There are several types of internet radio. It just depends on where you want to use the stations and how much you are willing to pay. You’ll need to factor in price and the music availability to choose the right service for you. This will help you determine whether a paid or free service is right for you.
Decide whether or not you mind listening to commercials. With internet radio this usually just occurs every few songs or even just a couple times an hour. Usually the paid service is commercial free. There might also be ads on the website depending on whether or not you have a subscription.
Choose how you want to select music. Most internet stations prompt you to put in a genre or song that you want to listen to. Then the service creates a specific station around each artist. Some services have more complex subcategories and genres than others. The disadvantage to this is that you only get to pick your music in general terms. If you want to hear specific songs by certain artists you may be better off just buying the mp3′s or albums.
You can also listen to traditional radio stations online. Many stations will also stream their broadcast online. This lets you listen to local stations at work where you can still use headphones without disturbing your co-workers.
A rating system is also something that differs between paid and free versions. Usually when you say that you don’t like a song it will just move onto the next song. However, there are usually a certain number of times that you can use this option with a free service. You can skip more songs or unlimited tunes with paid versions. Like traditional broadcasting companies internet radio still has to pay royalties for the songs. Paid services allow the companies to recoup these costs.
