again! How are things going?

Nico: Yes, it’s going really well! Have you already voted yourself?

Arne: Yes, I’ve already voted. I even added 5 new songs!

Arne: First of all, Nico—you host Massive Prog Radio, and you’ve been doing radio for a long time. How did you get started with all of this?

Nico: That’s right! Honestly, I wouldn’t even know exactly how many years it’s been. Back in the day, I was a hardcore metal fan, and I went out with a couple of friends who were running pirate radio stations. That’s how I got my own show, Massive, on Radio Atlantis. We kept that going until the station was shut down and a few arrests were made hahaha.

After that, the love for music stayed, but I stopped doing radio. Then, nearly 20 years later, my former fellow producer, Kees Vink, got back in touch with me through Hyves—funny enough, right around the time Hyves came back! He asked me, "Nico, are you still into music? Do you want to do a show on local radio?" That got me back on the air at RTV Purmerend, where I still broadcast today.

Arne: How did the show evolve into Massive Prog Radio?

Nico: In the beginning, it was called Massief. But over time, my taste shifted more toward progressive rock and progressive metal—bands like Dream Theater and Neal Morse. So we updated the concept to Massief Prog Radio (or Massief 2.0). We also wanted to give it a more international feel, which is why we adopted the English name Massive Prog Radio. 

Arne: Last year was the first edition of the Prog Top 1000. Where did that idea come from?

Nico: For years, I compiled the best 15 progressive albums of the year. It was a ton of manual work because I didn't have a large team. I noticed that other shows—like Epic Prog Radio or Jan Bracke—had their own Top 15 or Top 25 lists. So one day I contacted Jan Bracke and suggested doing our year-end list together. Once that was running smoothly, I started looking for the next big project to do ahead of the national Top 2000. I searched online and saw there were Top 1000 album lists, but nobody had done an all-time Prog Top 1000 for individual tracks/singles. I pitched the idea to Jan. He was a bit cynical at first, but as I explained everything, he got more and more enthusiastic. He started working with AI tools to manage and structure the massive database on the web—they basically became best friends! Everything he asked AI to process came out perfectly.

Arne: Did you hit any technical snags during the first edition?

Nico: Last year we had a few minor issues at the start with special characters in song titles that the system didn't recognize. This year, we thoroughly checked and tested all character variations. It’s running smoothly now with no complaints.

Arne: How big is the list voters can choose from this year?

Nico: Last year, we started with a base list of 1,450 songs gathered from listener favorites on my show and picks from music friends. This year, adding over 725 write-in choices submitted by voters last year, the database has grown to over 2,100 songs.

We also built a search function on the site so people don't have to scroll through thousands of titles—you can just type in the band or song name you’re looking for.

Arne: When does voting end and processing begin?

Nico: Voting runs through October. On November 1st, we lock it in and start processing. Jan handles the technical computer work and the voting list calculations, while I handle the music production side.

Arne: That sounds like a massive production effort for November!

Nico: It is! It comes out to 168 hours of music, of which 10 hours are hosted/presented and the rest is non-stop music. I have to construct the entire broadcast in November. There are custom artist promos—many musicians are really proud to be in the Top 1000—plus station IDs and imaging.

Arne: I heard you added a special feature for drivers this year?

Nico: Yes! Last year people mentioned that if they were listening in the car, they couldn't see the album cover or track info on the site. So I went ahead and voiced over 2,000 track introductions in English! Now, before a track plays, you’ll hear something like: "Number 241: Arena – The Visitor." That way, no matter where you're listening, you always know what's playing. It was a crazy amount of extra work, but the final quality makes it worth it.

Arne: When exactly can listeners tune in to the Prog Top 1000?

Nico: It starts on Sunday, November 29th.

• 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM: We run a 4-hour warm-up featuring last year's Top 15.
• Midnight (Sunday morning): The official Prog Top 1000 countdown begins!

The marathon runs for 20 days, through Saturday, December 19th. We broadcast in 8-hour blocks repeated 3 times a day. For the grand finale on the last day, the top 10–15 songs will air in a 4-hour finale block that is replayed in the evening (8:00 PM to midnight) so early risers and shift workers won't miss it.

Arne: Are you hoping to expand the reach internationally?

Nico: Definitely. The website is in English, and I’ve enlisted friends like Chris Topham to help spread the word across the Netherlands and abroad.

Long-term, I’d love to bring this to the stage—maybe a "Prog Proms" end-of-year live concert. And I will do a 20-hour "Prog Top 1000 Summer Highlights”so when you’re on the beach you can listen to a live presented show. Step by step, we want to make it bigger and more significant every year!