Online radio is extremely easy to find today. Nearly every radio station in the United States has a website on which they stream their broadcast for free. Merely type in the call letters or the dial frequency for your favorite local station into Google, and their website will pop up. Some examples of this, from the Portland, ME, market, are wblm.com and 560wgan.com. These free streaming radio stations are optimal for listening to at work or if you have moved away from your hometown, but still wish to keep up with local news.
There are also quite a few other options for those wishing to listen to something a bit different, or to discover some new music. Perhaps the most famous of these internet radio stations is Pandora. Pandora uses something called the Music Genome Project to determine which music you might enjoy. You create your own stations based on bands that you enjoy listening to, and Pandora recommends new music based on those choices. You are then free to like, dislike, or skip those songs as they pop up on your individual stations. Pandora is located at http://www.pandora.com and is very simple to use.
Another option for online stations from across the country is iTunes. If you have your iTunes application open and are connected to the internet, you are able to access hundreds of radio stations for free. Go to the left-hand side of your iTunes screen, and you will see an icon for radio. If you click on this it will open a new window with a listing of genres of music. Under each of these headings is contained a number of options for radio stations that you can listen to. These range from broad selections spanning years of music, to very specialized stations such as those only playing Beatles' music. The options on iTunes radio stations also include a number of talk and sports stations, so you can keep up with news and sports as well as music.
Online radio is very easy to find once you know where to look. There is no reason to pay for radio on the internet, as many stations across the country are streaming for free online. Just enter your favorite type of music or station into Google, check out Pandora, or open up your iTunes. Radio that is suited to your own taste has never been easier to find.