The Internet has evolved and made many changes in our culture including personal MySpace pages, individual blogs, the way we trade information as well as the way the public finds and listens to music.

One of the upcoming and most popular formats is Internet Radio. Let’s discuss an Internet station, www.ilike2rock.net, who promotes, plays and exclusively features independent artists and their music.

Internet radio stations have been online for more than three years and offer listeners an alternative to “subscription radio” and commercial radio because of the eclectic music formats and unique opportunities for independent bands. The music is being brought to the forefront with stations like www.ilike2rock.net.

I spoke with DJ Tom of ilike2rock.net about the radio station and why it is important, not only the bands and individual artists they promote, but to the public as well.

“First and foremost, it is all about the music,” explained DJ Tom. “We offer a chance for the independent artists to submit their music free to us and to do that, they just go to our site and submit the music through a resource called “Music Submit” (we have an exclusive agreement with them). “Music Submit” allows bands and artists to submit band bios’, media kits and of course, the music, and this service in turn helps the bands by promoting them on ezines, other Internet radio stations, blogs and music related web sites.”

And www.ilike2rock.com adds even more to the table. I asked DJ Tom to elaborate.

“This gives the independent band or artist a unique opportunity to be heard with free exposure on our home page to reach their target audience and a chance for the band to attain new fans. We will also showcase bands in our “Talent Showcase,” keeping the band active on our play list. We also use the artists own promotional material (blogs, YouTube, My Space) and link up with them within our web site structure and we even create ring tones for them.”

There is a free program on the site to download called “Destiny Music Player” so you can tune in to the station and other Internet radio stations. It is similar to many of the music players for computers and is very easy to use and navigate.

Tired of the same format from your local radio station? Tune in ilike2rock and you can add more than 150 (and counting) independent bands and artists to your music play list. I spoke to DJ Tom about some of the bands they play and promote.

“This is what is the most exciting to me, we play the independent bands that submit to us (and Music Submit), from all kinds of musical genres and it is a free format, for both the listener and the bands. I am very excited for all our bands and artists. Some of the bands we promote are Hypnogaja, which supplied background music for the hit television on FX called “Dirt,” Black Frog, who have played at the Sturgis Bike Rally and Hide From Cleo, one of Michigan’s hottest bands and we promote all the bands equally.”

I was very impressed with DJ Tom and I too am excited to find new bands to listen to on the Internet. After all, it is always about the music.

Over the years, various programs on the radio have been a listener’s favorite. The talk shows in particular have always been a major draw among the audience. Talk shows are discussions on various topical issues involving audience interaction and expert feedback from a panel of guests. The growth in Internet population led to the introduction of another version of radio popularly known as Internet radios. In fact it is the technology that has taken radios to the next level.

As compared to the traditional radios, an Internet talk radio scores above it in a variety of aspects. The primary reason behind the growing usage of Internet radios is its flexibility. Although radios are portable they are not as user friendly as the Internet. An Internet based talk radio can be connected anywhere anytime. All that is needed is a fast Internet connection, a PC/ laptop and a headphone. Internet based radios not only offer a better sound quality but also an overall good experience.

Talks show hosted on an Internet talk radio encourages more audience interaction. In case of traditional radios, listener interaction is restricted, while in the case of an Internet talk radio the listeners can easily put forward their queries and suggestions over the headphone. The distraction level in case of an Internet talk radio is far too low due to the use of headphones. Internet based talk radios offer better usability features since a user can switch between different networks by just a single click of the mouse. So for instance if someone has been listening to a sports related discussion, he/ she can easily switch on to an entirely different network featuring discussion on health and wellness.

Internet talk radios have made their strong presence felt in the advertising media. The worldwide increase in Internet usage has ensured its accessibility among wider audience. Commercial advertisements on traditional radios are usually transmitted during an interval, which sometimes leads to distraction among the audience. Thus, in the process the advertising message looses some importance and its audience. On the other hand, advertisements on Internet talk radios are displayed as banner and links on the web page itself that streams the Internet radio show. Viewers who find it interesting enough need to only click on the banner/ link which then takes them to the specific website for more information.

Such features of Internet talk radios have made them immensely popular among the audience. Their success has given way to the launch of many more great Internet radio networks that offer a great combination of entertainment and information.

Aradhana Gupta asked:

The people can access online radio channels from any place all over the world. As a matter of fact, free live radio is a very convenient way of entertainment. One can easily listen various radio programs easily, including songs, programmes, current news and so on. People can listen to the latest songs by accessing several Websites. Nowadays, these websites are being apprehended by the modern people. There are many websites that allow people to listen radio without any registration. But some sites do not provide facility of listening radio programmes as a guest. If you want to use complete facility, you have to register in the radio station websites. Hardly, it will take few minutes in registering. After registration, one can easily do many tasks like, listening several new songs, create playlist and play various games.

Now, we will share one interesting thing about these live online radio stations. You don’t have to pay any charge for such services. An individual can enjoy the regular dose of entertainment by tuning into several radio stations. These online radio websites would also offer you many facilities such as playing games, sending messages, all kinds of songs, listening the several free radio stations and many more.

Previously, radio devices used to operate by catching the radio signals. The radio frequencies used to be very strong at many places but at some places, they were very weak. But these days, with the help of the Internet, the live radio stations work without any interruption. Through these radio stations, one can easily listen the latest news and happening all over the world. These feature is also very useful for those people who frequently travel from one place to another. These live radio stations give the latest news of their native place.

These free live internet radio stations are not just pampering their listeners with exhaustive range of channels, but are making it a cost-effective process as no charge is incurred on the listeners. A person can listen to witty jokes and interesting incidents with the help of online radio stations. These online jokes would offer you full entertainment by enticing you with pleasing stories and funny commentaries. People can also listen live cricket match commentary without any hassles and they can stay updated with the score board.