| Have you noticed how much better sounding | | | | quite eclectic, but thanks to Internet radio, whenever |
| Internet radio is becoming?It's also becoming more | | | | I tire of reggae I can jump straight over to a |
| stable, with fewer timeouts for re-buffering and | | | | Motown stream, or perhaps to an all-British Invasion |
| fewer dropped streams.Sure, technical glitches still | | | | station. Electronica, hip hop, bluegrass, r&b, Latin. |
| happen, and listening to Internet radio is not yet quite | | | | honky tonk, easy listening, metal, doo wop, disco, |
| as easy or as problem-free as switching on the FM | | | | folk, Americana, New Wave -- the musical spectrum |
| tuner on your home stereo system or in your car. | | | | can now be sliced as thin as anyone might |
| But it's getting there.This steady and rapid | | | | desire.There's also software available now to capture |
| improvement in streaming audio delivery is particularly | | | | those music streams and save them to enjoy again |
| welcome for those of us who love music. The wealth | | | | and again. Not to mention devices that allow you to |
| of music now being broadcast via Internet radio, and | | | | port your saved audio streams and mp3 files from |
| its astonishing diversity, are breathtaking.Not that long | | | | your computer to your stereo system for an even |
| ago, trying to listen to a music stream over one's | | | | better listening experience.And so, speaking of the |
| computer was done more for the novelty of it than | | | | online music scene as it exists today: Isn't the future |
| the enjoyment. When it worked at all, the quality | | | | wonderful?Stefan Smith is a radio junkie who writes |
| was usually terrible, a tinny, stuttering sound being | | | | on entertainment and related subjects for the Solid |
| the norm rather than the exception.Today, I can fire | | | | Gold Info Writers Consortium. Recently, he has |
| up my media player software, choose a radio station, | | | | written an extensive review of amazing new |
| and sit back at my computer (or work on other | | | | software anyone can use to capture music audio |
| things) while beautiful, CD-quality music pours from | | | | streams from Internet radio broadcasts and break |
| my speakers or into my headphones.The diversity of | | | | them up into individual mp3 song files--a legal way to |
| music genres is also gratifying. My own tastes are | | | | download virtually free music. |