And tonight's topic is.... webradio! Simply because I am listening to it right now, and feel like talking about it instead of my unfinished math homework. :P

Webradio is, in a word, cool. Seriously! There is so much more variety available online because you aren't limited to the radio stations within broadcasting range. Provided that you have high-speed internet of some sort, you can stream music off the internet, and still use your computer at the same time. Believe me, dialup just doesn't cut it. Still, if you are a lucky college student (like me) internet speed is not a problem. So, I use this website - live365.com - and I can easily search for radio stations in all sorts of different categories, including stuff you won't find on mainstream radio like celtic and anime stations. This is really really nice considering that the only radio stations I can receive on my radio are Kiss 108 and Jammin' 94.5... In other words, a station that plays the same five songs over and over, three of which are hiphop, and another station that plays the same five songs over and over, all of which are hiphop. I guess I could fiddle with my antenna to try to receive Mix 98.5, but why would I, when I have crystal-clear webradio coming in right off my laptop?

So yes, I can enjoy all sorts of different anime stations, celtic, new age, insane European stuff, etc. which you would NEVER EVER hear on your standard radio. I have even found stations dedicated to broadcasting video game music. ^_^ Even commercial-wise, webradio is vastly superior. Take Kiss 108 for instance - they play 50 minutes of music (or so they say... it's a total lie, really), and then proceed to cycle through 10 minutes of commercials. Often they are not even inventive at all and play the same commerical more than once in a single commercial break. On live365.com, there are commercials, but they come one at a time, and only every half-dozen songs or so - rather infrequently. You can even pay to have no commercials at all, which is nice, if you have money to spend, and are really desperate.

Well, now that I've extolled all of webradio's virtues, it's time to mention the downfalls. First of all, many stations are run by private individuals - they set up a playlist and just let it cycle through. Some are very short, and so are very repetitive after a while (read: my fave anime station). For more mainstream genres, this is not such an issue, but it does get rather tedious when I hear the same Gundam Wing song every day at the same time. There are timer-counter things on each radio station choice which supposedly show how many hours of playing time the music on that station takes up, but obviously, some people lie. They probably load up their playlist ten times or something, to make it look like there's more music than there actually is. Another thing is the nature of the advertisements - rather, one advertisement in particular. Aargh!! Just thinking of it makes me mad. Okay, there's this guy talking about a new song by Prodigy called 'Baby's got a Temper' and how it's been banned off radio airwaves and television for being too controversial. Boy, this group must be paying live365.com a lot, because this commercial is played *constantly*. The announcer makes it sound like cool people should watch the music video because it's been forbidden in public, and you are so not cool if you don't go and watch it too. Aargh! I hate his smirky smug voice! I DON'T CARE! I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO IT OR WATCH IT OR ANYTHING! JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

*pant pants* Okay, well, you can see that although there are fewer commercials, it doesn't mean that they are any more bearable than normal ones (nyaar, they can be even worse). And now that I'm all riled up, I will try to go to sleep. Goodness knows I need it. I missed my first class today - slept right through it. Oy, now wasn't that a nasty surprise? I sure hope that doesn't happen again. *turns up alarm volume on clock*

- Flykyr Skysong

Current song: Fat Boy Slim - The Rockafellar Skank
Current mood: Annoyed... Darned advertising...