|
BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE: Business Week ebiz | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 |  | |
 | |
 |
||||||||||||
Net Radio: A Virtual Riot of Sites and Sounds The Web lets you tune into music stations across the world, freeing you from bland local on-air offerings Chances are that whatever you're looking for, it will turn out to be hipper and more cutting-edge in New York City than anywhere else. One big exception, though, is New York's radio stations. I work in New York and live nearby, and having traveled enough, I've realized that the Big Apple's on-air musical offerings generally run from the merely insipid to the aggressively mediocre. The high cost of buying a station here means that programmers aim for the broadest possible audience -- so that, musically, the bland lead the bland. In the nation's classical music capital, only one station plays the classics full-time: Better not hold your breath waiting for Schoenberg. And station censors here can make you think hip-hop stars like Nas or Busta Rhymes never sang anything you couldn't repeat in Sunday school. As for rock, well, you might find something edgier than the Moody Blues on a college station. But when you want to hear Rage Against the Machine, campus airwaves might well be rocking with...Division II ice hockey. None of this is limited to New York. But there is an answer -- no matter where you live. I've a notion to get down on my nubby knees, grateful that with the Internet, I can now transcend the geographic limits of radio. I don't necessarily suggest praying to the Web. But there is a lot of good music programming on it that you won't find on your local dial.
You don't have to do anything to enjoy this but bookmark some sites and click. Which is why I prefer Net radio to download systems like MP3 and its ilk. If I'm writing or otherwise working on my computer, I have neither the time nor the inclination to keep downloading individual items and organizing them somewhere. I just want to listen. Besides, many of the Net-only radio sites hawk CDs of what they play, which I can buy if I choose to. So where do you look for the good stuff? Let's start with the Internet-only broadcasters. There are already a good dozen major ones, many only about a year old. So this is just a sampling. By far, the best sound quality I've found comes from www.SonicNet.com, an MTV Networks Online company. Its site lists 43 of its own stations, programmed by DJs, music producers, and other experts. My faves: Smoke, one of their three jazz stations; URBalicious, which despite its corny name plays a lovely contemporary blend ranging from "London Soul" to neoclassic R&B; and N, a mix of salsa, Merengue, and other Latin pop. Every channel always lists the artist and song playing, standard operating procedure on Internet radio. UNCENSORED STUFF. Three other neat features: You can mix and match playlists from SonicNet's channels to create your own station. Programming occasionally comes from celebrity guests. (Ever wonder what the rapper Eminem likes to listen to?) And the SonicNet site contains links to 142 foreign on-air stations, from the BBC to outre choices like Radio Aura 98.9 FM. Don't be surprised to discover the coolest radio station in Bulgaria! The problem is that a lot of the music is just what you'd find in the U.S. -- which I discovered when, in a search for some serious Samba, I tuned into Radio Cidade in Brazil and got The Police. Bored rockaholics might try www.WWW.com, the self-proclaimed "category killer" of Web music with over 200 proprietary channels. Rock choices alone include stations for Gothic Rock, Gothic Death Metal, Experimental Rock, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Thrash Metal, Monster Metal, Post Punk, Post Grunge, Pop Rock, and a channel for Trailer Trash Rock. (Don't ask.) You can't find niches this narrow in commercial radio. Similarly, you won't hear the same 10 hip-hop songs you hear repeated in heavy rotation at big metro stations. Instead, you'll find uncensored stuff organized in categories such as West Coast, Bay Area Rap, Alternative Hip Hop, and Dirty South. Another Internet rock outlet with a good alternative playlist is www.3wk.com, which has all the Flaming Lips, Matthew Sweet, Stereo Lab, and Primal Scream you can stand. And you can hit www.NetRadio.com, which claims over 120 channels, for the truly alternative. In addition to the usual genres, it has stations devoted exclusively to Native American music, Chicago blues, Celtic songs, Zydeco, Hawaiian music, classical piano, Gregorian chants, and Ska. Niche broadcasting like this is where Net radio excels.
I think, overall, that the nation's rock stations are in a sad state. But there are still a few good ones, which make the Web's ability to bring the good stuff to a broader audience valuable. Try San Francisco's KFOG (www.kfog.com), a great mix of new stuff and classics, along with WZZO (www.wzzo.com) in Allentown, Pa., with a similar melange. And for eclectic tastes? Two that I like are www.kut.org and www.KPFA.org. At the University of Texas-based KUT, I've heard Eastern European music followed by rockabilly. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but then Texas is a big state. And the original outlet of the iconoclastic Pacifica stations, Berkeley-based KPFA, is a numbing mix of left-wing politics and cool music. Very Sixties. Keep looking. You'll find what you want. This, after all, is the year 2000. And the Internet will bring it all to your desktop. McNatt edits Business Week's Up Front section. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
| |
 | |
 WEB POINTERS Read our review, then try the sites: Louisiana Radio SonicNet WWW 3WK NetRadio KLON KPLU WBGO WFMT WKSU KFOG WZZO KUT KPFA | ||||||||||||
