HELP DESK
Tame that tune, hear radio online

By Kim Komando
Gannett News Service

Internet radio stations operate very much like conventional radio stations. There is a wide range of genres available and music directors make play selections.

Like real radio stations, many Net radio stations are free. However, for a fee you can get an even broader selection of music.

Most Internet stations stream music. This means the music is not stored permanently on your computer. They offer CD-quality audio for broadband users. Dial-up users hear a compressed version, comparable to FM-radio quality.

According to Arbitron, the company that monitors ratings, the top three Internet broadcasters in January were Radio@AOL, LAUNCH and MusicMatch, respectively. Here's a look at them:

With almost 4.5 million listeners, AOL's radio network (www.aol.com) includes Radio@AOL and Radio@Netscape. Radio@AOL offers 175 originally programmed radio stations to AOL subscribers with Windows.

Radio@AOL also features nonmusical stations — news, sports, comedy and audio books.

Radio@Netscape offers non-AOL subscribers a similar experience. It is available free for Windows and people using older Macintosh systems, but it isn't available for OS X users.

MusicMatch (www.musicmatch.com) offers a free service for Windows users with access to more than 200 stations. In addition, ArtistMatch radio is free. These stations play music from the artist you select and related artists.

Upgrading to MusicMatch MX premium service costs $35.40 per year. That gets you an additional 15 stations, each concentrating on a specific format.

For classical music fans, there's Composer ON DEMAND. The ON DEMAND is an excellent feature, but it costs just under $60 yearly.

Yahoo! LAUNCHcast (launch.yahoo.com) provides more than 60 free stations for Windows users. If you want to skip a song, you can do so, but only five times per hour.

In addition to genre stations, there are fan stations. Tune into the Pearl Jam fan station and hear songs from that group as well as related artists. You also can create your own music station. It plays music based on how you rated genres, artists and songs.

For an extra $35.99 per year, you'll receive LAUNCHcast Plus — an additional 100 stations.

Using a Mac? LAUNCHcast Plus is compatible for OS 8.5 and higher, but not OS X.

If you have OS X, there is a free version of iTunes radio (www.apple.com/itunes). There is no customization — you can't pause or skip songs.

Each Internet premium service has trial offers. Try them.