With all the free options available to access music, does it still make sense spending for an online radio subscription? Or does it even mean an advantage listening to online radio? Until now, radio stations and radio programs continue to be part of modern entertainment. It has not been pushed to obsolescence despite the popularity of various audio streaming services and MP3 downloading. There are even those who pay for online radio subscriptions.
Get to know the reasons why the radio format continues to thrive in the presence of the multimedia-rich Internet. Learn about the arguments online radio subscribers or listeners say as they willingly spend their money to listen to radio on the web.
1. Legal Access to Music
Definitely a sensible answer, legal access to music is something diehard music fans profess. Music piracy is a big problem but this does not mean that those who are still willing to pay for the music they enjoy have already gone extinct. This may not be the case in developing countries where music piracy appears to be the norm but in top music markets like the United States and Japan, people still willingly shell out some amount to enjoy the music they like.
Online radio stations pay licenses to record companies for the permission to stream their music. Hence, enjoying queues of music through them is legal. They don’t simply stream music using mp3 files they downloaded from the Internet. They are generally considered to be compliant to DMCA requirements.
2. Supporting Artists
This argument is related to legal music access. If you are a fan of various music artists, subscribing to paid online radio can be one way of supporting them. You will be indirectly supporting artists since their record labels get paid for the music played on the radio. Instead of downloading pirated copies of various songs to have them playlisted and played on your music player, you can extend some form of support through paid online radio subscription.
These days, musicians, don’t sell their albums as well as they used to in the last decades. This is particularly true for newbie artists. Singers and bands that don’t get to earn well can benefit from other means of revenue generation such as the licenses paid by web-based radio stations. If you want to show support to them, tuning in to online radio can be a good way.
3. Music Discovery
If you want a convenient way for music discovery, online radio can be your best bet. Online radio can expose you to a multitude of song selections you may not get to hear in your every encounters with traditional radio, television, or Internet browsing. There’s a lot more music to discover beyond the pop songs played by mainstream media over and over again.
Top online radio or music streaming services such as Pandora can lead you to music that can suit your preferences. Simply download and install the Pandora app on your smartphone or tablet computer and enjoy the continuous stream of interesting music you can get. You can also use Pandora and other similar music streaming services on your desktop or laptop computer.
4. Radio Feel with Less or without the Ads
There are just people who can’t let go of their radio fixation. Some music enthusiasts simply love the thought of getting their regular dose of music through a “radio.” However, traditional radio does not exist without the ads. It’s impossible not to encounter advertisements in standard radio programs. Worse, some ads are even distractively inserted within the songs played.
To deal with this frustration, paid online radio is being presented as a viable solution. By subscribing to paid online radio, it is possible to enjoy perks such as the absence of ads and the option to decide on a playlist without necessarily losing the appeal of a “radio” setup,
These reasons are not foolproof and are not being presented as an attempt to promote paid radio subscriptions. Arguably, paying for online radio is not really necessary given the multitude of free alternatives available. You just have to exert some effort to find the free online radio service that’s right for you. The aforementioned arguments are simply explaining why paid online continues to exist.
Aldrich I. loves music and is very grateful for the invention of portable media players. However, he easily gets nostalgic at the thought of listening to music through the radio.