BYTE MARKS
Reports of Net radio's death premature

By Burt Lum

Internet radio is alive and well. In spite of all the royalty fees levied against small Internet broadcasters, their spirit appears to be unwavering.

Ever since music could get streamed across to listeners online, both radio stations and Internet-only broadcasters have seen the medium as an ideal way to get their music heard.

The ability to stream music must also appeal to the innate desire in many of us to play music for a crowd of people.

For example, I've been hearing about www.radioio.com from several avid fans. So as an admitted Internet radio junkie, I had to check it out.

To listen to the location's streams, you need to register as a user. What is different from many of the other streaming sites I've visited is that Radioio encourages you to join as a paying subscriber. This is a paradigm shift brought on by the required fees commercial Internet broadcasters must now pay. I don't disagree with this, because someone has to pay the bills.

The good thing about Radioio is it doesn't make this paradigm shift an abrupt one. You can still get a free preview account to listen in on. It has an ad sponsorship, which like regular commercial radio, makes money for the station. Being the big spender I am, that's what I signed up for.

They have an assortment of music genres to choose from. I happen to miss my dose of '80s alternative rock, so I chose that.

So far, what I've heard has kept me tuned in. It's a very cool selection of '80s British pop and American "new wave" classics.

To think that new wave is now considered classic is baffling to me. At the time, it was considered weird, but now you can hear Devo and the B-52 on prime-time commercials.

That's beside the point.

On Radioio, you can hear favorites like the Cocteau Twins, New Order, Style Council, The Clash, Ultavox, The Specials, The Cure and many others.

It's a blast from the past, and I enjoyed it. ;-)

Burt Lum is one click away at www.brouhaha.net.