Free Streaming Internet Radio Music

Free Streaming Internet Radio Music
Posted :: Jul 6, 2005 by Haggs

One of the best things about the Internet is that it puts all sorts of information at your fingertips, and nearly everything is free for anyone to access. Google doesn't charge money to perform a search, and Switchboard doesn't charge a dime to look up someone's phone number. Such access to services and information provides a great platform for a global free market economy. While file sharing networks are being targeted and eventually shut down by the RIAA such as Napster, KaZaA, Morpheus, Grokster, etc., there is still a legal, free way to listen to music online.

There is a plethora of free, streaming Internet radio stations available on the Internet for everyone. Recently, I personally started using Windows Media Player's radio tuner. The radio tuner allows any Windows Media Player user to tune in to thousands of radio stations from around the globe. The list of genres includes anything from smooth jazz to rock to techno, and the music comes from all over the world. Whether you're interested in listening to comedy skits spoken in Spanish, or grooving to the latest trance beats from Germany it's all there and readily available.

How is it free? Standard radio stations that play over the airwaves are required to pay royalties to the musicians and recording industry, and the Internet radio stations are similar, but from personal experience there tends to be fewer advertisements. Since these radio stations can be hosted in any country with an Internet connection, it is possible that the owner of the host computer may be subject to different regulations than in the United States. The end result is often fewer advertisements, and a wider variety of available music.

Windows Media Player is a great place to start for a majority of the population, since it comes preinstalled with any Microsoft Windows Operating System. This means that the computers at offices everywhere are probably already set up to access Internet radio stations. However, make sure you have permission from your employer to use such services, because they do require bandwidth. The amount of bandwidth required to listen to Internet radio stations depends on the quality of music that the host wishes to stream.

iTunes, the music player which supports Apple's iPod, has also recently hopped on the bandwagon with its pod cast feature. Don't have Windows Media Player or iTunes? A simple Internet search will reveal that there are many other programs available that feature free streaming Internet radio. Welcome to a world of free music!