AOL Radio

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AOL Radio

The main player window.
Developed by	AOL LLC
Initial release	2008
OS	Mac OS X, Windows
Genre	Internet Radio player, Broadcasting - Radio
Website	AOL Radio

AOL 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.^{[citation needed]}

On April 30, 2008, XM and AOL Radio ended their partnership due to the change in Internet royalty rates ^[1]. In the summer of 2008, 150 CBS radio stations will be featured on AOL Radio on a new player.

1 Launch
2 Marketing
3 Technology
4 History
5 Controversy
6 Notable DJs / Mixers / Personalities
7 See also
8 External links
9 References

[edit] Launch

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Initially, Radio@AOL was available only to AOL Members. On May 22, 2002, AOL released the free Radio@Netscape for non-members^[4] as part of the new Netscape 7.0 browser. On August 22, 2002, AOL released Radio@Netscape Plus.^[5] 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.^[6]

[edit] Marketing

On November 18, 2002, AOL introduced Broadband Radio@AOL, the first online radio service designed for AOL Broadband members.^[7] 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.^[8] It was released in the UK on October 20, 2003.^[9]

On April 11, 2005, AOL and XM Satellite Radio joined together to create Radio@AOL featuring XM.^[10] 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 2002, 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.

Paying AOL members also enjoy AOL radio without commercial interruption.

[edit] Technology

AOL Radio is delivered via the Ultravox protocol. Ultravox allows quick, seamless channel-changing and an efficient server infrastructure.

The AOL Radio Web Player is compatible with Windows 2000/XP, Internet Explorer 5.5+, Netscape 7.1+, AOL 7.0+, and Firefox 1.0+. Listeners can connect to AOL Radio through the web (http://www.aol.com, http://www.aolradio.com or http://www.aolmusic.com), AOL Client, Windows Media Center, and AOL Radio for Mac. AOL Radio is now also available through the AOL Instant Messenger service (http://www.aim.com), and Winamp (http://www.winamp.com), though the Winamp version does not support the extra channels enjoyed by paying listeners.

All versions of AOL Radio utilize the AACplus audio format delivered by AOL's Ultravox protocol at varying bit rates. Paying AOL members enjoy higher bit rates and fifty more XM Radio channels on the service (the free twenty channels rotate every month).

[edit] History

AOL Radio can trace its roots to two companies it acquired on June 1, 1999, for $400 million, Spinner.com and Nullsoft.^[11] 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.

[edit] 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.^[12]