The study by Jupiter Research found that 18 per cent of listeners decided to buy an album after hearing a song on Internet radio. But Marsden says that the real benefit of Internet radio is that it provides an outlet, a true alternative, to the music and artists that would never get played on mainstream FM radio. It's one that he says he hopes will never go stale by catering to the masses. To listen to Internet radio stations, you'll need a cyber-equivalent of a tuner. Unfortunately, not all sites use the same tuners, so you might end up downloading a few formats.
Some critics say it suffers from poor sound quality.
Quick Time, developed by Apple, also has a PC-friendly version. Boasts superior sound quality. While developed by Microsoft, the Windows Media Player comes in a MacIntosh-compatible format. The faster your Internet connection, the better the sound quality. Even with a 56 K modem, Internet stations sound like old transistor radios.