Eleanor Pickersgill

Internet radio works by turning sound into digital data and streaming it over the internet in real time, so you hear it through an app, web player, smart speaker or car stereo rather than by tuning a frequency. A microphone or music source feeds an encoder, the encoder compresses the audio, a streaming server holds … Read more

If you are wondering how radio station ownership consolidation changed programming, the short answer is this: the decisions about what plays, when it plays, and who says the news moved out of local studios and into the offices of large station groups. Fewer owners meant shared music libraries, shared format clocks, shared news budgets, and … Read more

Nonprofit radio stations stay on air by refusing to depend on one source of money. Recurring listener donations and memberships form the floor, underwriting acknowledgements from local businesses add unrestricted income, grants pay for equipment and specific projects, and events bring in both cash and volunteers. Layer disciplined compliance and backup infrastructure on top, and … Read more

You can listen to internet radio for free on almost anything with a screen and a connection: open a station’s website in a browser, install a free radio app, ask a smart speaker to play it, or paste a stream link into a media player. No paid subscription is needed, and no account is required … Read more