Internet Radio

When an old technology joins with a newer one, the results can sometimes be dramatic, which is why Internet radio is such a compelling draw for listeners of all types. With up to 15,000 Internet radio stations available and growing, Internet radio has become one of the best ways for listeners to tune into stations and discover music they may have otherwise never known or heard of.

In many respects, it's a feel-good tech story. America is indeed a nation of many immigrants, and the chance to listen in on live radio broadcasts when one's homeland is so far away is a great cultural boon. Not to mention that discovering a different culture through music is always a great thing, too.

But that's only one side of what is possibly the most inexpensive way of enjoying music, especially in the difficult economic times facing the nation.

Internet Radio on the Web
When you look at purely Web-based radio, Last.FM went from a tiny British startup to a mega Internet radio phenomenon in a few short years. The concept of the site is simple: create a profile, download the software and listen to music tailored to your musical tastes. The best part? You can listen to it endlessly, never paying a cent for any of the music you enjoy.

True, you can't actually download the songs to keep, but that's part of the reason why it can exist. By listening to a huge playlist of songs made for you, you can actually discover new songs you might want to pay for.

This is pretty much the same idea behind sites like Pandora, Slacker, iLike, imeem and Live365. They differ from each other in certain ways but there are lots of similarities. Some of the Internet stations are more focused on social networking than others, but the discovery and sharing of musical tastes is what ultimately binds listeners that join these sites.

There's now an evolving world of free Internet radio stations out there -- some that are actual stations broadcasting from somewhere in the world; and others created by you, on the fly, for your own listening pleasure. And now it's becoming more and more possible to stream the music from these sites to your TV, or a set of speakers connected through a receiver in another part of the home.

It also helps that you can make use of these sites and their built-in players by downloading the right plugins to get them to work on popular media players such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, Rhapsody and Winamp, among so many others. Right now, there are at least 50 different players that are supported. Some support these streams natively, while others require a plugin. There's even support for the iPod, iPhone and smartphones using Windows Mobile.

And because it's your own profile with your own tastes, the music can pretty much go with you wherever you have an Internet connection. And unlike satellite radio, there are no subscription fees to worry about.

Internet Radio with a Retro Twist
As great as it is to have all that music on the Web, Internet Radio is also becoming popular with those who like to have it close — but not necessarily on a computer. Standalone Internet Radio players like Sanyo's R227, Acoustic Research's ARIR200 and the Tangent Quattro are simple tabletop radios that offer access to over 10,000 radio stations from 200 countries.

Their cost is usually around $200, which might seem steep for just a tabletop radio, but it's actually a pretty good bargain considering how much content you get.

Imagine sitting in your living room in San Francisco and listening to a jazz station in New Orleans. In a few seconds, you switch to a station in Australia, then over to another in Spain, finally ending up with one in Argentina. The clarity and speed with which all this works makes you feel like you're actually there.

Plug and Play
And there's very little setup to this, which is why they're becoming popular items for baby boomers as well. These can connect to the home network through a wired Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi. Once the connection has been made, the radio scans for all the stations it can pull down.

Then you just select stations based on genre or country of origin and listen to your heart's content. As an added bonus, the Internet connection also sets the clock for the radio, so you wouldn't even have to worry about that if you unplug it and take it with you somewhere.

Some stations will display the name of the song and artist currently playing, but most, unfortunately do not, especially outside North America. The design of these tabletop radios is a cross between retro and stylish simplicity. For example, some have classic wooden finishes, while others look a little more futuristic. Still, the number of units and the companies who make them will only continue to grow.

A big reason why is because you don't pay for anything after buying the tabletop radio. Internet radio stations are added all the time, and there's currently no cost for most of them. One day, there may be 40 stations from a certain country, but a week later, there might be 46. The value proposition can only help those looking for more music at a smaller price tag.

But more importantly, the world's music is at your fingertips with these players. Small local bands in other cities or stations devoted to a certain style of cultural music are just two examples of what's offered here. If you're a music lover, you're in for a real treat.