Internet radio is taking off. Pandora is popular, probably the most popular. But there’s also Live 365, Shoutcast, Radio Tuna, Jango, and more. And those are just music sources. Blog Talk Radio is just the tip of the iceberg where Internet talk radio is concerned.
photo credit: Axel Schwenke
And hey, we haven’t even gotten to live streaming. Your favorite local radio station probably is streaming RIGHT NOW. If you move away from your listening area, you no longer have to say goodbye to your favorite on-air jocks; you can continue to follow them from anywhere in the world through the joys of online streaming.
As I write, I am listening to Internet radio—a live stream of my local DJ spinning songs I love. Of course, they don’t “”spin”" anymore, and there aren’t “”discs,”" but the old terminology persists. Even if I had an old-fashioned radio, the stream gives me digital data (“”Who does that song?”") up to and including when the commercial is over.
Another favorite radio station of mine is a local listener-sponsored not-for-profit. They report donations during fund drives, and I delight to hear them get sponsorship from listeners many thousands of miles distant. From Los Angeles to Paris, France, from Charlotte to Chattanooga, a New York station can reach untold millions if it streams its signal. No one is happier than the advertisers!
photo credit: J. Michael Tracy
Radio Noir is descriptive of the kind of radio you listen to in the dark of the night. In the early 1970s, a New York area DJ by the name of Alison Steele had a show called “”The Nightbird”" which was hugely influential on this kind of music. Deep-throated and suggestive, she played “”spacey”" music, sometimes psychedelic, sometimes the sort of thing that would later be called “”New Age,”" sometimes long, exotic jams or world music, or combinations of all of the above. The misty, mystical, sensual sounds of late night were defined for a generation.