8 online radio stations worth checking out

Since the advent of the web and the introduction of internet radio stations, traditional radio has had to rethink the way content is reached and used by consumers. Accessible from anywhere where there is an internet connection or on your phone, the way we listen to radio isn’t limited to, well, a radio anymore.

Yahoo!Music
Here you can listen to over 250 radio stations from any browser on PC or Mac. Genres include pop, rock, country, jazz, indie and many more. By typing your preferred genre in the search bar, a whole range of choices are offered for you to choose from. While browsing for music, you can also read music blogs and music news available on the site. You can also create video playlists. If you don’t like wasting time searching for specific songs, the Yahoo!Music site shows you the top 100 hits at the moment — a feature that makes it easy just to plug in and listen.

Rhythm100-online Radio made in Africa
Based in Johannesburg, Rhythm100 claims to be Africa’s first and leading internet radio station. Its broadcasts are limited to African, R&B and Hip Hop music, but its motto “Africa Is Our Soul & Our Soul Is African” suits it perfectly. Content is broadcast live daily 24/7.

Spotify
From Napster to Spotify, Sean Parker claims to be looking for the “next music industry”. Although Spotify is currently only available in the UK, US, Spain and some parts of Europe, the brains behind Spotify have promised that it will soon be made available to the rest of the world. Serving as a recommendation and discovery tool it reads your own music collection from your computer. Spotify is said to stand out from iTunes and Pandora by serving as a gigantic external hard drive.

Grooveshark
As a “self-directed radio” Grooveshark doesn’t work like a conventional internet radio station, as it depends on you creating a playlist, but a lot of its users will say that it is great to use. It works by letting you create your own playlist from hundreds of thousands of songs from any genre. It only takes a few minutes to create your own playlist and is definitely worth the try.

Last.fm
A favourite among everyone who has had a chance to use it. Last.fm is easy to use and makes helpful recommendations by reading your specific music interests. This makes it easy to build your own playlists that can be constantly updated. It is a great tool for social networking amongst friends via music. Started in the UK, it has gained over 30-million users since 2009.

SHOUTcast Radio
Part of AOL radio this is probably one of the most comprehensive internet radio station sites, SHOUTcast radio has a selection of over 40 000 international internet radio stations to choose from. Featured genres are limitless and it’s easy to find the music you like by clicking on the radio genres link on the left of the page. There’s also a downloadable iPhone app that lets users tune into their favourite stations from their iPhone.

Live365.com
The website doesn’t look much different from other internet radio sites such as Yahoo! Music, doesn’t look that exciting either, but it is user-friendly and almost anyone can search for hundreds of unique radio channels and genres.

Worth the try if you’re looking for a fast and easy way to find music without fuss.

Maestro.fm
Maestro.fm lets you sign up with three different paid for accounts depending on how much storage space you might need, the fourth, 2GB in size, is free. A great tool that can be used on your iPhone or Android device gives you the ability to create, manage and access playlists from anywhere. What makes it different is the ability to upload photos, share events, videos and news with friends. Similar to Last.fm it is a good social networking tool.