Real Radio on the Web!

by Thomas More

There is a radio station in the Los Angeles area that advertises itself as "Real Radio," although some would dispute that. Most radio stations in major metropolitan areas are now owned and operated by a few large corporations. The last independently owned FM station in Los Angeles was recently sold to a megamedia corporation. Interestingly, the last independent owner was Gene Autry, yesteryear's popular singing cowboy. However, this was not a country-western radio station. Under Autry's company, Golden West Broadcasting, the station (KSCA FM101.9) featured a contemporary "adult rock" format that was popular with musicians and entertainment-industry professionals, but not popular enough in the competitive Southern California market. The new owners promptly changed the format to regional Mexican music.

The radio stations owned by large corporations are extremely market-driven, so they tend to have very tight playlists in a rigid format, almost precluding their playing a new artist who hasn't been listed on the playlist of other stations of similar format. This "cookie-cutter radio" approach attempts to please everyone in general (according to market research), and ends up pleasing no one in particular. Until recently, the only hope for new (or different) popular music on the radio was National Public Radio (NPR) and college stations, which are low-power, by regulation, so they cover only their local areas. The large corporations, such as CBS, NBC and Disney-owned ABC seem to program only what is already proven successful in other markets. With all the money they spend on market research, they still can't figure out what sort of music is going to be popular next month.

With commercial radio becoming so stagnant, there must be a tremendous market for a new medium to bring fresh music to the consumer. Enter the cutting-edge technology of Internet Radio. Actually, it's not "radio," at all. That word was coined in 1887 to describe things relating to, or operated by, radiant energy; specifically, it has come to mean the wireless transmission of sound, particularly music, by means of electromagnetic waves. Well, there are such things as wireless modems, but most of us connect to the World Wide Web using plain old copper wire, courtesy of the telephone company. Isn't it ironic that new music will soon be heard over the wires, more than it is over the airwaves?

The good news is that the software you need to tune in this new medium for music, sports and weather is FREE! You can download the programs, described in this column, from links found on the providers' Web sites. These programs allow you to receive "streaming sound," which means that you hear the sound at the same time it is being downloaded from a remote server. Without a streaming program, you can download a sound file, and then listen to it later, much like a recording. Actually, it is a digital recording. But that takes time, and the whole idea of radio is being "live" (or "real-time" in cyberspeak).

The bad news is that you will need a fast computer and a faster modem or, better still, digital access from your television cable company (if they offer it), or ISDN, the telephone company's high-speed cable connection. If you're on the wire (a modem connection), you must have a modem capable of receiving data at 28.8 thousand bits per second (Kbps) for RealAudio. Streamworks says you can receive their sound with a 14.4 Kbps modem, but the sound quality will be better with a faster modem. RealAudio v 3.0 promises "stereo sound to 28.8 modems" and "near CD-quality to ISDN and [other digital] connections." InternetWave says those with 14.4 modems will experience audio with quality similar to that of AM radio broadcasts while those with 28.8 modems will hear audio of almost-FM quality. Obviously, faster is better.

Once you're up to speed, though, there is no shortage of Internet "radio" stations. And unlike the airwaves, which can provide only a limited number of frequencies, or "channels," the Internet, as you know, is boundless, and you could theoretically have as many stations broadcasting on the Internet as there are servers on the Net. This unlimited spectrum allows for much more specialization. For example, did you know there are "radio" stations, dedicated to a particular artist, broadcasting on the Web all of the time? Like 24 hours every day? There's one for The Grateful Dead. (Now there's a band that has always been connected, in a way.) Check out "What a Long Strange Trip It Has Been".

If you're of a younger persuasion (the tie-dye crowd reached their 50-something status just recently), you might prefer a site that plays non-stop Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Internet radio is not limited to music, either. Sports are a big part of commercial (broadcast) radio, and in cyberspace. Try Sports Radio Live for all kinds of sports news. More specialized sports radio sites provide news and live broadcasts of a particular sport. For example, you can listen to live broadcasts of any NBA game, for a fee of only five dollars per month, at the NBA site.

The free software you choose for streaming sound will depend on your taste in music-news or sports. Many radio-station-type Web sites (those with live or programmed recorded music, similar to an actual radio station) use RealAudio software; to receive their sound, you must download a copy of the RealPlayer. For example, if you like your Internet radio BIG, you'll have to go to Texas. They have a thing down in central Texas called BigJam which, by the way, is pronounced "Big Jay-am." Here's a description in their own words:

Way-all, I doan know what them Austin boys were inspired on, but if it was home-brew, I'll bet they do some pickin' and singin'.

RealAudio and RealVideo software are products of Progressive Networks, Inc. You can download FREE software at the RealAudio site.

StreamWorks is another popular streaming-sound program, as the name implies. Their patented Scalable Datarate software allows you to receive streaming sound even if you have only a 14.4 Kbps modem. You can check out StreamWorks and download their free software at their site.

And then there's iRock, "The first Internet Music Radio Station Licensed to Netcast by BMI and ASCAP." Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) are the collection agencies for the publishers of music. They collect a modest fee each time a copyrighted song is broadcast (or Netcast, in this case). Music 'casters of either variety are required to keep accurate logs of each song 'casted, and those few pennies for each 'cast add up to a nice income for the songwriter, if the song gets enough air time. Presumably, all of the other Netcasters have obtained a license from these two antiquarian institutions. Or perhaps iRock is the only Netcaster actually licensed to play the music.

iRock uses a music-streaming program called InternetWave, or Iwave. Iwave is a product of Vocaltec, Inc. Don't be surprised that you won't find anything about Iwave unless you click on "Products," and look way down at the bottom of that page. You see, audio on demand is only a minor product at Vocaltec. Their big hit is "Internet Phone," the software that allows you to actually talk on the Internet: real-time full-duplex voice communications, global long distance (toll-free-don't tell Ma Bell!). But that's the subject of another article, so skip on down the page and click on "Internet Wave" to download their streaming-sound program, or the encoder version, so you can offer audio on demand from your own Web site! Suddenly everyone can be a DJ! A sample of music, reports and lectures streamed in IWave can be found at their site.

Music on demand is perhaps the ultimate Internet-radio format. This is where you select the artist or song that you wish to hear, from a giant automated DJ that's always waiting for your next request. Wide World of Streaming Audio provides links for streaming entire alternative, rock and progressive songs in RealAudio or IWave format. Some of these are record-promotion sites, so you can listen to your favorite artists before you decide whether or not to buy their newest CDs. Several actual radio stations are listed; these simulcast their sounds on the Net as well as the airwaves.

Internet radio is not all music, news and sports, of course. It's much more. With so many Web sites streaming sound, you could probably find a site dedicated to, well, how about Butch Patrick (of "The Munsters")? This site's IWave features a brief chat with Al Lewis, the original Grandpa Munster. The sound part of the site is called the Wolf-Net and also features celebrity interviews, comedy, music, "whatever happened to"...and much more. Upcoming shows will feature Linda Blair, Danny Bonaduce, Pat Priest, Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskel) and more. Maybe Thomas More. Check out the TV kids you grew up with, at the Munsters site.

So buckle on your headset; maybe we can find a site streaming Dick Dale singing "Let's Go Surfin' " while we go surfing the Internet for some refreshing radio sounds. While you're out there, tune in one of my favorite cyberstations. It's called KPIG, and it's the closest thing to real radio I've found on the Internet. There's the Ham Cam, so you can watch the DJ (updated every 60 seconds), and listen to an eclectic mix of folk, rock, blues and Cambodian Freedom Radio. Any station that plays Greg Brown is all right with me. Heavy airplay at KPIG lately included the following unfamiliar artists (maybe unknown, unless you're into real down-home music). You can play audio samples of all these artists, and more, from KPIG's Web site. To play the audio samples, you'll need the StreamWorks 2.0 player, which you can download for free, and it will work with even a 14.4 Kbps modem!

1. The Dead Reckoners: "A Night Of Reckoning" (Dead Reckoning Records)
2. Greg Brown: "Further In" (Red House)
3. John Mellencamp: "Mr. Happy Go Lucky" (Mercury)
4. Bruce Cockburn: "The Charity Of Night" (Ryko)
5. Van Morrison: "The Healing Game" (Polydor)

Also on the Playlist:

Roomful Of Blues
Chris Isaak
Shawn Colvin
Michelle Shocked
Chris Smither
Iris DeMent
Steve Forbert
Darden Smith
Tom Petty
Joe Cocker
Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld & Eric Andersen
Patty Griffin
William Topley
Junior Wells
Reggae Cowboys
Corey Stevens
Hank Shizzoe
Madeleine Peyroux
The Sundogs
Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan
Lyle Lovett
The Low & Sweet Orchestra
Wilco
Dave Matthews Band

Okay, so maybe KPIG's a bit too down-home for some of you city folks out in Van Nuys, but it's better'n you hear on real radio.

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