If you're asking this question, you're probably thinking of creating one. But if you have never worked in radio, it may seem like an impossible task.
Well, it’s the 21st century, an electric age in radio history. Things have changed, and certainly for the better.
You don’t need thousands of dollars, transmitters and satellites, offices and workers—just to create a radio station online.
Radio has become accessible to the masses. And here are several reasons to create an internet radio station:
Photo by Kate Oseen
1. It’s easy-peasy and not complicated
“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” JFK
Frankly, the mechanics of creating an internet radio station are straightforward to grasp.
Do you have a laptop with an inbuilt mic and internet connection? Hurrah!
You are half-way done. All you need is a radio host—that’s us—to broadcast your station online.
And if you plan to play commercial music, you'll need licensing.
We say it’s easy-peasy to create an internet radio station, but you'll need to build an audience and keep producing good content. Delighting listeners is the most challenging part for broadcasters.
2. No need for expensive equipment
"Yap"
You don’t need mixers, headphones, microphones, and other radio equipment when you're starting out.
And in case you need to get some gear later on…sound equipment has become inexpensive.
Imagine getting a good mic for about $30.
While it’s not entirely free to create an internet radio station, particularity if you choose to host your radio with a third party provider, you may start small and acquire equipment as you move on.
3. You can broadcast live around the world
Anywhere with an internet connection per se.
What’s also great, is that anyone with access to the web can stream your station.
Whether they are tending to grapes in California, or driving road trains in Australia, as long as they can access the web, they can tune-in!
4. There are numerous ways to listen to online radio
Google Home, Amazon Echo, Sonos, and other smart speaker brands have made internet radio very accessible.
While making breakfast in your kitchen, you can play a radio stream by saying to your Google Home device, “Ok Google, play ESPN radio.”
What's more, radio stations have deployed mobile apps to make it easy for listeners to tune-in on smartphones.
Laptops, computers, gaming consoles, & TVs are other ways to stream web radio.
Similarly—online radio directories that list radio streams help listeners discover radios stations by categorizing them based on the genre or location.
5. Automated broadcasting
Right up to this point, you may be thinking—running a radio station is a full-time gig.
Well, it’s not.
You can leave the selection, queuing and automatic cross-fading of tracks to an automation software or Autodj program running on the cloud.
At Cloudradio, you can create an auto DJ.
The unique value of a cloud-based auto DJ is that you can upload pre-recorded shows and music; create playlists and schedule them online.
Better yet, the auto DJ can randomly select and playback your music or shows. If you have an extensive collection of music on your auto DJ, you can go on holiday for months, and relax assured that your listeners are being entertained.
6. It’s cheaper than you think
You’ll need a small investment not a small fortune to keep your radio broadcasting online.
If you host your radio with us, you can control your usage—since we allow you to set the number of simultaneous listeners you want.
For instance, if you create an online radio station with 100 simultaneous listeners or 100 slots, this comes to $20 per month—which is less than a dollar a day.
7. You can earn money with an internet radio station
There are several ways to monetize a radio station.
You can sell advertisement spots if you have a large audience.
And if you have products—like branded merchandise, you can use this platform to market them.
If you run a non-profit/non-commercial radio station, you can rally some of your raving fans to become backers.
Take the next step
Creating an internet radio station isn't the stuff of dreams…
It’s possible, and you can use our quick 10- step checklist to make your work easier.
Get all the tools and fantastic support on our modern platform.
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