Building your dream - How to start an internet radio station
If you have a love of music, I'm sure there was a time when you dreamed of owning your own radio station. Part of the joy of music is the ability to share your passion with other like-minded people.

Here in the US, owning a terrestrial radio station is beyond the reach of the average person. That's okay though, because terrestrial radio stations are losing listeners... not just to satellite and cable radio, but Internet Radio too.

In fact, the latest statistics show that Internet Radio is poised to become one of the main sources of supplemental audio entertainment over the next 10 years.

In this article, we're not going to promise great riches. If you're interested in starting your own radio station for profit, you'll face the same challenges and hurdles that any other online business has to overcome. Good luck with that. But most Internet Radio stations are hobbies. They don't make much, or any money... they do, however, bring enjoyment to operators and listeners alike. And how do you put a price on that?

Minimum Requirements
This article assumes you own a PC 3 years old or newer, on a broadband (Cable, DSL or equivalent) connection. For dial-up solutions, you should try visiting Live365 - They have great solutions for hosted stations, and are also very friendly for less-technical operators.

Is it expensive?
Not at all. If you have a broadband internet connection, a ton of music or content, a static IP address and a PC, you can start a legal internet radio station for less than $40. And we're going to show you how.

We'll take you through the process of determining format, obtaining licensing where necessary, setting up equipment including a SHOUTcast server, and launching your station. You'll be surprised at how easy, and inexpensive, it is to get off the ground.

A word of caution
We're offering a basic overview of starting a station. If you are serious about building an online radio station, you're going to have to take time to study installation and configuration guides provided by the various companies mentioned in this article, visit forums to ask for help when things get tricky, understand basic bandwidth concepts, and have the patience to work on your passion.

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