AOL Radio

Infobox Software
name = AOL Radio

collapsible = yes
company_slogan = Online Radio - Free Internet Radio Stations.
author =
developer = AOL LLC
released = 2008
latest release version =
latest release date =
latest preview version =
latest preview date =
operating system = Mac OS X, Windows, iPhone
platform =
language =
status =
genre = Internet Radio player, Broadcasting - Radio
license =
website = [http://radio.aol.com/ AOL Radio]


caption = The main player window.

AOL Radio powered by CBS Radio, (formerly AOL Radio featuring XM), is an online radio service. AOL Radio is considered to be the largest and most successful internet radio network, and one of the most popular features of AOL.Fact|date=January 2008

On April 30, 2008, XM and AOL Radio ended their partnership due to the change in Internet royalty rates [http://journals.aol.com/theradioblog/aolradio/entries/2008/04/30/aol-radio--xm-update-430/1681 04-30-2008 AOL Radio announces end of partnership with XM] . On June 10, 2008, a new AOL Radio player debuted with 150 streaming CBS Radio stations.

Early History

AOL Radio launched as Radio@AOL, essentially a re-branded Spinner.com, using technology from Real Networks on October 16, 2001 as part of the AOL 7.0 software announced that same day. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,669020,00.html] AOL Radio Announcement]

In its first month of operation, AOL reported that 2.2 million members accessed Radio@AOL, making it one of AOL's most popular features. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,669108,00.html AOL Radio Launch Announcement]

Initially, Radio@AOL was available only to AOL Members. On May 22, 2002, AOL released the free Radio@Netscape for non-members [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,669336,00.html Free AOL Radio Press Release] as part of the new Netscape 7.0 browser. On August 22, 2002, AOL released Radio@Netscape Plus. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,669435,00.html Radio@Netscape Plus announcement] Beginning in 2004, AOL started metering Radio@Netscape to allow only two hours of usage per day. AOL did this to avoid paying copyright royalties and to encourage users to become AOL Members. [http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15639 AOL Metering Radio@Netscape article at The Inquirer]

Marketing

On November 18, 2002, AOL introduced Broadband Radio@AOL, the first online radio service designed for AOL Broadband members. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,669580,00.html Broadband Radio@AOL Announcement] Broadband Radio@AOL was built into the new AOL 8.0 software, and was the first AOL Radio offering based on the AOL streaming technology Ultravox. By 2003, AOL had migrated most of its AOL Radio products to Ultravox. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,669962,00.html Ultravox Technology press release] It was released in the UK on October 20, 2003. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,670097,00.html UK Release Announcement]

On April 11, 2005, AOL and XM Satellite Radio joined together to create Radio@AOL featuring XM. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1047989,00.html Radio@AOL featuring AM Announcement] At the same time, AOL consolidated Radio@AOL and Radio@Netscape as "Radio@AOL featuring XM." This service was available to AOL members and non-members alike, with twenty XM channels offered (fifty more XM channels require a paying AOL subscription). Later in 2005, AOL changed the name of Radio@AOL to AOL Radio to align itself with the AOL Music branding. In July 2005, a web version of AOL Radio was introduced for non-members with unlimited listening. At the end of 2005, Radio@Netscape was officially retired, with AOL Radio being the official brand.

On April 30 2008, AOL and XM Satellite Radio announced the end of their partnership [ [http://journals.aol.com/theradioblog/aolradio/entries/2008/04/30/aol-radio--xm-update-430/1681 AOL Radio & XM Update: 4/30 ] ] and the beginning of the new partnership between AOL and CBS Radio. The partnership between AOL and CBS Radio would give AOL access to over 150 of CBS Radio's terrestrial stations.

On June 10, 2008 the AOL CBS player for AIM was released. On June 11, 2008, the new AOL CBS Radio player for the web was released.

Technology

AOL Radio powered by CBS Radio is supported on Adobe Flash 9 and is compatible with web browsers that support Flash 9 on Windows 2000 through Windows Vista and Mac OS X.

Listeners can connect to AOL Radio through the web (http://www.aol.com, http://www.aolradio.com or http://www.aolmusic.com), AOL Client, and AOL Radio for Mac. On July 10th, 2008 AOL released a client for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch via the App Store offering mobile streaming of all stations though WiFi, EDGE and 3G cellular connections. AOL Radio is now also available through the AOL Instant Messenger service (http://www.aim.com), and Winamp (http://www.winamp.com).

History

AOL Radio can trace its roots to two companies it acquired on June 1, 1999, for $400 million, Spinner.com and Nullsoft. [http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,666492,00.html Nullsoft and Spinner acquisition announcement] Spinner.com was formerly known as TheDJ.com. Nullsoft was the maker of the popular Winamp and SHOUTcast products. Both new organizations operated out of the same office in San Francisco. The Spinner.com brand was retired in July 2003, but exists today as an AOL Music blog and a series of channels on AOL Radio.

Controversy

On 28 November 2007, AOL announced that they may shut down their web radio services after a 38 percent increase in royalties to air music. Yahoo! and AOL discontinued directing users to their radio sites after SoundExchange, the non-profit performance rights organization that collects royalties on the behalf of sound recording copyright owners (SRCOs) and featured artists for non-interactive digital transmissions, began collecting the higher fees in July. [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a0pKOrcpw6yE&refer=us Article concerning royalties issues]

This contradicts what was said earlier about AOL Radio being considered the most successful Internet Radio provider. But again, with the royalties situation being tough on all Internet radio providers, the high number of users which would be considered as a sign of success, it is not a reflection on the profitability of any company.

Limits

*Skips are limited. After skips expire, they will be disabled for an hour.
*Commercial interruptions, which cannot be avoided in any way. Many of them disable the pause button. Certain ads will disable changing stations, STATIONS, PRESETS, HISTORY, SETTINGS, and pause.
*There is no rewind, fast-forward, or playback
*Local radio stations are limited
*No play-on-demand
*No direct channel customization, though rating influences the songs played.
*A limit on songs played on each station
*You can only rate songs using an out-of-five format, but cannot ban any song entirely, nor can you ban an album or artist. The best way to "ban" a song is to rate it 1/5, which will have it played very rarely.

List of AOL Radio Stations

#

*111 Worst Songs
*1-Hit Wonders
*20th Century
*'70s Black Music (2005-present)
*'70s Country
*'80s Alternative
*'80s Black Music (2005-present)
*'80s Country
*'80s Dance (2005-present)
*'80s Hip-Hop (2008-present)
*'90s Alternative
*'90s Country
*'90s Hip-Hop (2005-present)
*'90s Indie
*'90s Pop (2001-2005, 2007-present)
*'90s R&B (2005-present)

A

*Abstract Beats
*Adult Alternative
*Acoustic Blues
*Acoustic Rock
*Adult Rock
*African Music
*All 2Pac
*All B.I.G.
*All Blues
*All Dave Matthews
*All Faith & Tim
*All Green Day
*All James Taylor
*All Janet Jackson
*All Luther Vandross
*All Madonna
*All Mariah Carey
*All Metallica
*All Michael Jackson
*All Number 1 Radio.com
*All Korn
*All Pearl Jam
*All Pumpkins
*All R. Kelly
*All Metallica
*All Radiohead
*All Slayer
*All Springsteen
*All Stevie Wonder
*All Tori Amos
*Alt Country
*Alternative Mix
*Ambient
*Americana
*Amor (2007-present)
*Anime Radio
*Awesome '80s (2001-2005, 2007-present)

B

*Baroque
*Beautiful Music (2008-present)
*Best of 2007
*Big Band & Swing
*Black Metal
*Bluegrass
*Blues Women
*Bollywood and Beyond
*Bollywood Classic Hits
*Bop
*Brand New Indie
*Brazilian Music (formerly Bossa Nova) (2003-present)
*Brit Pop
*British Invasion

C

*Celtic
*Christian
*Christian Country
*Christian Rock
*Christmas 365
*Classical 101
*Classical Holiday
*Classic Country
*Classic Disco
*Classic Hard Rock
*Classic Hip-Hop (formerly Old Skool) (2003-present)
*Classic Love Songs
*Classic Metal
*Classic Punk
*Classic Rock
*Classic Soul
*Comedy Attack!
*Comedy Classics
*Comedy Holiday
*Country Duets
*Country Holiday
*Country Love

D

*Daft Punk Radio
*Dancehall
*Death Metal
*Deep Classic Rock
*Dirty South
*Disco House
*DJ AM
*DJ Sets
*Dub

E

*Electric Blues
*Electronica
*Emo

F

*Father Bride Dance
*Female Focus
*Final Fantasy Radio
*First Dance
*Folk
*French Classics
*French Scene
*Fresh 100
*Funk

G

*Gay Anthems
*Gay Pride
*German Folk Music
*German Schlager
*Global Beats
*Gothic
*Grown Folks Music

H

*Hair Metal
*Halloween
*Hanukkah Radio
*Hard Rock
*Hawaiian
*Heartbreak Hotel
*Holiday Classics

I

*Indie Rock Mix
*Indietronica
*Industrial

J

*Jam Bands
*Japanese Pop
*Jazz Fusion
*Jazz Holiday
*Jazz Latino
*Jazz Mix
*Jazz Vocalists
*Jungle- D&B

K

*KCRW All-News
*KCRW Live
*KCRW Music
*Kids Pop
*Kidz Stuff!
*Klezmer

L

*Late Night Mix
*Latin Dance-Electronic (2008-present)
*Lite Piano
*Lite Rock
*Love Stinks
*Lullabies

M

*Martini Lounge
*Melancholia
*Metalcore
*Metal Mosh Pit
*Mixtapes
*Modern Gospel
*Motown Sound
*Movie Scores
*Movie Tracks

N

*Nature Sounds
*Navidad Latina
*Neo-Soul
*New Age
*New Alternative First
*New Country First
*New Hip-Hop First
*New Orleans Sounds
*New Pop First
*New R&B First
*New Smooth Jazz
*New Wave

O

*Oldies Holiday
*Oktoberfest
*Oldies Hits (2008-present)
*Opera
*Outlaw Country

P

*Patriotic Songs
*Party Hits
*Patriotic Songs
*Paino Rock
*Pop Holiday
*Pop Idols
*Pop Latino (formerly Top Latin and Tus Favoritos) (2001-present)
*Pop Mix
*Pop Remixes
*Pop Rock
*Power Metal
*Progressive
*Punk U

R

*R&B Holiday
*R&B and Soul Mix (2008-present)
*R&B Slow Jams
*Reggae Roots
*Reggaeton-Urbano (formerly Reggaeton, Latin Hip-Hop and Urbano) (2005-present)
*Regional Mexicano (formerly Regional Mex and Grupera) (2004-present)
*Relax Trax
*Renaissance
*Rockabilly
*Rock Anthems
*Rock Ballads
*Rock Cover Songs
*Rock Holiday
*Rock Instrumentals
*Rock Latino (formerly Latin Rock) (2002-Present)
*Romantic Classical
*Romantic Jazz

*Sabor Cubano
*Sailing Away
*Salsa
*Satisfaction
*Showtunes
*Shuffle
*Shuffle Hits
*Sinatra Style
*Ska
*Smokin' Trax
*Smooth Jazz
*Songwriters
*Southern Gospel
*Southern Rock
*Spinner.com Radio
*Spook Show Radio
*Sporting News Radio
*Sports Jamz
*Super '70s (2001-2005, 2007-present)
*Surf Rock

T

*Techno
*The First Dance
*This Is Radio Clash
*Top Alternative
*Top Christian
*Top Classical
*Top Country
*Top Dance
*Top Hip-Hop
*Top Jams
*Top Jazz
*Top R&B
*Traditional Gospel
*Trance
*Tropical
*TV Tunes

U

*Underground Hip-Hop

V

*Video Game Scores

W

*Wedding Songs
*West Coast Hip-Hop
*World Music
*WorkOut Songs
*The Works
*World Holiday
*WTF
*WQXR

X

*Xtreme Alt Rock

Former AOL Radio

*Euro Pop (2003-2004)
*Hi-NRG
*Ritmo Latino (2002-2007)
*Top World

Notable DJs / Mixers / Personalities

*DJ AM [ [http://music.aol.com/artist/adam-dj-am-goldstein/1495380 Adam "DJ Am" Goldstein - AOL Music ] ]
*The Untouchable DJ Drastic [ [http://music.aol.com/artist/the-untouchable-dj-drastic/343138 The Untouchable DJ Drastic - AOL Music ] ]

ee also

* Live365
* LAUNCHcast
* SHOUTcast

External links

* [http://music.aol.com/radioguide/bb AOL Online Radio Guide]
* [http://journals.aol.com/theradioblog/aolradio AOL Radio Blog]

References