SearchPooch.com asked:


If you are a little tired of your local AM and FM radio stations – same old, boring tunes – why not try a phenomenon that has been gradually coming into its own and has now well and truly arrived – internet radio. Unlike conventional radio, internet radio sends its signals through the internet rather than from transmitters that are fixed in one place sending out radio waves. This allows it to be truly global.

With quality second to none, internet radio can hold its own with the best audio around – and sound quality is vitally important for audio. A leading digital radio commentator explains: “Internet radio has the big advantage that the streams can use modern audio codecs.” This is what gives the sound quality an edge over the sound generated by, for example, DAB digital radio, another player on the block, and one being heavily promoted, especially in the United Kingdom, by such big names as the BBC. (In the United States, digital radio is recognized as superior to FM – it cuts out annoying static, and is especially useful in car radios – many listeners are now also tuning in to satellite radio.)

With more than 10,000 stations sending out music, chat and news from all over the world, internet radio gives listeners an enormous choice of listening material, from classical music through reggae to 80s rock and everything between. There is a growing number of web sites providing portals through which you can access the station of your choice. Just one example is shoutcast.com, which gives access to 8000 internet radio stations.

Anyone with a broadband connection can access internet radio via their computer, or buy specially built receivers that look just like radios – well, that’s what they are, after all – at around $200. At the Consumer Electronics Show 2009, manufacturing giant Sony announced that by 2011, 90 per cent of all its products would have internet connectivity. If they put Wi-Fi in their audio products, it will cost only a little more to enable those products to receive internet radio. In fact, many mobile phones are already able to receive internet radio through Wi-Fi or 3G – Nokia’s ‘smart phone’ comes with a standard radio application.

Two classy looking internet radios are the Pure Evoke Flow and Roberts Stream 202.

The Evoke Flow, launched late last year, has a smooth glossy black finish and looks not unlike your average small FM radio, but there the similarity ends. Using fingertip search you can find radio stations worldwide by typing in the first three letters of their name, or you can locate any music genre you want. This radio is portable and will also give you traditional FM and DAB radio, and access the music collection you have stored on your computer.

Roberts Stream 202 is a compact model, operated by batteries as well as mains powered, so you can take it anywhere. Information on a small screen in the top of the radio allows you to browse radio stations easily – it offers Wi-Fi and DAB/FM radio as well. You just need a broadband connection and a modem and/or router to get started.

Afghanistan to Zambia – listening to the world.

Ronn Jones asked:


Advertising, a one-way communication with the purpose of informing potential customers about products and services and how to obtain them, is probably an essential function of any company to push their products in the market. Every major medium, with the examples of newspapers, television, radio, movies, magazines, video games etc. is already being used for the purpose of advertising.

All advertising mediums, however, are not as successful, or rather efficient for the purpose. In other words, choosing a proper and effective advertising media is an important basic preliminary. A medium, which is experiencing a trend of consumers shifting away from it, would be a bad advertising medium to choose in the long run. Rather, the medium, which is en vogue and experiencing a gradual or rapid trend shift towards it, would be more effective for advertising as it has the opportunity of a greater reach.

Newspapers, television, movies and magazines have been some of the stable advertising media for a long time. Radio, as we had in earlier days, is rapidly losing popularity. It must be said that the stable media mentioned previously is also suffering from trend shift but not as much as the radio. And it’s all because of a newer media that has recently taken the advertising media world by storm. It’s none other than the World Wide Web. Yes, internet, as we love to call it, is growing popular with every passing moment and newer technologies, easier access to centralized data and variety of cross demographic interests are attracting more and more people into the web.

This essentially makes internet a widely sought after advertising media of the new generation entrepreneurs. One of the latest wonders of the internet as an advertising media is the inception of internet talk radio. Advertising on the internet talk radio is similar to advertising on the old-age radio, except that its more powerful. A recent arbitration report states that over fifty percent of internet users consume streaming media and in the last three years, the number of Americans using internet radio has almost quadrupled. Moreover, Americans now seem to spend less time with television and print due to their time spent on the internet. Almost fifty six percent of the internet radio users have rated the media as new and fresh. All these definitely make internet radio the talk of the next generation advertising medium.

These factors help the advertisers with more precise targeting opportunities and get exact numbers of impressions delivered. Advertising on internet radio is multi-faceted. There are scopes to combine audio ads with synchronized banners and buttons to maximize visibility and retain attention. It is also more actionable as the listeners pay attention and the business site is just a click away. All these functionalities, together as a package, cannot be found in any other advertising media.

Catering to the tech-savvy, educated, affluent professionals from 20s to 50s with large disposable income who are comfortable spending online, the internet radio is fast becoming a very powerful advertising media.

aurembs asked:


In today’s hi-tech world, a lot of time is spent working on the computer. While clicking away on either a desktop or a laptop, listening to music may help to make the day go by a bit faster? You can buy music albums and CDs to listen and enjoy, but if you’re worried about spending too much money, there is another option. The Internet of course! With the Internet in your fingertips, you can easily access a wide variety of music. You can gain access to whole new genres of music and visit thousands of radio stations that broadcast through the Internet. For this very purpose USB radios are available in the market. Compactly designed, you can use USB radios to receive and listen to FM radio broadcasts with your PC.

The Aluratek USB Internet Radiois one such USB radio available at Tupelo Super Store. The Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox is a device that’ll help you listen to more than 13,000 internet based radio stations from all around the world quickly and easily. As it does not require any software installation, you can simply plug in the Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox into the USB port of your computer to use it. With such a convenient plug ‘n’ play functionality, you can carry it anywhere. The Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox lets you explore music by different genres from rock and pop to jazz and rock.

The Aluratek AIRJ01F USB Internet Radio is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. With the Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox, you can listen to music from radio stations in over 150 countries at no extra fee. When you find a favorite station, you can add it to your favorites folder for future use. You can search and find top ten lists of music genres and stations in each country. The Aluratek USB Internet Radio’s end lights up when inserted into your USB port that allows you to know whether it is working or switched off. For a trouble-free and fun musical experience, get the Aluratek AIRJ01F USB Internet Radio.

Sarunas Kilius asked:


Introduction of the Internet has changed sharing of information, marketing, and infotainment. It has introduced the age of e-commerce, e-marketing, e-shopping, internet radio and TV. Live Internet radio is one of the latest trend in these days. This is related with the development of broadband Internet.

 

Internet radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Many Internet radio “stations” are associated with a corresponding traditional (or “terrestrial”) radio station or radio network. Internet-only radio stations are independent of such associations. Internet radio services are usually accessible from anywhere in the world—for example, one could listen to a German station from UK or America. Internet radio services offer news, sports, talk, and various genres of music—every format that is available on traditional radio stations.

 

The most common way to distribute Internet radio is via streaming technology using a lossy audio codec. There are many popular streaming audio formats – Windows Media Audio, MP3, RealAudio, HE-ACC (also known as AccPlus). The bits are transported over the network in TCP or UDP packets, then reassembled and played within seconds.

 

To hear Internet Radio, you will need to use software or a website which has been especially enabled to help you receive audio streams. Much software is free as are many websites. Third-party software to receive Internet Radio usually comes in the form of players, tuners, or receivers.

 

Where to find Internet radio stations? There is plenty websites with links to listen radio on the Internet: Internet Radio from commercial webcasters, independent Internet Radio stations from hobbyists, and other audio portals and webcasting sources which provide a myriad of content.

Jeff Bachmeier asked:

Listening to your favorite song, band, or solo artist just got easier due to the internet. You can download your favorite picks from music sites and radio programming online. Does having this easy accessibility effect the time you spend listening to traditional radio? Do you spend more time listening to a traditional radio or an online radio station? That is the cause of concern for traditional radio stations. However, an article by Central Michigan Life claims that traditional radio’s future won’t be affected.

A lot of people balance their time between listening to the radio online and traditionally. While at home or at work it can be easier and more convenient to listen to a radio program online. The advantage of listening online is that you won’t have to battle with any type of bad reception to find a station you like. Some people find that listening to music at work makes them more productive, and most online stations have few or no commercials which won’t be a distraction. Traditional radio is mostly listened to while driving in your car. Traditional radio is beneficial for local information such as weather updates, traffic reports, and local events such as fundraisers or fairs. People also like to hear and connect with local radio personalities and events they sponsor. According to “Radio’s future doesn’t look too different” article, the local advantages of traditional radio will keep it alive and on the air.

Online radio doesn’t pose a threat to traditional radio or the success of an artist’s musical career. The internet is fueling the success of music because it can be listened to at any time of the day and anywhere in the world. Bands from across the globe can be heard by someone in small American town that has access to the internet. Music can reach a bigger audience online rather than traditional radio can. You can also e-mail a link to a song to friends and family which will bring more attention to the band’s music you want to share. Sharing music online is fun and easy. If you hear a song on a traditional radio, there is no way to share the song with other people through the radio. The internet or an online music station is the only way to share the song instantly.

Both online radio and traditional radio will continue to thrive. There are advantages to both mediums and bands can benefit from both. Listening to traditional radio is great for local updates and community involvement, and online radio is beneficial for listening to a wide range of music from all over the world with few interruptions.

*Original Article “Radio’s future doesn’t look too different”

Ronn Jones asked:

Radios were the prime source of entertainment in older times. Before televisions became popular and almost changed the entire scenario of entertainment, the radio shows were powerful enough to act as a mass media to communicate to people. There were talk shows, story telling and even music channels. However, the visual media i.e. televisions proved to be more effective and gradually replaced radios.

However, both the older radios and the present day television lacked a few important features. None of them could actually target a global audience at a time. All channels, in both television and radios were either local or national and once out of range they failed to communicate. This was one technical problem that had limited the growth of these media.

The introduction of the World Wide Web again has changed this scenario drastically. A new wave of internet talk radios have been introduced which not only serves the purpose of the old radio but also caters to a global population. They are easy to use and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

The dynamically changing world today demands not only to remain updated with all the current happenings but also to voice opinions in a way that it reaches the majority of audience all over the world. From serious political and socio-economic issues to sports and entertainment, we have our opinions on almost everything. And internet talk radio provides the right forum and technology to express our opinions perfectly.

Internet talk radio is probably the greatest technological innovation in radio broadcasting since its conception. This technology has made it easy for anyone to start off his / her streaming media broadcasting service through these personal internet talk radio channels. These channels allow broadcasting of talk shows and discussion on various topics. Talk radio has always been popular amongst its audiences. However, the medium of these new radios, i.e. internet has further raised its popularity level. From the user perspective, the best feature of the internet talk radio is its portability and ease of usage. It can be accessed from anywhere, irrespective of the location of the user. Moreover, many internet radio stations provide the necessary technology to host internet radio talk shows too.

While these internet talk radios are rapidly growing popular for their flexibility and ease of use, one more factor has immensely contributed to this growth. It is the fact that the internet talk radios can be used as a better advertising media than its close counterparts. Television and the older radios have always been a favorite advertisement media, but with major drawbacks. Firstly, in case of the older media, advertisements generally came up in the intervals and were often distractive. In case of the internet talk radio, the advertisements are placed inside the shows and thus are more effective. Advertisements are also displayed in the form of banners and links. Any user interested about a particular product can straightaway click on it to visit the respective website for more details. And finally, the reach of the older media were often restricted to local or national audience. With the introduction of internet talk radio, it is now easier to spread words through advertisements and campaign to a global audience.

Thus it can be well concluded that internet talk radio, with its benefits of easily sharing thoughts, voicing opinions, interacting with domain experts and providing an unmatched advertising platform have become one of the more innovative essential of the present day lifestyle.

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.