Internet Radio Access Using Your Cellphone

July 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Image representing MOG as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

Technology advancements are mining down the amount of gear you need to stay connected while you’re on the go. That includes radio. Where internet radio is common, it’s the great features like Pandora and MOG that make music on the go so incredibly cool. This new genre of radio is easily streamed through your cell phone.

Music Exactly the Way You Want It

Even your favorite traditional radio station can have a run on songs you’re just not interested in hearing. It’s always nicer when you like everything that’s played. With the new radio concept, you can create your own stations that only play a specific style of music. You can create a radio station that only plays Daft Punk or artists who sound like Lil’ Wayne. On a cross country drive, it’s a real lifesaver. Just plug your phone into the aux in your car stereo and you’re jamming the way you like it.

If you’re liking the idea of personalized internet radio stations, but you want to avoid a long-term phone contract, then prepaid cell phones are the way to go. Depending on the apps that are most important to you, you may find that you’ve outgrown one platform in favor of another. With prepaid service, you can make the change without the hassle.

Smartphones Sound Great

The advancements and updates in phone technology that have emerged with the smartphone have made it possible to stream music with a high quality sound. Your personalized internet radio will sound as good as your favorite old school FM station. With most personalized services, you’ll be able to create an account that will give you access to the music on your cell phone and on your home computer. That’s a real treat for the true audiophile.

Filed Under: Radio, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Popular Free Internet Radio

June 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Old radio 

Image by shanes2 via Flickr

Internet radio is free and easy to use. Many allowing listeners to plug in an artists as it builds a play-list. The shape of internet radio is on the expanse. Here is a selection of sites that listeners love.

What makes internet radio so appealing? Select an station and begin listening. You can listen to streams in a specific genre or choose a personalized site to suit your radio preferences. Grooveshark operates much like Pandora. Internet radio stations, since on a constant stream, cannot replay songs. With Grooveshark, listeners can create their station or choose from a list of genres. Songs can be moved in sequence and replayed with ease.

If social networking is your forte, give Last.Fm or Maestro a listen. Users can share play-lists and discuss music with others in a social setting. Many popular internet radio sites can be taken on the go. Mobile apps are easily downloaded to your phone or other portable device.

Make no mistake, listeners love Pandora. It offers an easy way to have an internet radio site cater to your tastes. When you give a songs the thumbs up, Pandora plays more like it. While you’re listening to your chosen station and an artist pops up into rotation, you might be able to see which Facebook friend likes the artist as well.

For listeners who crave all things acoustic, with alternative splashed in for good measure, Acoustic Alternative is gaining ground and making friends. Dedicated to genres such as ska, punk, and more, Acoustic Alternative has been providing its edgy stream since merging with The Ville Radio Network in 2006. Internet radio grows fast and furiously.

 

Filed Under: General, Radio Tagged With: , ,

Opportunities Hinge on Technological Engineering

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Opportunities Hinge on Technological Engineering

While radio broadcasting has been popular as a career choice for some time it has risen to a new technological level making it more appealing to those who are interested in advanced technology. With the great classes available online many can find exactly what they need in a broadcasting career while learning from home. This is great for those maintaining a full time job and trying to break into the business of radio broadcast. For individuals wanting a broadcasting career it is not just about having a great voice any longer. You need to understand a great deal about the engineering of the computers involved in the process.

Thanks to great advances in technology radio can be heard all over the world from a variety of other sources. This means that you can be in California and hear a radio program from the UK. This means that there are a larger number of options available for someone looking for radio experience. Choosing to follow a career in radio broadcasting requires some aptitude in technology. Taking the time to find out what you want to accomplish with your radio career before you begin will help you to find just what you need in your career options. Online education is a great way to accomplish the goal of radio broadcasting engineer. You will find that the better the education and your understanding of the technology involved in radio broadcast the more opportunities for employment you will have. Taking the initiative to investigate possibilities will go a long way to reaching your dream.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Exercising Perseverance to Get the Right Job in Radio

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Exercising Perseverance to Get the Right Job in Radio

Getting your foot in the door in the radio industry is always going to be a challenge, even when you are just looking for an internship that you can participate in. This is a very competitive market by nature, and so you are naturally going to run into difficulties along the way. Unfortunately there is no real magic trick on breaking into the radio industry, so the only thing that you can really rely on is that perseverance is going to pay off. Many radio stations are not going to be apt to really give you the time of day, but if you keep working at it, you might make some leeway.

If you are working in a big city, this is going to be even harder because the market is extremely competitive and there are a lot of people trying to break into it just as you are. You might try applying for jobs and internships away from the city, choosing radio stations and related positions that are closer to the suburbs for example. When you move away from the big cities you are going to find smaller stations that are looking for people, and so you should have an easier time of finding a starter position that you can use in order to work your way up the ranks.

At worst case scenario, you might consider joining a radio station in a sales capacity and slowly working your way over to a broadcasting position. This is not ideal, but it will allow you to get your foot in the door in an otherwise extremely competitive marketplace, and once you get in, you can impress your superiors and work your way up to the type of position that you actually do want.

Filed Under: Radio Tagged With: , ,

Some Radio Career Opportunities

March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Some Radio Career Opportunities

Announcers and Air Personalities: Many people that graduate college to pursue a radio career end up going to radio stations to become a radio announcer. These typically include air shifts of between four and five hours, plus occasional live broadcasts, daily production time and numerous other duties.

News Reporters and News Anchors: These positions involve gathering of the news, reading and writing. You might be a news anchor in a music radio station either in the morning or in the afternoon, or you might work for a cluster of different stations. On a news station that only does news, you might be part of a larger team.

Production: An important aspect in all radio stations is the production of promotions, commercials and a variety of other types of audio as well. All announcers generally have some production responsibilities. At multiple station facilities and larger market radio stations, this could potentially become a full time working position. You would use production techniques, voice, sound effects and music to create unique audio that is ready for the air.

Sales Reps for Radio Broadcast: As a sales representative you would call businesses in the listening area, helping them to market their companies and businesses through your radio station’s advertising. This will include 30 second and 60 second radio ads and sponsoring special events for the companies that you are working with as some examples.

Promotions: There is a big emphasis placed on promotions by radio stations, including parties, giveaways and contests. As a promotions director you would make sure that everything was put together properly. In some cases this is part of the job description for the announcer or the DJ, and in other circumstances this is a full time job all on its own.

Filed Under: Radio Tagged With: , ,

Getting a Job in Radio Broadcasting

February 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are you interested in a career in broadcasting, specifically radio broadcasting? During the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in radio broadcasting outlets, especially online and via satellite — think Sirius or XM radio and all those myriad internet stations. So how does one go about landing a position at a radio station or other broadcast venue?

First, don’t limit your choices. Not every one can be a DJ or on-air host. Plus there are lots of other jobs in radio that are just as exciting.

Second, get an educational background in broadcasting. This can include degrees in communications and mass media to certificate programs in radio broadcasting. Some programs may be an entire four-year program while others may last just a few months. All are designed to give students a broad background in all aspects of the broadcast field.

You may be taught how to produce your own show for on-air play. You may also learn to write and produce commercials. You may also be exposed to how to market and perform listener surveys. Voice-over techniques, as well as how to run the actual equipment will also be part of a broadcast curriculum.

Once you’ve gotten your studies done, you’ll want to start on your career search. Remember that this is an extremely competitive field, so the better prepared and the more professional you present yourself, the better.

Do your research about potential employers so that when you interview you will appear knowledgeable and interested. In addition to your resume, make sure you bring along business cards for your interview. This will make you appear very professional.

Because of the competitiveness of the field, you may work in an unpaid position just to get your foot in the door. There are many stories of now-famous DJs who got their start emptying the trash and running errands.

Filed Under: Radio, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Being a Newsreader, Radio DJ or Presenter

February 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Being a Newsreader, Radio DJ or Presenter

When you are on the radio, your voice is the most important means of communication. For a few hours every single day you are going to be completely live and exposed, and this is what it is going to take for you to be a radio DJ or a presenter on a radio show. Some radio news reads are pre-recorded, but most of them are completely live. As such, you are going to need to be capable of being ready, posed, easy to hear and enjoyable when you are on the air, on call, at will.

You have to be able to communicate with only your voice. This means that you are going to need some practice and some voice training before you get a professional radio job. You need to be a professional, you cannot be successful if you are merely an amateur.

Radio DJs are the life and the soul of the radio. As a radio DJ you are going to be the voice everyone will hear when they tune into the station for which you work. As a newsreader or a radio presenter, you are going to be an essential part of every live broadcast. You might read the weather or the news, the traffic report or information about sports, but you may also be the main DJ for the station or the show as well. Some radio DJs work strange hours depending on the hours in which the show is presented. These are all important considerations that you are going to need to make when it comes to becoming one of these radio personalities. This is not a career path that you can take lightly, you must be a professional in the way that you conduct yourself.

Filed Under: Radio, Technology Tagged With: ,

Small Community Radio Challenges

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Small Community Radio Challenges

Everyone is familiar with the radio and the advancements made with radio. It is now easy to listen to stations that are across the country and even on the other side of the world. While this is the most common radio broadcasting it is not the most appealing to some. There are groups of people who want to reduce the reach of the radio and develop radio stations that are intended for only small areas such as a neighborhood or perhaps a town. These radio stations would provide information on the local area that would only really interest those local to the area.

Because this type of radio broadcasting requires low frequencies it is not common as the FCC is in command of regulating licensing for radio stations. The available licensing is typically for larger frequencies meaning that there are no licenses given to those who want to create a radio station with a closer target audience. Choosing to create this type of station is considered to many as being stepping back in radio technology, but many see it as being appealing and appropriate for those looking to becoming a closer knit community and keeping up to date on all things local.

Although technology seems to be directing radio to something greater and to trying to reach as far as possible, many are finding that the local communities could really benefit from some extremely local news keeping them fully involved in the goings on of every day life in the area. This is becoming popular for many in the radio technology world. The challenge comes in getting appropriate licensing to take this broadcasting to the next level. For those interested in pursuing a radio channel that works only locally, getting help from those in the community can not hurt. Many are taking the time to pursue this as a way to keep the community working together through difficult times. By keeping everyone up to date on things that are only important to the locals, there is a bond built among the people. This is also an excellent way to keep the communications going among a small community.

Filed Under: Radio, Technology Tagged With: , ,

The best finds in old time radios

January 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hunkering for a vintage radio? The sort of radio that’s classic in style as well as in sound? Wondering where to find it?

Look no further. These classic styles may not fit the funds within every modern day pocketbook, but their classic look sure stands out from the proverbial, everyday crowd.

• Try an online catalog. You may want to try stonevintageradio.com or the radioattic.com.
• Amazon.com always has a great selection of great vintage radios.
• Phil’s old radios.org has a beginner’s area for new collectors as well as information on restoration.
• Learn more about collecting old time radios from vintage radio blogs and websites. Just plug in the correct terms into your search engine.
• Visit a vintage radio gallery or museum. If you live in Connecticut, Nevada, Dublin, the UK, or Ireland, you’re halfway there. If you’re not sure if your state offers an old time radio museum, do a bit of Googling or check out the list at: radiomagonline.com.
• Check out your local library, and check out some books on the subject. Find out more before you spend the money on your “dream” find.
• Collect radio postcards or other memorabilia. The next best thing to “almost” being there.
• Join a radio club. A good list of clubs can be found at: antiqueradio.org.
• Subscribe to a vintage radio magazine.
• Do some garage sale, auction or consignment shopping.
• Talk to the old timers in your neighborhood. Who knows what they are getting rid of or what sources they can share with you that you’ve never considered.
• Let antique shops know what you are searching for. Ask them to give you a call when the item comes in.

Be patient. The best finds come from research, time, and being at the right place at the right time. It may be all you can do to hold off—but do your best—getting the best find should be your ultimate goal.

Filed Under: Radio Tagged With: ,

Potential Benefits of Permitting Micro Radio Stations

January 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The FCC, or Federal Communications Commission, is reluctant to permit low-power radio broadcasts. These broadcasts, called either micro radio or pirate radio, requires very little wattage to work, and they typically can reach only a small audience. Still the FCC’s argument is that these broadcasts could interfere with larger stations that have paid for space on the airwaves.

So why should the FCC budge and allow micro radio stations? Here are a few of the
reasons.

Micro radio is not commercially driven. That means that the information will tend to be very local and specific. These stations are usually run by volunteers and do not have any corporate sponsorship.

Pirated radio appeals only to a small segment of society. Much like a newsletter is for people with a very specific interest, micro radio is the same. Requiring massive permits – at a great cost – would destroy these stations because they cannot appeal to a large enough group of people to afford the permits and equipment.

The information that these stations put out is important! While few people may care about the policies of the local animal shelter, those people who do care tend to be passionately interested. Micro radio allows for these small groups to connect with each other and to make a difference. That would not be possible if it were not for micro radio broadcasting.

The concept of “owning” radio space, which is essentially places on a spectrum of airwaves, is a bit complicated to understand. These stations are simply using basic tools to practice their hobby. They are not, in fact, “stealing” anything or using anything that anyone else could use. They are simply finding small “open” spots to use.

Micro radio is an interesting concept that deserves more study by the FCC, but until then these stations will remain illegal.

Filed Under: Radio Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts