With the advent of satellite radio and the increasing pressure to stay on terrestrial radio, which many consider to be outright censorship, music lovers unwilling to fork out for monthly subscriptions to XM or Sirius are eager to find alternatives to fill their listening needs. It is a popular outlet for internet radio.
Although some internet radio sites require paying companies to pair with satellite radio, there are free options to choose from. Better yet, free sites for a variety of music genres including pop, jazz, rock and dance. Dance music is in many ways very suitable for this modern way of listening, both dance and internet radio, both somewhat in the counter culture, and in the acceptance of the industry is increasing. From several Internet dance radio sites, www.digitallyimported.com, now www.di.fm and www.live365.com lead the musical and visual package.
DI and Live365 will mix similar dances with techno, tranc and Hip beats. via Streaming music via the internet requires a player. Player choice is one way that both sites differ from each other.
Live 365 has a built in player. Once the mix is selected, Live 365 pops up in a separate window. The sound quality is excellent. It is worth noting that pop-up windows do not spawn other pop-ups, so internet security is not threatened.
Dl does not have a custom player, but offers the audience three players to stream with; Windows Media Player, Winamp and aacPlus. The choice is mainly related to the speed of the computer. In testing any player, Winamp was the fastest and aacPlus was the slowest, which is consistent with the listed speeds.
Perhaps it is needless to mention that some internet savvy steps are necessary to stream music online to this way of listening to the radio. Broadband or DSL a must. That said, once you go through both sites, you’ll find the sound quality and the frequency of play very much to your heart’s content.
Another way is to advertise each site separately by the radio stations themselves sponsor. For live 365 is the only site that acts as a third party vehicle for other free radio stations highlighting domestic and international clocks with a wide range of music types. Live 365 music stations takes the type, but does not allow the listener to listen to what is currently playing. It relies heavily on the rating, which is highly subjective and dependent on the listener.
By comparison, DI does not promote other station options. Instead, they offer only choices by category. True to its former name, Digitally Imported, it has a mostly international music base. Like Live 365, streaming via DI doesn’t invite viruses or internet slowdowns. However, DI tells you that currently playing makes the listening decision easier.
Visually, neither site has been surpassed. While streaming requires a certain amount of internet knowledge, neither site requires a Ph.D. in sailing the emphasis is on the music. Paid internet radio is the key to the success of these sites, however, paid memberships are offered Hsec members, Premium on DI and Premier on Live 365 aren’t expensive, but they don’t give listeners much more access than they have with the free plan.
There are many free internet radio stations to choose from online, if you can’t find what you’re looking for with DI or Live 365, all is not lost. However, to listen to some of the best dances they will have a look.
