Many confuse internet radio with podcasting. While the two are similar, there's a crucial difference. Podcasts are shows made up of individual mp3 song files, one file per episode. An internet radio station is made up of a constant stream of audio—may be music, may be talk—that's usually broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How to Get It

To listen to an internet radio station, you'll need a computer program that can listen to it, and the address of the station.

iTunes can play internet radio streams, and it's popular enough that I'll use that as my example. In fact, it comes pre-loaded with a number of internet radio stations; just click on the "Radio" item in the left-hand list.

iTunes, with internet radio stations shown

Several websites maintain lists of internet radio stations, including:

• RadioTower
• Radio-Locator, which searches for both regular and internet radio stations
• Live365, a network of internet radio stations

Some internet radio stations will play right in your web browser. For others, look on their website for a link to "Streaming audio" or some such. You may have to hunt around their website for the link. Right-click on the link and select "Copy to clipboard", then go to iTunes, click Advanced > Open Stream from the top menu, and paste in the stream address. Click "Go" and you're listening to the radio station!