Those who make it past the hurdles find a bewildering array of choices. Online listeners are an attractive demographic group. Companies are rushing to capitalize on this market.
Users can obtain song and concert ticket details as well as advertiser contact information.
The combination of the Internet's global reach and radio's traditionally local focus has created an interesting advertising situation. When an established radio station starts webcasting, the value of far-flung listeners to local advertisers is debatable at best. Still, it's too late to put the genie back into the bottle. Both companies buy radio ad time, strip out local ads, and resell time to advertisers. HiWire asks listeners for demographic data when downloading its audio player.