Internet radio hosting is kind of similar to web hosting services.
Instead of hosting your website, the system is prepared to host your own radio station online.
The internet radio hosting allows you to be a digital Dj,
Sharing your own music to the audience across the globe.
In this article, I will be discussing
- What is Internet Radio & Internet radio hosting?
- How Internet radio works?
- Advantages you get with Internet radio
- Comparison between Internet radio & Traditional Radio
- Future of Internet Radio
So let’s dive deep into the article and read till the end of the post to get a complete overview of Internet Radio Hosting.
What is Internet radio Hosting?
Internet radio is a web-based broadcasting service which is also known as webcasting, online radio, etc. Unlike traditional radio, internet radio doesn’t use AM or FM signals to transmit but uses the internet to stream.
For example, if you want to listen to any radio, you have to plug an earphone into your mobile device and then search for nearby radio signals.
But in the case of Internet radio or online radio, you have to browse the radio link like we visit a website to access the station. You can then listen to the streaming from anywhere like you watch Facebook live videos which is a kind of video streaming here it plays audio-only.
Therefore, you must need an Internet connection to access the Internet radio.
Internet connection could be either Wifi or mobile data.
Streaming means when live or recorded media contents are delivered to your devices via the internet and you can access it in real-time.
So, the streaming of Internet radio is based on your internet connection speed. If your Internet connection is slow, the streaming will pause in the middle, also referred to as buffering.
As you right now know what internet radio is, do you also know how it works?
How does internet radio work?
The internet radio technology is quite easy to understand. It works on a three-step process.
Live Broadcasting or Recording
The first step here goes with your sound recording system connected with the control panel. The Intenet radio control panel allows you to record and pre-arrange the music or live stream.
To do that you might need a few broadcasting equipment.
Server
In this step, Your music and audio go straight to the internet radio server.
Whether you’re doing live streaming or arranging the music files.
Listeners
Your music reaches straight to your listeners from the server in an embedded music player placed on your Internet radio website.
So, in these 3 steps, your media reaches your target audience using.
Advantages of Internet radio
When it comes to the advantages of Internet Radio, It has many.
If you’re a radio station owner, a DJ or RJ want to stream your music, shows, events globally,
what will be the most convenient way to do so with less amount of investment?
No geographic limitations
There is no border between your content and your audience.
Internet radio has no geographic limitations, unlike traditional radio which is limited by the signal range.
If you host a show from Texas, USA a person from Delhi, India can listen to you.
Isn’t it helpful for you? as we say Go Live Globally?
Not limited to audio
The best part of the internet radio is the interactive features.
That means your audience can interact with you while listening to your broadcast.
For example, say your broadcast has an advertisement to play.
With traditional radio, you’re limited to audio-only.
But you can customize your Internet radio website with the purchase link of your advertiser where your audience can directly click and visit.
Your audience can chat with the host and participate in polls that are effective in many uses cases.
ON-AIR cost is less
Imagine how many resources and setup costs you would need to start a Traditional Radio?.
The internet radio fully changed the concept of going ON-AIR within budget and limited resources and features.
Now you can go ON-AIR right from your bedroom and still build a successful radio station online.
Who invented the Internet radio? When did internet radio start?
You have lots of information right now about Internet radio.
But do you know the History of Internet radio? Who invented the Internet radion?
When the Internet radio was first started?
How they managed to operate the Internet radio services at that time?
Let’s look back to the History of Internet radion from WIKIPEDIA,
- Carl Malamud, the architect of Internet radio. A technologist who is popularly known for his organization’s public.resources.org(PRO) and starting Internet Multicasting services.
- The first internet radio station was developed to put U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database online.
- The Internet Radio services started on 1993
- The first Internet Radio Talkshow was “Internet Talk Radio“
How internet radio is different from Traditional Radio?
When it comes to the comparison between Internet radio and Traditional Radio, Internet radio has many advantages than the Tradional one.
Though traditional radio has it’s own advantages when it comes to cover the local area only.
One big disadvantage of traditional radio is that it’s very expensive to start.
You need a huge amount of investment in order to purchase the required equipments like – antena, AM/FM transmitter, digital tuner etc.
Along with rent a studio to operate your radio station.
On the other hand Your Internet Radio Station has a global reach.
Easy Access : If you start an Internet radio Station, with Internet radio hosting services you can manage your broadcast from anywhere.
Improved User Experience : Where in Traditional Radio station your audience can only listen to you. But in Internet radio station you can engage your audience in real time on your radio website.
Analytics : Tracking your broadcast analytics is the best way to improve your streams.
With Interet radio hosting you can get real-time analytics data about your broadcasts for better audience engagement.
Consequently, Internet radio offers several benefits over traditional radio.
It costs less money, allowing you to reach a global audience at a fraction of the cost.
Examples of Ineternet Radio Station
There are many internet radio directories are available online.
These online radio directories have the list of many Free Online Radio and Paid Online radio stations around the globe.
Here are few examples of popular Internet radio stations.
A few Popular internet radio directories,
Future of Internet radio
With the Internet being one of the most important mediums,
it’s only right that the future of radio should be looked into.
Internet radio is reaching more listeners than ever before.
Radio stations are getting more and more people who listen to their songs.
As per Statista report, Internet radio is now increasingly popular, with an estimated 68% of Americans listening in just in the month of July 2021, compared to 34 percent only ten years previously.
Moreover, Internet radio has made listening music and podcasts on to go simpler.
I believe that internet radio is going to grow exponentially.
This is mainly due to the fact that people will be more likely to tune in if they can find it easily.
Also, Internet radio could be a platform for independent artists to reach a larger audience in the upcoming days.
What do you think about it?
Conclusion
There’s a fundamental shift happening with radio and online content.
Consumers want to hear music they can connect with instantly, anywhere, any time.
This shift is accelerating and will continue.
Therefore, starting an Online Radio with Hostcode’s Internet Radio Hosting could be beneficial if you want to grab the momentum of the Digital revolution.