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There are literally thousands of free streaming music stations covering every nook and cranny of music tastes.
Google it... here are just a few:
http://streema.com/
http://www.jango.com/
http://www.pandora.com/
http://www.live365.com/
http://www.slacker.com/

It's foolish to pay for streaming music when there is so much available free.

If you're willing to put up with the ads played to non-subscribers, there is always http://www.live365.com/

In any case, this isn't like 1994 when people did not know how to download software. Right now, people download stuff all the time, from chat programs to games and utilities, and wallpapers, songs, and more. None of that is bundled, but people manage fine. Same thing with browsers.

No, users do not know how to download software, any more than they did in 1994. Most of those things you listed are available in a web-based form (e.g. chat, games, virus scan, radio, etc. etc.) and people are accustomed to jumping through the extra hoops you have to jump through to avoid downloading and installing new applications (e.g. using a web-based e-mail service instead of setting up a POP3/IMAP client).

I mean, Paint is bundled with Windows, but that hasn't stopped anyone from making their own paint programs, now has it?

How many can you name, that an average user has heard of? Paint Shop Pro is the only one I can think of, other than Photoshop and GIMP.

I listen to "free" internet radio stations (those which feature indie artists) and get the names of bands I like from there.

RadioTower
GarageBand
Live365

...ear. I'm in my mid 50's. I remember back in the late 70's, before the IBM PC and DOS, CP/M was the closest thing to a standard. Even back then, some word-processor programs had a clickety-clack sound via the speaker each time you hit a key. And the beeps and boings were extremely annoying. I'm talking about business stuff like word processors, not video games. Some people were so pissed off, they went and disconnected the speaker, or simply cut the speaker wires if they were soldered in.

At work I have to use Windows. I started off with the soundcard disabled. Unfortunately, Windows was too smart, and routed all its "alerts" via the PC speaker. I don't really want to cut up my employer's computer. So I installed the sound driver, and "forgot" to hook up the speakers. Now Windows XP is happy as it sends all sorts of beeps and boops to a non-existant set of speakers, and I don't hear a thing from it. At home, I use linux. I'm listening to internet radio while I'm typing this message. I obviously don't want to hear beeps and boings from the OS. And besides, I reboot so infrequently, that it's not worth any effort creating a startup sound.

Creative Commons

Defective by Design's List of DRM-Free Music Sites

dmusic

Electronic Frontier Foundation List of "Artists Online"

emusic.com

Fading Ways Records

FreeCulture.org

harveydanger.com

Janis Ian.com

last.fm

Lime Light Radio

live365.com free downloads

MagnaTune

myspace.com

Nettwerk Download Store

R.evolution I.n P.rogress

RIAARadar.com

uncoolcentral.com

Vision Metal Records

I keep a list on my blog and welcome more suggestions.

I like this internet radio playing songs of praise. I listen to it often.

I'm interested in this letter someone posted: "Dear Live365 Broadcaster - The RIAA has been in touch with us recently to let us know that they have found a number of stations that are not compliant on the service. This is something we take very seriously, so we're going to ask for your help here. But first, I want to give some back story for those of you who've not been involved in internet radio that long. In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This piece of legislation established parameters around which one could build a business in instances where copyrighted digital material is concerned (e.g. music, software). It also built in some protections for the content companies who produce said digital material, (e.g. the RIAA) as they wanted to ensure that internet distribution wouldn't cannibalize sales. >>>For the purposes of internet radio, the resulting restrictions included: 1) Broadcasters must display complete ID3 tag information. 2) Broadcasters must comply with "The Rules" http://www.live365.com/info/rules.html 3) No unauthorized or "bootleg" recordings 4) For LIVE broadcasters, broadcasters must make sure the track metadata is streaming to the Player Window. In their recent communication, the RIAA notified us that they have observed stations that are out of compliance with one or more of these rules. >>>This is where we need your help: Please take a moment to ensure your ID3 tag information is completed, and make sure your playlist is not in violation with the song complement rules (outlined in The Rules, here http://www.live365.com/info/rules.html ), and that you're not playing any illegally recorded, unauthorized or bootleg material. >>>To assist you, we have: We have created a new field on the broadcast page to help you identify whether your station is compliant, and - if not - what the problem is. Within the next week, we will be releasing an improvement to the Playlist Analyzer to help broadcasters identify compliance problems within each playlist. We've also created a troubleshooting page at http://forums.live365.com/viewtopic.php?t=28306. We will send out an additional reminder about this within the next couple of weeks. If stations continue to operate OUT of compliance, we will reserve the right to shut them down or otherwise restrict access. If you have any other questions about your station's compliance, please contact our legal department at legal AT live365 DOT com. Thanks for your attention to this matter. betty ray Live365 Senior Editor and Director of Community Live 365 4th Floor - 950 Tower Lane Foster City, CA 94404" What do they mean by unauthorized recordings?

I'm interested in this letter someone posted: "Dear Live365 Broadcaster - The RIAA has been in touch with us recently to let us know that they have found a number of stations that are not compliant on the service. This is something we take very seriously, so we're going to ask for your help here. But first, I want to give some back story for those of you who've not been involved in internet radio that long. In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This piece of legislation established parameters around which one could build a business in instances where copyrighted digital material is concerned (e.g. music, software). It also built in some protections for the content companies who produce said digital material, (e.g. the RIAA) as they wanted to ensure that internet distribution wouldn't cannibalize sales. >>>For the purposes of internet radio, the resulting restrictions included: 1) Broadcasters must display complete ID3 tag information. 2) Broadcasters must comply with "The Rules" http://www.live365.com/info/rules.html 3) No unauthorized or "bootleg" recordings 4) For LIVE broadcasters, broadcasters must make sure the track metadata is streaming to the Player Window. In their recent communication, the RIAA notified us that they have observed stations that are out of compliance with one or more of these rules. >>>This is where we need your help: Please take a moment to ensure your ID3 tag information is completed, and make sure your playlist is not in violation with the song complement rules (outlined in The Rules, here http://www.live365.com/info/rules.html ), and that you're not playing any illegally recorded, unauthorized or bootleg material. >>>To assist you, we have: We have created a new field on the broadcast page to help you identify whether your station is compliant, and - if not - what the problem is. Within the next week, we will be releasing an improvement to the Playlist Analyzer to help broadcasters identify compliance problems within each playlist. We've also created a troubleshooting page at http://forums.live365.com/viewtopic.php?t=28306. We will send out an additional reminder about this within the next couple of weeks. If stations continue to operate OUT of compliance, we will reserve the right to shut them down or otherwise restrict access. If you have any other questions about your station's compliance, please contact our legal department at legal AT live365 DOT com. Thanks for your attention to this matter. betty ray Live365 Senior Editor and Director of Community Live 365 4th Floor - 950 Tower Lane Foster City, CA 94404" What do they mean by unauthorized recordings?

I'm interested in this letter someone posted: "Dear Live365 Broadcaster - The RIAA has been in touch with us recently to let us know that they have found a number of stations that are not compliant on the service. This is something we take very seriously, so we're going to ask for your help here. But first, I want to give some back story for those of you who've not been involved in internet radio that long. In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This piece of legislation established parameters around which one could build a business in instances where copyrighted digital material is concerned (e.g. music, software). It also built in some protections for the content companies who produce said digital material, (e.g. the RIAA) as they wanted to ensure that internet distribution wouldn't cannibalize sales. >>>For the purposes of internet radio, the resulting restrictions included: 1) Broadcasters must display complete ID3 tag information. 2) Broadcasters must comply with "The Rules" http://www.live365.com/info/rules.html 3) No unauthorized or "bootleg" recordings 4) For LIVE broadcasters, broadcasters must make sure the track metadata is streaming to the Player Window. In their recent communication, the RIAA notified us that they have observed stations that are out of compliance with one or more of these rules. >>>This is where we need your help: Please take a moment to ensure your ID3 tag information is completed, and make sure your playlist is not in violation with the song complement rules (outlined in The Rules, here http://www.live365.com/info/rules.html ), and that you're not playing any illegally recorded, unauthorized or bootleg material. >>>To assist you, we have: We have created a new field on the broadcast page to help you identify whether your station is compliant, and - if not - what the problem is. Within the next week, we will be releasing an improvement to the Playlist Analyzer to help broadcasters identify compliance problems within each playlist. We've also created a troubleshooting page at http://forums.live365.com/viewtopic.php?t=28306. We will send out an additional reminder about this within the next couple of weeks. If stations continue to operate OUT of compliance, we will reserve the right to shut them down or otherwise restrict access. If you have any other questions about your station's compliance, please contact our legal department at legal AT live365 DOT com. Thanks for your attention to this matter. betty ray Live365 Senior Editor and Director of Community Live 365 4th Floor - 950 Tower Lane Foster City, CA 94404" What do they mean by unauthorized recordings?

Amazon.com - E-commerce pioneer seeking to offer the world's largest selection of products online. for details.

AvantGo - Mobile applications for handheld devices.

DynDNS.org - One of the world's largest providers of free and premium Dynamic DNS services.

Findory - Personalized news and blogs aggregator. Findory learns what kind of content you like by the pages you read.

Live365.com - The world's largest Internet radio website.

Salon.com - Online magazine covering news, politics, technology, art, sex and health; winner of numerous web awards.

Weta Digital - Weta Digital are well known as the special effects people behind the Lord of the Rings films. At his OSCON 2004 keynote, Milton Ngan of Weta Digital thanked some technologies, including Mason, which is used as part of their intranet.

A

AcuTrans.net - Home page for AcuTrans, a company providing an online content management system integrated with transcription services (built with Mason) for business, legal, medical, and self-insured companies.

Adventist.org - The official web site of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Alhazred - Progressive music project being produced with open source/free software

Alzabo.org - Home page for Alzabo data modelling tool.

American Lung Association of Washington - Assuring lung health for the people of Washington state through research, education, community service and advocacy.

Apartments - Apartments for rent by RentersInc.com. Free apartment search engine and apartment guide.

arabellan - Web presence of Ryan "Exide Arabellan" Zander, a graphical artist.

astrojax.com - amazing fun and action game - community website with lots of features.

Autismeinfocentrum.nl - Information- and documentationcentre about autism and related subjects in the Netherlands.

AutoSupplyUK.com - Used Japanese import auto store.

B BDO - Austrian tax consultancy

Beotechnic - Company specializing in knowhow transfer

Bikeworld.com - Online retailer, sporting a new 100% Mason-powered site that was developed entirely in-house.

bizjournals.com - Publisher of 41 weekly business newspapers across the US.

BlackSpider - Managed services provider focused exclusively on the provision of e-mail security solutions.

Burma-Shave.org - All of the original Burma-Shave jingles, plus the Burma-Shave Daily mailing list.

C

cibera.de - cibera is an online library site which offers a central access point to interdisciplinary material concerning the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking area as well as the Caribbean.

Cars - iCarsInc.com Cars for sale. Buy and sell new and used cars online. Your next auto purchase starts right here. Find new, used, classics, sports cars, luxury cars, trucks, SUVï½s and even motorcycles for sale.

Check out http://www.live365.com/ for an amazing selection of talk and spoken word (and just about anything else.) There are thousands of stations here, programmed by individuals (unlike AOL or Yahoo) ranging from people who just want to hear their own music at work to hobbyists to professional broadcasters. Free to listen, (install a popup blocker) and for $4.95 a month you can ditch both the popups *and* the audio ads. It's a cubicle-dweller's nirvana. I found the best jazz station I've ever heard there, and listen to it when working.

Unlike many Shoutcast stations, all these stations pay licensing fees, so don't have the threat of being shut down by the RIAA looming over them. It's also easy to get started on your own. You can start at $10/month (a paltry 100MB of storage) up to however big you want to get. Some of the "pro" stations are spending upwards to $2000/month and selling their own ads.

Check out http://www.live365.com/ for an amazing selection of talk and spoken word (and just about anything else.) There are thousands of stations here, programmed by individuals (unlike AOL or Yahoo) ranging from people who just want to hear their own music at work to hobbyists to professional broadcasters. Free to listen, (install a popup blocker) and for $4.95 a month you can ditch both the popups *and* the audio ads. It's a cubicle-dweller's nirvana. I found the best jazz station I've ever heard there, and listen to it when working.

Unlike many Shoutcast stations, all these stations pay licensing fees, so don't have the threat of being shut down by the RIAA looming over them. It's also easy to get started on your own. You can start at $10/month (a paltry 100MB of storage) up to however big you want to get. Some of the "pro" stations are spending upwards to $2000/month and selling their own ads.

What are the new movements going on in the electronic music world that the mainstream has yet to become aware of?

Forget the "Hi NRG European Techno" and the crud they play in movies. The repetative beats got old real quick.

For electronic music that is different, here are a couple places to check out. These may not be to your taste, but they definately different then your "unS unS unS unS unS unS unS unS WooooooooOOOOOT WoooooooooOOOOOT! 'Smack my Bitch Up!' unS unS unS unS unS unS unS unS":

Warp Records has released their entire catalog online. I recommend Plaid, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher

Here a couple nice stations playing a range of electronic music:

http://www.live365.com/stations/after_party
http://www.live365.com/stations/mrs_emma_peel
http://somafm.com/listen/

Oh, how I miss MusicForHackers!

What are the new movements going on in the electronic music world that the mainstream has yet to become aware of?

Forget the "Hi NRG European Techno" and the crud they play in movies. The repetative beats got old real quick.

For electronic music that is different, here are a couple places to check out. These may not be to your taste, but they definately different then your "unS unS unS unS unS unS unS unS WooooooooOOOOOT WoooooooooOOOOOT! 'Smack my Bitch Up!' unS unS unS unS unS unS unS unS":

Warp Records has released their entire catalog online. I recommend Plaid, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher

Here a couple nice stations playing a range of electronic music:

http://www.live365.com/stations/after_party
http://www.live365.com/stations/mrs_emma_peel
http://somafm.com/listen/

Oh, how I miss MusicForHackers!

This is a tangental question.

And, the killer, I want this tool to be open sourced on Linux, eliminating tools like WinAMP.

I listen to http://www.live365.com/ pretty much all the time now. Hundreds of stations, if you're a member then no ads, and I have no trouble finding a station to match my mood.

I'm paying $3.95/mo. for a VIP membership at Live365.com. Sure, I paid for 12 months in advance to get that rate, but you still only pay $5.95/mo. on a month to month basis. No adds, no pop-ups, good audio quality (for streaming audio), and with 10K+ streams available, no boredom. It's one of the few things keeping me sane during the workday.

live365.com has a streaming radio client, Radio365, that has a "buy now" button that links to the iTunes Music Strore.

Could you please post a link directly to the playlist/url so I can open it in WinAmp?

I sincerely wish that all the record companies would open up their whole catalogs at high compression/low quality so that I can check out new music or download a song I haven't heard in five years.

It's all a tradeoff- If you shun commercial radio and music with significant promotion behind it (i.e. label music) and prefer to experiment and check out independent music you've never heard before, then it's your time and money that you're going to spend to separate the wheat from the chaff. Which do you think is worse, spending $15 on a chart-topping pop CD with 1 good song out of 10 on it, or spending $15 on ITMS or Audio Lunchbox and ending up with 1 song out of 15 you can stand listening to more than once? Don't forget that music taste is extremely subjective- there are tons of rappers with huge followings that I wouldn't buy or listen to in a million years. I personally am not willing to spend hours hunting around for great independent music; that's my choice and I'm not unhappy with my collection, pattern of expanding that collection, or listening habits. (fortunately there are still plenty of free and legal methods of hearing an entire song before buying it, even if what you're looking for is pretty esoteric (and I'm not talking about Kazaa)).

I agree that "nobody" is not a good term to use here, but off-label music is not a vast utopia of excellent tunes ripe for the picking either.

You're only going to ever legitimize some percentage of the population. Before p2p there were people who'd make a physical copy of a CD after borrowing from their friends. Before that there were people who'd tape copies of albums or even broadcasts off the air. I'm sure there were people who listened to music that they didn't pay for even before that but it's before my time.

Peer to peer filesharing would appear to make the percentage of people who've paid up decrease substantially but I'm not entirely sure it's true. I can only explain my own observations but take what you want out of them.

When I was a teenager there were several good local stations that played music in the genre that I enjoyed. Within that genre they played music from a wide variety of bands, some really succesful and some not so succesful. I listened to the radio every chance I could. I listened to it between classes on my walkman, in my friends cars on the way to school, on ghetto blasters during shop classes and at home on my stereo. The amazing thing was that despite that amount of exposure you'd always hear something new and wouldn't hear a lot of repeats. In fact the local stations made a big deal about no repeats (I lived near Detroit: WRIF, WLLZ and later WCSX were the stations I listened to). Based on what I heard and what I liked I bought a lot of albums and later compact discs. I still love music as much as I ever did, maybe more, I've widened the types of music I enjoy. I can't find a radio station that doesn't rely on a playlist of 20 to 40 songs with the occasional diversion from the playlist. Even though there's a couple of local stations that I find tolerable I'm not induced into buying a lot of albums. Why? They don't play a lot of songs. The time between repeats is down to at most a couple of hours and I'm not interested enough to buy every album I hear a track from. The radio stations format no longer acts like a drug dealer: "The first hits free, but if you want more then you've got to buy the album." Instead they play the same tunes over and over until quite frankly I'm sick of even the ones I once enjoyed.

I feel that P2P networks should become the new radio. If you log into a P2P network you can only search for stuff you already know about. Somebody needs to get the idea of letting people putting together setlists of songs that form virtual radio stations. Most music I do purchase now is from people telling me to give something a listen. P2P with some added infrastructure is perfect for that. Out of the chaos there would grow a handful of excellent stations that cover a variety of genres. These would be the ones that most people tune into, at least the ones that really like music as opposed to people who really like being trendy. This would rebuild something that fulfills radios old purpose: Exposing bands to people.

Some people would just snarf up entire catalogs via p2p and not pay for it, but people have always done this, the only thing that has changed is the technology. But if you're exposed in a meaningful way to more people then you'll sell more albums.Live365.com is close to what I'm talking about but isn't P2P.

This doesn't mean you'll be succesful. Being an artist doesn't guarantee your success just like earning a degree or learning a skill doesn't guarantee you'll get paid. The term starving artist has been around a lot longer than P2P networks.

I personally pay for everything I listen to. I have downloaded stuff off of p2p to get a feel for it and not paid for it but then I'm not listening to it. I decided I didn't like it and deleted it or lost track of it.

You could tax everybody but I would not be at all shocked if the average artist ended up getting less money. I know that if I had to pay a tax on blank media and such I would take it as a sign that I'm entitled to fill it up with whatever I want. So the average artist would have to rely on the good will of the industry to dole out their fair share of the taxes.

Apart from Media Player, whats left? I feel like if I want to hear music through the computer, I have be willing to sell my soul.

Try Live365. They have thousands of online broadcasters and a huge variety of genres, all broadcasting in MP3 streams. Not all of them are free -- some are "Premium" broadcasters that require membership (membership is only a few bucks a month, however -- quite the deal, really). And the free stations do have occational ads. But you can listen with the MP3 player of your choice. Also, you can generally bookmark this site once it's playing in your MP3 player, and in so doing skip the hassle of going to the Live365 Web site every time you want to tune in. As an added bonus, if you so desire, you can sign up w/ Live365 and start your own Webcast.

There's a lot of good streaming music (and talk, and comedy, and...) stations still out there -- you don't need Real's or anyone else's media player to find them for you.

Fraunhofer was flagrantly unable to get MP3Pro out as a format of choice for illegal music distribution, but still makes a few dollars on streams from sites like Live 365. Now, eyeing the legal distro market, it would make sense to pander to where the money is (or was, by the time they get there) and sell to these other sites.

Yes, Microsoft could decide to upgrade your MP3 collection to DRMP3... but it could decide to jack everyone to WMA tomorrow anyway. And let's be frank, the more piracy there is in the world the more people they will sell their "secure" formats to.

The people here seem to be seeing a tempest in a teapot. Fraunhofer was unable to change the role of "their" format before... why should we expect any more now?

How come Apple iTunes and this new Dell service are exempt from DMCA? Live365's rules for humans quotes some of the many ways the DMCA prohibits download on demand, even if the uploader owns all the rights. But their rules for corporations don't mention these DMCA restrictions:

i. You may not include in your Internet Radio Programs specific sound recordings within one hour of a request by a listener or at a time designated by the listener.
ii. In any three-hour period, you should not intentionally program more than three songs (and not more than two songs in a row) from the same recording; you should not intentionally program more than four songs (and not more than three songs in a row) from the same recording artist or anthology/box set.
iii. Continuous looped Internet Radio Programs may not be less than three hours long.
iv. Retransmissions of Internet Radio Programs may be performed at scheduled times as follows:
a. Internet Radio Programs of less than one hour: no more than three times in a two-week period;
b. Internet Radio Programs longer than one hour: no more than four times in any two-week period.
v. You should not publish advance program guides or use other means to pre-announce when particular sound recordings will be played or the order in which they will be played.
vi. You should only include in your Internet Radio Programs sound recordings that are authorized for performance in the United States.
vii. You should pass through (and not disable or remove) identification or technological protection information included in the sound recording (if any).

Why are corporations, like Apple and Dell, allowed to exercise rights inherent in their property and licenses, while the People are prohibited?

How come Apple iTunes and this new Dell service are exempt from DMCA? Live365's rules for humans quotes some of the many ways the DMCA prohibits download on demand, even if the uploader owns all the rights. But their rules for corporations don't mention these DMCA restrictions:

i. You may not include in your Internet Radio Programs specific sound recordings within one hour of a request by a listener or at a time designated by the listener.
ii. In any three-hour period, you should not intentionally program more than three songs (and not more than two songs in a row) from the same recording; you should not intentionally program more than four songs (and not more than three songs in a row) from the same recording artist or anthology/box set.
iii. Continuous looped Internet Radio Programs may not be less than three hours long.
iv. Retransmissions of Internet Radio Programs may be performed at scheduled times as follows:
a. Internet Radio Programs of less than one hour: no more than three times in a two-week period;
b. Internet Radio Programs longer than one hour: no more than four times in any two-week period.
v. You should not publish advance program guides or use other means to pre-announce when particular sound recordings will be played or the order in which they will be played.
vi. You should only include in your Internet Radio Programs sound recordings that are authorized for performance in the United States.
vii. You should pass through (and not disable or remove) identification or technological protection information included in the sound recording (if any).

Why are corporations, like Apple and Dell, allowed to exercise rights inherent in their property and licenses, while the People are prohibited?

If you mean "does anyone rip things at 64 kpbs?", then I'd guess mostly not. However, if you really mean what you asked, then plenty of people do.

Take a look at live365.com. A huge number of the streaming stations there are at 64 kbps or less.

I listen to filk radio via live365 a lot, for example, and it is below 64kbps.

64k and below can work fine for listenting to music. However, many people listen to the encoding, not the music, and for them it might be too painful.

BTW, I've noticed that if I listen to filk.com on my Linux box, my ears get worn out fairly quickly. On my Mac at work, however, it sounds a lot better. Same stream. I think Apple's doing some filtering or something to try to make low bitrate streams sound better.

I don't know what internet that guy is on, but here on Earth's internet, if you have 100k listeners to a song, you ain't a small broadcaster!

For a more realistic look at the small broadcaster, go take a look at Live365. A plan with 100 simultaneous listeners for your station (way more realistic than 100k listeners) starts at $8/month, and that includes the royalties.

I would say that I'm addicted to internet radio. Ever try out Live 365? Stuff like Musical Starstreams is really good. The thing is that these services are free with the option to donate, and I do donate $20 whenever I have some extra money.

Oh, and message boards are so helpful that there's no way the RIAA will allow that. Think about audiogalaxy. That was the perfect service because it had some sense of community to it, but even though they blocked songs that the RIAA told them to, they were shut down. Anything that's good for us is bad for them. They have to know this. They're a cartel and any competition will bring about their downfall. It's just a question of education. As long as people don't know about the alternatives, the RIAA will keep their position in the market, but it doesn't make sense for either us or the distributors to be happy with the status quo.

By covering all copyright fees, Live365 provides a service which allows you to legally webcast.

I'm really excited about this service. Hopefully it will be able to provide me with some music for my Internet radio station. Still trying to figure out whether these music files can be re-encoded properly, though, to be webcast on Live365(my webcast host). Harold VoyagerRadio.com

These kinds of things are out there already. Try this streaming audio for old time radio shows:

http://www.live365.com/stations/knronline

Or:

http://www.live365.com/stations/otrnow

I agree it would also be nice to see new creative scripts and performances as another alternative to these oldies.

These kinds of things are out there already. Try this streaming audio for old time radio shows:

http://www.live365.com/stations/knronline

Or:

http://www.live365.com/stations/otrnow

I agree it would also be nice to see new creative scripts and performances as another alternative to these oldies.

So they check the packet ID's on incoming packets. Basically, they count the number of external connections. These ivory-tower academics amaze me with their lack of consideration of the real world.

1) I have one machine online now. I'm listening to an oldies station on live365 whilst reading Slashdot. And if Redhat had a new distro out, I could be downloading it in the background. How do they differentiate between me doing 3 things on one machine simultaneously, versus doing one thing on each of 3 machines simultaneously ?

2) Tabbed browsing to multiple sites that do HTTP refreshes bumps up the connection count. What gets *REALLY* hysterical is a typical luser running Windows with half-a-dozen spyware applets calling home all the time. It'll easily pass off as a home network.

With the advent (free vs. fee) of PSAs between every song on Live365 (same basic business model as traditional radio), I hold little hope of anyone coming up with an alternate plan that will ever move away from the thinking that's affected FM.

Live365 makes the free version so annoying, they drive you to either pay the monthly fee, or look elsewhere for entertainment. What is XM proposing that will do any better?

Others have mentioned SHOUTcast and CMJ. I also use Live365 (I pay for a subscription) to keep my audio pleasures broad while I work.

I've got a 25 GB MP3 collection, all ripped from my own CDs. Still, even with that much music, I get bored. I've fallen in love with Live365. Has a downloadable Windows streaming client, or works seamlessly with any number of MP3 players (including XMMS). For research, AMG is top freaking notch. I've got a loooong wish list from that site. No one has every detail about every artist who ever was, but these guys have information on some of the most obscure artists I could think of and things about your favorite artists that you may not have known.

http://www.live365.com
Lots of theme-based radio stations, search engine and best of all: they pay the RIAA tax^H^H^Hfee. Those stations won't be shut down by the Evil Powers that Be.
I've discovered quite some bands I happened to like.

They don't. Either you read wrong or I didn't explain clearly. The "maximum" is the amount of money you can make to be categorized in the small webcaster fee schedule.

Here's the actual law:

`(iv)(I) Subject to subclause (II), an `eligible small webcaster' is a webcaster (as defined in section 261.2 of title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, as published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2002) that--

• `(aa) for the period beginning on October 28, 1998, and ending on December 31, 2002, has gross revenues during the period beginning on November 1, 1998, and ending on June 30, 2002, of not more than $1,000,000;
• `(bb) for 2003, together with its affiliates, has gross revenues during 2003 of not more than $500,000; and
• `(cc) for 2004, together with its affiliates, has gross revenues, third party participation revenues, and revenues from the operation of new subscription services during 2004 of not more than $1,250,000.

And the part on the percentages:
For eligible nonsubscription transmissions made by an eligible small webcaster during the period beginning on October 28, 1998, and ending on December 31, 2002, the royalty rate shall be 8 percent of the webcaster's gross revenues during such period, or 5 percent of the webcaster's expenses during such period, whichever is greater... [it then goes into details on exceptions but you can look that up for yourself, and the royalty goes up in 2003-2004]

So there is no maximum, and that's why netcaster aggregators like Live365 don't like this bill, because it doesn't give them a break... and they had some HUGE expenses back in the dotcom days.

The inclusion of royalties based on expenses actually does a lot of harm to deep-pocketed netcasters, the guys who had lots of venture cap and spent like crazy back in the late 80s. But the people who have been webcasting for a while, and doing it on a shoestring budget, they're the ones that will benefit the most from this.

It does not matter how you count the number of radio stations, all that matters is there will be many more big guys than little guys in the years to come.

No, there will be fewer mid-sized guys. The big guys are few and far between and don't care. They're happy to pay per song per listener because they see radio as an add-on to their existing internet offerings. Yahoo and AOL don't want to pay 10% of their revenue when they could pay per song per listener. The whole reason the CARP fees are so high is because when the fees were being set, the big guys wanted a barrier to small competition.

Everyone is acting like the RIAA $500 minimum is the only fee that a hobby broadcaster would have, but it's not. And I don't see all the complaints about the minimum $700 a year internet radio stations legally have to pay to ASCAP/BMI/SESAC. You know why you don't? Because the smallest broadcasters are off everyone's radar. By the time that ASCAP/BMI/SESAC and even the RIAA come looking for you, you've established a good sized audience.

One this this bill confirms is that multiple hobbyists can get together and stream multiple streams from a group web site. Why isn't anyone talking about doing this? Congress gave you a loophole, take advantage of it. Hell, take it a step further. Create a non-profit version of Live365. HR5469 even expands the definition of non-commercials to include any non-commercial organization, not just FCC-licensed non-commercial stations, and they can qualify for the lower per song per listener rates from the original CARP ruling.

Next, this was a bait and switch move. Nothing you said changes that. They put one bill forward, got public approval for it, then switched it for another.

Hi. That's how politics works.

Bills change. Every special interest is trying to get something put in the bill to make them happy. It's all about compromise. The original version of HR5469 was tabled. There was not enough support in congress to pass it. So the sponsoring congressmen made changes to it, shopped it around to all the other congressmen, and finally they all came up with something they could settle on.

Why am I suddenly the bad guy? Am I not a little guy too? Just because I spent a lot of time and effort working to create a radio station that people could enjoy? Because we established a small but decent sized audience? I wish I made some money from the "selling out" I'm accused of doing, at least I would have something to show for it!

But all I'm doing is trying to get SomaFM back on the air. It's still going to cost me $6500 in retroactive fees if HR5460 passes (and $2000 a year after that). Do you think I'm happy about that? But compared to $200,000 or more if HR5469 is not approved.

All for a glorified hobby.

All because I want to expose more people to the music that I love, the music that I can't find anywhere else on the radio in the US.

Thanks for listening to my "load of crap".

--Rusty

Boy, I really feel shafted by all of this. I listen to several channels at Live365 and received a notice from them asking for emergency short-fuse support of the ORIGINAL HR 5469 which was supposed to go to a vote in only 72 hours or so. I went thru the email-my-congressmen-and-senators routine and felt smug that I had done my part to help. Now the original bill has been rewritten so that it's not the one I asked to be supported. This whole thing is so unfair when compared to the sweetheart deal the over-the-air broadcast radio stations operate under because they are effectively commercials to go buy a CD. So who is the Gang of Bigwigs that has circumvented this whole mess by arranging the rewrite? Despite my distaste for them, I've got to admit they sure know how to work the system...

> Yeah, until they want to start offering "Premium" channels.

I for one would welcome the ability to pay for commercial-free radio without having to invest in a company like Sirius or XM, who have uncertain futures and limited diversity (since all their content comes from one company in either case -- longterm, how is that likely to be any better than the homogenous crap that comes from clearchannel?)

Imagine a world where you can find channels that actually play things you're interested in, and things you've never heard before. Quality news not funded by advertisers but by listeners who want to hear what they have to say. Diversity would increase, since marketing dollars are conservative but people are less so.

Assuming the system has the ability to employ encryption, digital technology opens up the ability for stations to charge their listeners directly, resulting in a more efficient (overall lower cost) system since there are no marketing middlemen. Analog with digital allows users of both types to participate, much like sites such as live365 do now. I won't claim that the DRM aspects won't get scary once the RIAA gets into the picture, but hopefully that day is long(ish) off.

Diversity. A channel for news 24/7, and one for world music, and one for Rush Limbaugh since unfortunately some people want it, all because people will pay what marketers won't. Sign me up. And we know it's true too, because people already pay for several commercial-free stations in my area. It's difficult for those stations to make money right now because it's not simple for people to pay in small amounts, particularly when they're already getting the station for free. But with a free "teaser" channel full of commercials, there's a simple and direct incentive for people to contribute to stations they care about.

I'm totally excited, this was an announcement that broadsided me. I only hope we don't somehow manage to screw it all up.

There is even an MSX radio channel.

You may want to check out Live365 and set up an inexpensive stream of the band's music. I've seen other bands there that stream all their music in the hopes that awareness will lead to more CD sales. Good luck.

Actually, I'm well aware that new bands keep releasing great new music. My original comment was mostly intended tongue-in-cheek. I love new bands and recent releases from folks like The Mockers, The Shazam, Guided by Voices, The Flashing Lights, The Apples in Stereo, etc. My point was just that a LOT of great pop, rock, rap, trance, dance, techno, punk, and heavy metal music has been made over the past 45 years, and most fans, myself included, have yet to explore and listen to the MAJORITY of that catalog. (For more great old and new music, check out my streaming webcast .)

I am currently using: live365.

There tons of differents genres to listen too.

AudioGalaxy used to be great for electronica.

Another useful tool for exploring music was live365.com. Do a search for the stations that say they play electronica, and start listening.

But of course, this information is two months too late. RIAA has effectively killed AudioGalaxy and is doing its best to kill internet radio from music fans and reduce it to a sideshow for the existing commercial radio stations that they can control. In all, RIAA's contempt for people who like music and want to share this interest with others is bottomless.

A great electronica dance group, PPK. They're two young Russian men, very creative. Do check out their video to "Resurrection", it reminds me a lot of Tron.

Or, failing that, try Live365.com. The link should bring up a slew of net.radio stations that play electronica. Browse them, and see what you like. They list the artist and title in another window, and have links to buy the music you're hearing - the links don't always find it, though - they run through Amazon.com, last time I checked.

Live365 also has a lot of channels playing anime music, much of which can be electronica, so check that as well.

A great electronica dance group, PPK. They're two young Russian men, very creative. Do check out their video to "Resurrection", it reminds me a lot of Tron.

Or, failing that, try Live365.com. The link should bring up a slew of net.radio stations that play electronica. Browse them, and see what you like. They list the artist and title in another window, and have links to buy the music you're hearing - the links don't always find it, though - they run through Amazon.com, last time I checked.

Live365 also has a lot of channels playing anime music, much of which can be electronica, so check that as well.

Defining a 'best' in electronic music is like defining a 'best' in rock....Electronic music has the most sub-genres of any music type I know of. Nevertheless, there are the major categories, but keep in mind that often the most talented artists do not confine their music to one type alone.

The most well known word for electronic music is probably techno, however techno != electronic, rather it is a type of electronic popular earlier in the 90s, while electronic music was growing more mainstream. You'll most often hear (for subgenres):

Techno | Trance | Drum n' Bass | Breakbeat | House | Jungle | Industrial | Ambient | Chill

often used with the modifiers 'hard', 'acid', or 'progressive' as in hard house, or progressive trance. In a lot of ways, these are self-explanatory...hard means that the music is rougher, and is usually faster paced; drum n bass consists of drum beats and heavy basslines.

Everyone here will try to tell you the best artist to listen to....but I can tell you for sure that I know no two people with the same taste in electronic music. You really have to discover for yourself the kind that interests you most. I suggest listening to some generic online radio if you want to know the mainstream electronica, most of which is a carryover from europe's tech-pop eurotrash trance. That's where you'll find the names most people will refer to you.

However, the best way to discover electronic music is to support your local scene. I would list true local websites, but being low-budget community supported as they are, I wouldn't subject them to the bandwidth of the slightest slashdotting. You can, however, find your nearest real record store (good electronic comes out on analog lps for real djs) and they will be happy to direct you to flyers and websites informing you of local happenings. Go out and hear some of your best local djs, and truly experience the music for yourself (many djs of different styles will play in the same night) - that will be the fastest path to knowing your interests. Also, once you find a dj you like, find out his/her influences, and that will point you to some excellent (lesser-known?) artists.

Some of the best cuts are the hardest to find, but there's a ton of great music out there. I wish you (all) luck, and PLUR!!