One thing though, we cannot control the quality of downfeed from a user's internet service provider. Dial-ups won't work well, and if the user's DSL line has a hiccup, the audio stream will suffer. As an example, I've been working out of town and noticed that some wireless connections in hotels are better than others. Sometimes, my audio stream is perfect for several hours straight. But sometimes, the connection is so bad that the station is silent for several seconds at a time. So if you hear several skips or pauses, it might be that the connection to your ISP isn't working well.

About copyrights and royalties, the way our licensing agreement is written, extra moneys are provided for record companies licensing and royalties in addition to those paid for streaming audio service. Anything that isn't owned by record companies is up to us. For example, if we setup a station that played nothing but indie music and/or recorded material that we own, the we would not have to pay the licensed royalties to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (via Live365). We could sign a waiver and not pay the licensing fees, and instead just pay for the streaming audio server.

Internet radio is an expensive service, which is probably why you don't see streaming audio on any of the other audio sites. It is also becoming more expensive - starting May 15, royaly rates will jump 300% to 1200%. My guess is that broadcasting radio stations must have lobbied to kill internet radio.

• New royalty rates for internet radio