Listening to Web Radio

Using your computer to listen to the radio may seem like a strange thing to do, until you realize that there are thousands of radio stations around the world and most of them only broadcast locally. By putting their programming online, these stations now reach a global audience.

Let's say you just moved to London from Dallas and long for some twanging country guitar. Listen to country & western hits from 99.5 The Wolf right over the Net. Best of all, Internet radio puts you in control. You can listen to what you want, when you want.

The technology that makes this all possible is called streaming audio. "Streaming" means that you don't have to download an entire audio file before the sound starts playing. Once a small amount of the file is buffered, the audio begins.

To listen to Internet radio, your computer must be equipped with a sound card and speakers or you'll need headphones. You'll also need a stand-alone media player or possibly an audio plug-in for your web browser. If you're not sure what plug-ins are or you want to know how to install them, read our plug-in article.

Most Windows users should already have the Windows Media Player on their system. To find out, click on the Start button, go to All Programs. Now check the list. If you don't have it, you can download Windows Media Player from Microsoft for free.

Another useful audio/video player is RealPlayer from RealNetworks.

These two media players are not cross-compatible; you can't play a RealMedia file with Windows Media Player and visa versa. However, some types of files, like .mp3, will play on both.

Another popular and versatile media player is Apple's iTunes for both the Mac and PC. Here's where to get a free download.

Don't expect miracles with online radio with a dial-up connection. But with a broadband connection, get ready for some sweet sounds. The faster your connection, the better the results. Regardless, you won't hear hi-fi audio, at least not yet. Streaming audio technology has been improving steadily though, and may soon deliver the crisp sound we've come to expect from CDs.

Just like with physical media players, software audio players have control panels, so you can play, pause, fast-forward and rewind at will. Also, some online radio programs are indexed, which means you can jump right to the content you want, for instance skipping the weather report to take in the sports scores.

Once you have a media player, what can you listen to? Make your first stop Radio-Locator. The site boasts thousands of stations worldwide that have websites. Although only some of them "broadcast" over the Net, there's certainly enough to keep you busy for quite a while.

If you just can't get enough of Car Talk click on over to the National Public Radio website to listen to highlights of this and other favorites.

Then there's BBC Radio, which offers talk, sports, world news and music.

Last update: Jan 14, 2010