What is the Future of Internet Radio?

Since the days when the family communicate was a focal point of the home, where e actuallyone ga in that respectd as the main origination of news and entertainment to the present day of net, satellite and digital radio content, the basic concept of radio has not more everywhere survived, exactly thrived. With completely of the new options in radio, however, the question of the future of network radio has generated galore(postnominal) ideas, controversy and discussion over the past several days.This essay lead recall a balanced approach to discussing both the pros and cons of mesh versus handed-down radio in an effort to ultimately answer this question in an intelligent way. Will mesh communicate Replace Traditional Radio? The knee-jerk tendency when considering whether or not internet radio will deputise traditional radio would be to assume that this would be the case if for no other reason than due to the natural progression of engineering science, much want the compact disc eventually replaced the vinyl record and the like.However, a appressed look at the question requires that a more thorough round off of source material take place before jumping to conclusions. In less than a decade, Internet radio has gained the same status as a mass media source as radio has over slightly the last century-clearly a force with which to be reckoned (VanHorn). This begs the question of how this was able to take place so rapidly and whether it is due to the faddish nature of near new technologies or beca drug abuse of distinct values that Internet has over conventional radio. a couple of(prenominal) would argue that the massive increase in the availability of Internet admittance over the past several years has added to the power of the medium- this includes not just now the fact that most every workplace in America has any(prenominal) level of Internet access for most employees, but alike that Internet access has been made available to the vast ma jority of households across a range of economic classes, races and cultures. With this, a new group of media consumers has evolved.Called streamies, these individuals are those who use the Internet for shopping, communication, work, and media/entertainment access (VanHorn). The streamies are now beginning their second, and in few cases third generation, with children gaining access to the Internet as soon as they are able to point and click a computer mouse. So, we take hold of a well established and growing audience for Internet radio. Internet radio producers have not been blind to the fact that they are face at a covermingly endless supply of listeners and that the future emf is all but endless.Knowing that this audience is technologically savvy, and harnessing the power of the Internet, there have been many a(prenominal) enhancements to the Internet radio experience that in impartiality are hard for conventional radio to compete with, including interactive broadcasts th at go forth listeners to provide slantdback to broadcasters, blogs that allow for the audience to communicate with each other, and additional Websites which could occur a listener access to other materials of interest.Evidence suggests that this type of multimedia experience is very well suited to the modern person, who not except wishes to hear a media source, but also wishes to have something to watch or that will give the chance for ones intellect to be exercised (Crisell). While Internet radio bes to have quite an assortment of options to post to the modern audience member, traditional radio should not be counted protrude just yet.From the advent of Internet radio, traditional radio has attempted to backward down the proliferation of competing Internet radio, first through lawsuits which alleged that Internet broadcasters were pickings unfair advantage of the broadcasting system because of the fact that they were exempt from many of the regulations which at times saddle the traditional radio broadcaster and set a huge expense for them (Mckibben).Failing that, the traditionalists have in late years likewise gotten involved in Internet broadcasting, using online technology to reach a wider audience with the content that was popular with conventional listeners for years in the past (Crisell). It would appear that in the present stalemate amongst Internet and conventional radio, the future for both seems cloudy. However, as we will see in a later portion of this essay, there is a very viable future that remains to be seen.Should Internet Radio recompense the Same Royalties as Traditional Radio? The point was made forward that conventional radio has long argued that Internet radio has unfair advantage in areas such as regulation, technological requirements, etc. Another contemplation that has financial implications is the question of whether or not Internet radio should cede the same royalties as traditional radio if the two media sources are va riant but fundamentally similar.Ironically, when discussing royalties, Internet broadcasters have a disadvantage over conventional broadcasters, at least on the surface. Conventional broadcasters pay a set royal family into order to broadcast copyrighted materials such as songs, whereas Web-based broadcasters are charged a fee per download. Therefore, given the huge surface of online audiences that do not have the limitations like those who receive broadcasts on level(p) radios, royalty fees can quite literally be without limit (Harwood).On the other hand, the possibility of endlessly large audiences, if properly marketed, can ensue in substantially larger advertising revenue if advertisers can be convinced of the value of such large target audiences for their message. With the evidence that exists, it would seem that the answer would be not to arbitrarily assess higher royalty fees to Internet broadcasters, or to lower fees to traditional broadcasters to try to give them some s ort of competitive meet over the massive power of online broadcasters, but to find a way to create a percentage-based royalty fee for both media sources.For example, Internet broadcasters who are mostly content-based and do not accentuate a large amount of advertising would not be held responsible for(p) for massive royalty payments since the content they are utilizing is not being apply for the purposes of driving massive revenues in the first place. Conversely, when Internet content results in massive advertising revenue, it would only make sense that royalties be plum paid for the content that made the profits possible.Careful auditing and a care for of verification for the numbers that are used to determine the royalty evaluate would alleviate any possible errors and disputes from the outset. What Does the Future Hold? The point was prior made that the destruction of traditional radio in favor of Internet radio may not be what the future holds, and there are compelling r easons for making that assumption, for as cutting-edge and attractive as Internet radio may be, there is something to be said for the grass grow way that traditional radio operates, serves and entertains.In times of emergency and topical anesthetic interest, people will always look to the traditional, local radio send out for what they crave-something that computer servers and satellites from around the globe simply cannot provide, as if they are withal big and cumbersome to be as nimble and versatile as the smaller broadcasters in the traditional sense tend to be (Armstrong). Also, as was said earlier, traditional broadcasters can likewise participate in Internet broadcasting while still retaining their local ties and flavor.Therefore, it is quite reasonable to hollo that the future will save a place for the traditional, and cutting edge broadcasting worlds. Conclusion At the risk of sounding outrageous, there are surely new applications of broadcasting technology that current ly exist only in the minds of those trying to make them a reality. Therefore, in closing, the point should also be made that radio, to paraphrase a line from a spotless song, has only just begun.