INTERNET RADIO

Wow, there are alternatives to Launch, I've discovered. I'm not sure if any exactly matches Launch's features but I need to do more research.

ShoutCast -- from Nullsoft, makers of Winamp. Thousands of end-user-created channels. Free.

Rhapsody -- from the RealPlayer folks. Free 7-day preview available but after that you have to pay for a subscription.

Radio Tower -- broadcast stations from all over the country streaming over the Internet. Lots of classical and Christian contemporary do this including Austin's KNLE.

MusicMatch -- does the radio model and also offers a customized streaming thing. Sounds like a combination of iTunes, Launch, and Nero Burning all in one.

iTunes -- Apple has some customization and sharing features along with the famous music store.

AOL also has a nice streaming audio/radio feature available to subscribers. My wife has tuned into that and it's good.

Finally here is a good USA Today article on Internet music. Pretty cool. There's no excuse for missing out on awesome bluegrass, roots, blues, gospel, jazz, and Christian music that just doesn't get on broadcast radio much anymore.

THANK YOU

If you're reading this, thank you. I just saw my traffic report for the past week, and despite only sporadic updates to the site, something like 8 folks are dropping by EVERY SINGLE DAY! That may not sound like much and I realize I am but a tiny sprig in a forest of sequoias. But to think a handful of people would include my site to read among the universe of journalism and commentary out there, blows me away. Thank you.

As you know music has for a long time been a big deal in the wired world. I have been slowly migrating away from Yahoo because of their association with Planned Parenthood, but the thing I have the hardest time letting go is LaunchCast. This began life as ShoutCast a while back, before Yahoo bought it up. The idea is that you can log into the site from anywhere, download a small proprietary media application, and listen to a "radio station" that you customize to your heart's delight.

The free version has less-than-CD-quality audio, but I find it's quite listenable. For $30 or so per year you can get better quality. The customization is half the fun. You don't create a playlist directly, but instead you rate individual artists, albums, and songs according to how often you want to hear them.

Here's where it gets good. Once you've rated some stuff the Launch player starts sending you stuff you've never heard before, kind of like TiVo Suggestions. You can dump it or rate it highly. Pretty soon you've got a perfect source of music, and you're regularly hearing new things you like, but would never have heard without Launch. There are ads but it's not too bad. Another downside is that even with a paid subscription you're not actually buying a copy of the music -- it's not portable to an MP3 player for example. Not a big deal to me but for some enthusiasts, probably not desirable.

Here's the link to my "radio station" . You'll hear a lot of gospel, Christian rock, blues, bluegrass, and some jazz.

Anyway the whole point of sharing this is that through Launch I've heard most of the songs from CeCe Winans' album Alone in His Presence. This work is absolute dynamite; it's a near-perfect marriage of amazing talent and songs that get straight to our relationship with Jesus. I'm buying it for sure and I recommend it wholeheartedly!