About Internet Radio Stations
Thousands of radio stations exist on the Internet. Some Internet radio stations are independently owned. Stream and satellite Internet radio stations such as Sirius, XM and Pandora are often owned by large corporations. Additionally, popular offline radio stations have an online presence and offer music and feature interviews for listeners.
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History
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Internet radio stations got started in the 1990s, around the same time that the World Wide Web gained in popularity. In 1998 after President Bill Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the cost involved in downloading songs increased as Internet radio stations began to have to pay royalties to air copyrighted songs. Soon streaming songs online became popular, and more Internet radio stations began to stream music and talk shows.
Cost of streaming ranges from $99 to $400 a month. Generally, the more expensive the monthly fee, the more listeners the Internet radio station can handle simultaneously.
Function
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Most Internet radio stations do not require software downloads to operate. Simply click on the link to the station you want to listen to. A media player window may open. Most personal computers are equipped with a media player.
If you have an older computer that is not equipped with a media player, after you click on the Internet radio station link, a pop-up box will offer you the choice of downloading a free media player (such as Real or Windows Media) onto your computer. After you access the media player, simply click the "Play" button to start listening to music or your favorite talk show. -
Types and Genres
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Internet radio stations offer a broad range of genres from jazz to talk to sports to history to easy listening. Satellite radio stations are popular on the Internet. Sirius is a leading firm that offers satellite Internet radio programming. Howard Stern and Martha Stewart have Internet radio shows on Sirius. In addition, Oprah Winfrey offers satellite Internet radio programming on XM Satellite.
Find a Station
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Directories such as Live365, Radio Locator, Radio Tower, Live Radio and Radio Black provide listings for radio stations that play music across genres. Some directories include talk radio stations. For talk show radio lovers, National Public Radio offers a directory at NPR.org.
If you listen to the radio off the Internet, your favorite offline radio station likely advertises its online radio station's website URL during offline programs. Write down the URL and check out the station on the Internet. Most stations with an offline presence include the station's call letters in the website URL.
Considerations
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Check with the Internet radio station to see if a login and password are required to listen to sections at the station such as talk or music or to get contest information. There are thousands of free Internet radio stations. However, some Internet radio stations charge a monthly fee, which can range from $6 to $20 a month. After you pay the monthly fee, generally you will be given access to all areas of the Internet radio station, including public forums if the station offers public discussion forums.
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