INTERNET RADIO

When the broadcasters try to make a case against low power FM they often say, "why don't these people use internet radio- that is where the future really is." In some ways, they are right. The Internet has a number of advantages over standard broadcast FM.

Internet radio operates in a manner similar to file sharing or other on-line services. The audio programs originate with a producer, who has the equipment to produce music or other programming (like an audio studio or similar set up) which are recorded and stored like any other computer file. The production equipment can be very simple and inexpensive, but must be able to create digital audio files in one form or another.

The programming files are then sent to a computer server somewhere that is connected to the internet. The server must have some specialized software that can read and then send audio over the internet to another computer or distant receiver. When someone calls up or links to the website, the server sends them the audio file. The receiving computer must also have compatible software that will enable the end user to play the files back. Hit the audio player on your screen, and voilá! out comes audio programming!

A major advantage of internet radio is that internet radio is minimally regulated. No government approvals are needed to set up and operate a radio service over the internet. The audio and computer equipment is relatively inexpensive (compared to buying broadcast equipment), and it needs no special location or facility to plug it in and get it going. Plus, there is no limit to the number of internet radio stations that can be set up -- anyone can set up a website and distribute any audio content they like. The only legal issues are licensing agreements with the music companies, which are the same kind of copyright agreements that regular broadcasters are subject to.

But internet radio is not the same as radio broadcasting, and the differences are important. One of the difficulties is bandwidth. To reach a remote computer (the listener), the server where the programming is stored needs to use an on-line connection between itself and the receiver. The capacity (bandwidth) of this connection is more than what is needed for email or text, and it costs more. The program originator pays for the bandwidth to distribute their audio files, and the more bandwidth they use, the more expensive it is. Once you get past a few listeners, you have to pay for a bigger connection and bigger servers. This can get quite expensive rather quickly if you start to reach a large audience.

[Most internet broadcasters would like to have that problem- most internet stations are ultraspecialized and have very small audiences. Often, as a result, these stations are little more than glorified, automated jukeboxes. On the other hand, some of these stations have great programming options that were undreamed of in the old world of FM and AM radio.]

Another problem is accessibility. Radio receivers are so inexpensive they are ubiquitous, so that cost is not a factor in having the right equipment to listen to the free airwaves of a broadcast. Every individual within any signal area has the ability to hear the station for the price of a cheap radio, which is why broadcasting is so cost-effective. Once you have invested in the major cost of a transmitter, a station can reach literally millions of people with minimal ongoing expenses.

But reaching people over the internet means reaching them one at a time, which is much harder. And many people in low income neighborhoods and rural areas can not get broadband. Of those who do use the internet, many use it only for work or email. Except for younger people, the public is not accustomed to using the internet for radio listening, so they need to be encouraged to begin doing so.

The constrictions of interconnection are another barrier. Only a small minority has the broadband connections and powerful computers that are required to make internet radio as easy to listen to as and of comparable quality to FM or AM. Just as the producer pays for wider bandwidth to put their audio onto the internet, the listener needs access to larger bandwidth to receive it, and they pay for it on their end. In many regions, such bandwidth is not available, and even where it is, the cost may be prohibitive for private users. For low-income, elderly or minority populations, access to broadband service may be limited or unavailable, so the potential audience for internet radio plummets further.

Finally, there is the problem of listeners finding your station. Radio broadcast stations can easily use their own airwaves to promote themselves within a local community. Everyone within their station listening area has equal access to their signal, and anyone wanting to listen can find them on the radio dial without a search engine.

But there are no geographic boundaries on the internet for reaching listeners. Making people aware of your station, helping them find it on-line, and successfully competing with thousands of other services, is a major marketing challenge that keeps many audio efforts very small. It is especially difficult if you are trying to serve a particular geographic region or a community with special concerns or needs.

Despite these problems, internet radio is proliferating, and there are thousands of specialized stations being webcast from all corners of the world. It is important for community activists to stake their claim in the internet radio landscape.

Just because “anyone” can put up an internet audio website with a few thousand dollars worth of equipment and bandwidth, that does not mean that this will always be true. The internet is still young- when radio was this young, it was considerably more free than it is today. Internet freedom must be defended by people who are stakeholders in its continued openness. A discussion of the wisdom of the current approach to regulating the internet is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say that there are many potential threats to the current order of things that could end with an internet that is consideraby less free than the one we have today.

Already, companies are figuring out ways of packaging and promoting small portions of the available internet radio. There will likely soon be cheap internet devices that offer just 50 or 100 of the internet stations- those stations of the media giants, who pay to be the most accessible to the public, thus squeezing out the competition from the thousands of others who are only accessible through more cumbersome means. There is also talk of a “fast” and a “slow” internet- allowing greater functionality to those institutions willing to finance the extra infrastructure. An understanding of the coming battles for control of the internet can be well informed by reading up on the history of radio in the 1920s and thirties. Here are two sources that argue about what early radio history can teach us about the future of the internet: Rich Media, Poor Democracy by Robert McChesney and Jesse Walkers’ article criticizing the book. http://www.reason.com/0012/cr.jw.tinkers.html

When you consider creating an online broadcast, think about your reasons for starting a station. If you plan to produce very specialized content, and want to reach interested parties around the world, consider producing podcasts, or starting an internet station. If your aim is more localized, and you plan to create a community-targeted media hub, then traditional radio broadcasting probably serves your needs better.