First off you should know that people and radio stations have set up Internet stations all over the world. In the USA you can listen to  National Public Radio and in Canada there is the CBC and the UK has the BBC Radio. These are either archived broadcasts or live broadcasts of public radio programs. If you are in range then you can listen just like normal radio. Some Internet radio stations like ChoiceRadio and Moontaxi, where built especially to work  on the Internet.

How to turn your computer into a radio

In order to use your PC as a radio you will need to download a media player. A good choice is Microsoft Windows Media Player 11. A couple of other down-loadable media players you can use are RealOne and QuickTime.

Using Windows Media Player is easy. Start the player, click the Radio button ( top right-hand corner) and then choose from the list of radio stations. You will notice each has playlists of songs by genre or niche, like Country, Classic Rock, Jazz, Contemporary – just about anything you desire.

Search for music online

There are plenty of sites online that let you pick radio stations to listen to. One of my favorites is Live365.com and you will find lots of styles to choose from with them.

You can also listen to your own local radio stations – most have web sites that broadcast their music and programs in real time. Just search in Google for your favorite local radio station and visit their web page for more instructions.

To improve the sound quality you can now find computer speakers cheaply (Under $200) and hook them up to a head phone jack or a USB port.

And that is it! Your are all set to enjoy your favorite radio programs from the convenience of your laptop computer.