Internet Radio and more – A Class Act
NOTE: My descriptions and links below are by no means comprehensive, and there are literally thousands of similar choices out there. I’m just listing a few that I’m personally familiar with, all choices are based on individual tastes and availability in your area.
Internet media sources have most certainly come into their own in the past decade. Below are links to several Web Radio stations that provide well thought out alternatives to the daily dose of FM Radio. Depending on your setup, they provide superior stereo reception with either no commercials at all or minimal commercials to support their existence. Most Internet Radio stations can be streamed to your Apple or Android phone, your PC, Mac or TV, or home devices through a variety of methods. Your PC of course can simply connect to the sites, they can also be accessed and played through devices such as newer generation Smart TV’s, DVD or Blu Ray players, gaming consoles such as the Xbox, the Sony Play Station, Apple TV, or a small footprint device from ROKU (roku.com) that will provide high-quality movies, TV and streaming radio. To a limited degree, depending on the station, they can also be accessed through devices such as Google Home or Amazon Alexis. Depending on your personal preferences, all of these methods provide a wide variety of choices for movies and TV shows, custom channels, and radio. Some of them are full 1080P / 4K video, and more of them are moving up each day. This changes all the time, however, as companies seem to come out with new things almost daily.
Let’s begin with my favorite, although they all have unique and varied formats to offer:
-
is a well thought out collection of “eclectic, intelligent rock”, both old and new. Notes from Bill Goldsmith:
We also depend on input from you to help fine-tune our music mix. If you hear something that you feel strongly about (either positively or negatively), please take a moment to rate and/or post a comment on that song. Just click the song title anywhere on our site or the heart icon on the web player.
We’d also love to hear from you if there’s an artist you don’t hear, but think would fit in with our music mix. You can do that (or register your opinion on songs others have suggested) on our Submissions page.
If you have questions about RP, you can email us via the links below – but check our FAQ page first. It contains answers to a lot of the most frequently asked questions about RP.
We’d also like you to keep in mind that we get a lot of email every day. We appreciate email that is brief (like 2 – 3 sentences) and to the point.
Business/Music: rebecca@radioparadise.com
Merchandise: orders@radioparadise.com
The station is run using an innovative programming automation system designed by Radio Paradise’s Bill Goldsmith. Our webstream originates in San Diego, CA (with a backup source in Santa Cruz, CA). Our primary web servers are located in Dallas, TX.
Our audio relay servers are located in Dallas, Seattle, Virginia, London, Germany, and Australia. They all feature high speed redundant Internet connections to keep the music flowing smoothly.
Our music library is stored as lossless FLAC files, and we take great care to provide the highest fidelity audio possible.
You can create your own playlists with a free account, and there are additional features available with a paid account if you find those valuable to you. There is a lack of in-depth customization to the playlists, but this is to be expected from a “free” account.
Spotify operates much the same as Pandora above, the market seems to be favoring them at the moment, but that is always a changing landscape. Free or paid accounts, Google Home also accepts them for casting.
What is KPIG?
“We’re an anachronism – a throwback to the days when real DJs picked out the music, and listeners expected something more from a radio station than just a couple of hundred songs repeated over and over, with some “big voice” guy yelling about how great it all is. We’re also – to the amazement of all of the radio “professionals” who make the rules we thumb our noses at – very successful, though we try not to let it go to our heads.”
“KPIG is located in Freedom, California – near Santa Cruz – and radiates a mighty 2,850 watts from a knoll (bare – not grassy) in scenic Prunetucky-by-the-Slough. We broadcast at 107.5 FM – and in spite of having perhaps the worst signal in the area, we’re frequently rated #1 in our market (in Adults 25-54).”
- Raleigh / Durham
All Classical Music – All of the time.