Buzz
Exploring Internet Radio on iTunes
Science ChannelA college student in Wisconsin tunes in to a Jamaican DJ spinning the latest rapso (calypso rap) tunes. A children’s advocacy group brings together its members from across the globe through private broadcasts. A listener hears a printer ad on the radio and orders one instantly, using the same platform on which the ad aired. Thanks to Internet radio, all these possibilities and more are now available, a groundbreaking shift in broadcasting technology that rivals the early 1920s origins of the radio industry.
Internet radio emerged in the late 1990s, with traditional radio outlets using the Internet to stream their content. Yet, the world of Internet radio is now in the midst of a transformation, broadening its reach beyond desktop computers to offer on-demand access to broadcasts worldwide, while also diversifying its content to include not just traditional broadcasters, but also individuals, organizations, and even government entities.
This article delves into the revolution of Internet radio, covering aspects such as equipment, transmission methods, programming, and the evolving dynamic between listeners and broadcasters.
The Freedom of Airwaves
While radio broadcasting originated in the early 1920s, it wasn’t until the advent of the transistor radio in 1954 that radio became portable. Similarly, Internet radio, until recently, was only accessible via desktop PCs. However, this is changing with the rise of wireless technology, allowing Internet broadcasts to reach car radios, PDAs, and mobile phones, extending the availability of Internet radio far beyond the home or office.
Applications and Benefits
Traditional radio stations face two key limitations:
- the range of the station's transmitter (usually up to 100 miles)
- the spectrum of available broadcasts (local stations may only offer a few dozen options)
Internet radio comes with no geographical boundaries, which means a station from Kuala Lumpur can be streamed all the way to Kansas. The reach of Internet radio is as expansive as the Internet itself, with services like Live365 offering over 30,000 different broadcasts.
Unlike traditional radio, Internet radio is not confined to just audio. It can include images, text, clickable links, and even interactive elements like message boards and live chats. This enhanced media capability allows for more than passive listening. For instance, in the scenario described earlier, a listener hearing an ad for a computer printer could immediately order it through a link on the broadcast’s webpage. This opens up new, more personal interactions between advertisers and listeners. Furthermore, Internet radio could be used for education or training purposes, offering document links, payment options, and direct interaction with educators or trainers on the broadcast site.
Internet radio offers a broad range of genres, especially in music. In contrast, traditional radio is increasingly controlled by a few large media corporations (such as Cox, Jefferson-Pilot, and Bonneville), which tends to result in a more homogenized selection of programming designed to appeal to a larger audience, maximizing ad revenue. Internet radio, however, provides an opportunity for more niche programming. The cost of starting an Internet radio station is lower (see the section, “Creating an Internet Radio Station”), allowing for greater diversity in programming that can target "micro-communities" of listeners with specialized interests or music tastes.
Setting Up an Internet Radio Station
What equipment do you need to start your own Internet radio station?
- CD player
- Ripping software (transfers audio tracks from a CD to a computer's hard drive)
- Various recording and editing software
- Microphones
- Audio mixer
- External audio equipment (such as equalizers, compressors, etc.)
- Digital audio interface
- Dedicated computer with encoding software
- Streaming media server
Broadcasting audio over the Internet is relatively straightforward:
- The audio enters the broadcasting computer through its sound card.
- The encoding system processes the audio from the sound card, converting it into a streamable format. It samples the incoming audio and compresses it for transmission.
- The compressed audio is sent to a server with a high-bandwidth Internet connection.
- The server transmits the audio stream across the Internet to the listener’s software or plugin. This plugin decodes the stream, turning it back into audio that the listener hears.
There are two methods for transmitting audio over the Internet: downloading and streaming. In downloads, an audio file is saved to the user’s computer. Compressed formats like MP3 are the most commonly used for audio downloads, but any audio file can be shared via a Web or FTP site. Streaming audio plays the content directly without saving it. This method relies on three key components: the encoder, the server, and the player. The encoder converts the audio into a streamable format, the server distributes it online, and the player retrieves and plays it. For live broadcasts, the encoder and server work together in real time. The audio is routed to a sound card on a computer running the encoder software at the broadcast location, and the stream is uploaded to the server. Due to the processing power required, a dedicated server is necessary for streaming.
