Downloadable Internet Radio

In a previous entry, I mentioned Your Mac Life, an internet-only live radio talk show. At the time, I was contemplating the marketability of such an effort. Recently, I came across some others who have taken the concept and added a twist–one I really like.

Steven, at Acts of Volition, has produced and DJ’ed several 45 minute radio sessions available for download in mp3 format. For each one, he’s taken a different theme and picked several songs that fit it. I think it’s great–the shows are entertaining–much more entertaining and informative than having someone just recommend a few songs.

It looks like a couple other sites have done the same thing. Mathcaddy just came out with a show and there’s a new site, LugRadio where four guys produce a downloadable talk show on open source software.

This type of entertainment–informative and fun at the same time–is almost destined to success. It’s something that’s not too hard to produce but could potentially generate a wide following. The only obstacles will be 1. bandwidth (at least for a lot of people), and 2. the RIAA or their equivalent in whatever country you might be. Personally, I feel that if it came down to the artists themselves, most would be in favor of this, but unfortunately in the backwards world that is corporate music, that is not the case.

Kudos to those of you producing radio in this format (Incidentally, what?s it called? iRadio?), keep up the good work and if you need bandwidth… well, maybe I can help.