Listen to Music Online

From LoveToKnow Music

Listen to music online rather than being bound by CDs or even your own hard drive. It is a great way to get songs from around the world or your own home town. Internet radio stations and similar music services can deliver fresh content and superior sound quality for free. All you have to do is have a good set of speakers and you're ready to roll.

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Listen to Music Online- Internet Radio Stations

The world of internet radio stations means you never having to suffer through that annoying morning show or frantically grab for the earplugs when they start playing THAT song AGAIN. But like most things on the web, internet radio comes in the good, the bad, and the downright confusing. A few resources can bring you and the music you want to hear together, faster. Then, you can listen to music online until your heart is content.

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Listen to Music Online- Terrestrial Stations

Most major “normal” radio stations have a Web site on which you can listen to live streaming of their broadcasts, and in some cases, select past shows to hear again. This goes for your local commercial radio stations, nationally syndicated radio stations such as NPR, and talk radio programs. Since there are no location based signals in internet radio, you can listen to stations worldwide. Just plug what you are looking for into a search engine and go.

All you need to play these stations is some kind of media playing software on your system – Real Player and Windows Media Player being the most popular. You should also note that the faster your internet connection, the better the quality of the broadcast will be. The higher the number of bits the station is broadcasting, the better the sound quality will be, but most dial-up connections will not be able to support the technology.

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Internet Based Stations

Thousands upon thousands of radio stations and shows are broadcast on the internet only. This can be done in two ways – either through streaming or through a virtual tuner, which sets up a Peer to Peer connection between you and the broadcaster. Since anyone with a will and a couple cds can become an online DJ, the best way to find what you’re after is to use a site that acts as a clearing house for a number of online stations. These sites will also allow you to download any software you need to access the stations.

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Live365

Live365 is by far the most popular internet radio site. From their homepage, you can search their 7,000+ stations by genre, artist, album, DJ, or station name, and start listening immediately, all for free. A pay subscription service is also available, allowing you to listen commercial free, for prices ranging from $5.95 for a month to month subscription, to $3.65 per month for a two year contract. Free downloads are available from their featured artists.

If you fancy yourself a bit of a DJ, Live365 lets you launch your own internet radio station from their site. Prices vary, depending on your needs. If you’re a pro, you can benefit from LIVE365’s ASCAP and BMI licensing. All of these capabilities allow you to both listen to music online and create your own.

LIVE365 is compatible with Real Player, Windows Media, iTunes, Winamp, and a variety of MP3 players.

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SHOUTcast

SHOUTcast comes second to LIVE365 in the popularity stakes. It works in much the same way as LIVE365, allowing you to search their database of station by genre, artist, song, or DJ. It’s all free, and you’re good to go with just one click, provided you have the right software. SHOUTCAST was created by Nullsoft, makers of Winamp, so they highly recommend you use Winamp as your listening system. However, you can also listen to SHOUTcast stations in iTunes, and from their site, you can download software to make allow play in Windows Media and Real Player.

Like Live365, SHOUTcast give you a chance to start your own show in their network.

There are many, many other station databases out there, like Radio Locater and Yahoo’s network – a few minutes with as search engine and your criteria will narrow the playing field for you, though the above two choices are the most exhaustive networks.

You can also get software, such as Radio Tower, which will give you all the software you need to play any radio station you might come across, and will help you sort out the poorer quality or now defunct stations.

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Some Things To Keep In Mind

Your connection and the bandwith of the station will both affect your ability to listen to music and the quality of the broadcast. Stations that broadcast in lower bandwith will be easier to hear with slow connections, but the quality will be poor.

Since there are so many stations out there, they go in and out of service faster than sites can be updated, so be aware that faulty links are part of the game.

Most internet radio, and the technology to listen to it, is free, so beware of anyone asking for a credit card number.

If you are downloading programs or using a virtual tuner P2P network, make sure you trust the source, and have anti-virus software on your computer.

Places To Get Started