<p>Internet Radio is certainly not a new phoenomenon. From the inception of the world-wide-web there was always some course of action for streaming content. Was it a good method? Unfortunately, back in those days, certainly not. As the web evolved so did the miracle of streaming audio and the World Wide Web was ultimately flooded with web-based radio options. This went on for some time and individuals eventually came to accept internet radio as an incredible free alternative to XM, FM, and most all other types of radio. The downside? They were tied to their hulking personal computers to use it.</p>
<p>Enter the iPhone. The very first smart phone to incorporate an easy to use internet radio option, also one of the very first phones to have a Shoutcast App. Now, suddenly, your personal audio library was overshadowed by terabytes of songs all getting braodcast live at random from countless numbers of shoutcast servers. This is how the revolution began. Needless to say corporate america was not content with all this no cost music being braodcast and commenced a series of litigations to prosecute the very men and women supplying the world with this beneficial resource. </p>
<p>Their giant corporate bank accounts were almost enough motivation to pressure Shoutcast.com out of the music business altogether. At one point their web site was off-line for just about 2 weeks. This followed shortly on the heels of random litigations against college students for sharing songs on campus. Regrettably for big business their high-handed moves only resulted in more determination on the part of the people sharing, including the individuals hosting their own stations. Multiple new pieces of sharing software cropped up, Bit-Torrent was born, and the shoutcast streaming plug-in for Win-Amp got a major update. Soon, there were so many active internet radio stations they simply just could not be kept track of. </p>
<p>Then big business and johny law got an idea, a real brain-splitter. If you can't beat them, join them, but charge them a bit. Last.FM, Pandora, Spotify, Raphsody, and even Microsoft made the decision to get in on the internet audio revolution. They offered a "premium" streaming service for $5-$25/mo. The world, myself included, was slow to jump on the pay for play bandwagon. Microsoft released the Zune in an attempt to compete with the iPod and failed miserably. Creative released several portable MP3 players, like iRiver, which by no means took off either. The world was speaking and no one was listening. If it wasn't straightforward, and it wasn't convenient, they weren't about to spend $299.00 on it. What on earth is much easier than streaming music? </p>
<p>Enter Android, and with it an utter and complete explosion of people streaming audio on the go. There were a handful of trusted players available for free from the Android store, including rare content like live feeds from Police Radio, live DJ sets, and broadcasts from concerts. Now, enter the iPad. 14 Million units sold in the first 6 months alone. Not only can this stream Web-Based Radio from all around the world it can do it so many different way it's ludicrous. We now have more options for listening to streaming music than ever before. Of course, this comes with a downside.</p>
<p>We now have a whole lot of stations individuals are running just to say they're running a station. They don't put much more than a few hours per week into programming, and the sound is a clear reflection of their lackluster efforts. Shoutcast is riddled with stations like this. In my frustration I turned to searching google for Internet Radio Directories, which I am glad to report has led me to some interesting content.</p>
<p>To be specific, Foreign Radio. I have to be honest, Spanish Radio just isn't my bag. Now Japanese Radio, that I can get into. That's just the tip of the iceberg though. French Radio, German Radio, even German TV is now streaming online. If you want to enrich your life with a little foriegn culture it has never been less difficult. One mouse click away. </p>
<p>I've said a lot in this article about web-based radio but not really given proper thanks to the people who make it a reality. Thank you streamers for dedicating your personal computers, bandwidth, and time to making it possible for us to share in your musical revelations. We are eternally grateful.
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