Strangechord

One of the best web discoveries I’ve made this year is Internet radio. It’s not as if I don’t have enough music to listen to on my hard drive, but there are some amazing stations online that are essential ear candy and a great way to explore new music. I never gave much thought to Internet radio. Then, a few months ago, my boss asked me to install Real Audio’s player on my work computer so he could listen to some *.rm corporate earnings analysis file. After messing around with the player, I realized it had a pretty full radio feature. I started looking up stations through the player’s search itself, then I branched out to specific web searches and also followed through on bloggers’ recommendations.

Finally, I have a list of favorites that I tune into fairly regularly. The following all provide non-corporate, free, uninterrupted listening, no commercials, and many are even DJ talk-free. Most feature only music, but some (like the college stations and BBC) offer a wide selection of other programming like news, commentary and interviews in addition to tunes. The links are the stations’ web sites, which often have schedules and/or playlists. Radio Paradise’s website is particularly cool because it allows listeners to rank and comment on songs and to upload mp3’s for airplay consideration! As for tools, I go with the user-friendly free RealOne Player (click on “Download the Free RealOne Player” link on right), but I know other listeners who use Winamp or Windows Media Player (unfortunately for MusicMatch users, MM offers limited radio streaming capability without a premium subscription).

• Radio Paradise: eclectic alternative
  
• SomaFM: underground/alternative streams; I recommend Groove Salad (ambient beats and grooves)
  
• BBC Radio: especially BBC3 and BBC6
  
• KBOO: Portland alterna-station; preferred for indie news and world beats
  
• WREK/Georgia Tech and WMFO/Tufts Univ.: college radio with tremendously varied programming
  
• KLCC: out of Eugene, OR; NPR programming with song mixes in between
  
• BassDrive: best of drum and bass & jungle music