More of this Feature • Part 2: The Royalty Issue

Related Resources • Radio And Internet Newsletter • International Webcasting Association • RealAudio • Internet Radio Fairness Act • Radio Paradise • Radioio • Beethoven.com • 3WK Underground Radio • Digitally Imported • WOXY Alternative Rock • KCRW Alternative Rock

From Other Guides • Streaming News On The Net • Internet Radio Broadcasting • Beatles Internet Radio

(Paul Maloney is the editor or R.A.I.N., the "Radio And Internet Newsletter" dedicated to "Daily news and commentary on the key issues involving radio and the Internet". I recently had a chance to ask him a few questions about Net radio and the current and future status of webcasting. Here are his remarks.)

Corey: In the July numbers from Measurecast, the data indicated that 21 of the top 50 stations streaming were Internet-only stations. That's almost half. Considering the head start traditional radio has had on web-based radio, what do you think this is says not only about traditional radio but about web-based radio?

Paul: I think you can probably say a few things based on those numbers. Mind you this is my intuition -- I can't say I'm basing these ideas on anything empirical, just my "gut."

But first off, broadcast radio is (or at least it should be) much more geographically "grounded" and local, while my Internet station programmers have a wider audience in mind. In fact, the programming "homogenization" of broadcast station formats following deregulation probably adds to this effect: why would I bother connecting to a stream (with inferior sound quality) to listen to my local station (much less a station from another market, that sounds identical to my local station), when I can just turn on the radio? Folks satisfied with broadcast radio aren't turning to the Internet (except perhaps workers in buildings where reception is poor).

The second point stems from the first. Internet listeners are largely those unsatisfied with broadcast radio, who are willing to "hunt" for the music they can't get anywhere else. In fact, I'd argue that these are largely the same people who listen to low-power stations, community or college stations that play different types of music at different times of day, etc. Look at the most popular formats in Measurecast: a British Hot AC, classical, and jazz...formats not covered by major American commercial broadcasters.

Finally, the web sites of Internet-only streamers are largely more useful and more well-designed than those of broadcasters (of course there are exceptions to this...but it seems like the trend). Internet-only programmers usually have more of a tech background (sometimes at the expense of radio and music experience), and often more skilled at providing a satisfying online experience for consumers.

Broadcasters, on the other hand, (and again I stress, there ARE exceptions) usually put up an amateurish, hardly useful website with a stream, and that's it. Radio still has a LONG way to go to effectively take advantage of the Internet to extend their brands to their listeners. I would argue that it's the web guys who've had the "head start" on this aspect.

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