For now, of the handful of facilities out there, RealAudio and StreamWorks remain the top cross-platform software contenders. Until very recently, only they supported both Windows and Macs. "Several of the others companies looked at the numbers and said 'Macs only have 10% of the market,'" says HotWired's audio engineer, Brian Benitez. Having set up numerous RealAudio-based areas within the popular online offshoot of San Francisco's Wired magazine, Benitez is intimately familiar with audio over the Internet. "But what they're failing to see," he continues, "is that of the computers on the Net, Macs represent up to 30%. Many low-end PCs don't even have sound cards."

Meanwhile, in spite of competing facilities such as StreamWorks, Internet Wave, and TrueSpeech initially jumping ahead with superior sound quality, RealAudio continues to be the Internet audio software of choice. "They're all good technologies," says Ethan Goldstine, of radio station KCRW, the influential National Public Radio affiliate in Los Angeles. As KCRW's Web site producer, Goldstine has been instrumental in presenting the station's locally famous in-studio musical performances (from Sun Volt, to Patti Smith, to Aimee Mann, to Lou Reed) to a new, world-wide audience.

"I suspect they'll all continue to leapfrog one another with new technological innovations," Goldstine continues. "But RealAudio seems to be excellent at continually getting their name out there. More people have heard of them than have heard of the others. And while they were initially optimized for a 14.4 modem, their version 2.0 'music algorithm' release is targeted at 28.8, and sounds quite good."

Another important distinction in the whole Internet radio picture is "live" versus "audio-on-demand." To the listener, they're indistinguishable. But behind the scenes, the key distinction is that in the on-demand case, the audio is stored as a sound file on the server system. You still download the file over your modem, but can now listen while you go. In the live mode, however, you're actually hearing the audio as it occurs, as is the case with traditional radio. Only RealAudio and StreamWorks currently support live broadcasting.

While there's certainly some advantage to live delivery, particularly if it's a music or sporting event, there's actually much to be said for the non-live route. For one thing, you can listen whenever you want (a fairly important factor considering a computer and phone line are required). And you can hear it more than once. Also, you can skip around at will within a given show or track. It's essentially like a CD player, and has a similar control panel.

But what does all of this mean to music and radio as we now know them? A lot.

It could conceivably re-shuffle the deck of the entire industry. By transmitting over the Internet, almost anyone can now become a "desktop broadcaster." And with Internet-based radio, who needs high-overhead radio stations and transmitters? Therefore, who needs big-time corporate advertisers? And from there, who needs promoters, or even hits?

Many professional-level stations are currently up on the Net live, and for an initial hardware outlay of less than $10,000. "I think a lot of people in the mainstream media are going to be very, very surprised at how attractive a lot of the non-traditional programming that's going to be offered is going to be to people," says Bill Goldsmith of Santa Cruz's KPIG radio. As "head Cyber-Swine" of the station, Goldsmith has been key in bringing KPIG's eclectic rock mix live to the Net.

"That's really the most exciting thing about it," he says. "I mean, current mainstream radio is so incredibly boring. They've researched it to death!"

Chip Bayers, executive producer of San Francisco's HotWired, agrees. "While the World Wide Web gave every individual the ability to be a publisher, RealAudio now gives every person the ability to create audio programming. As a result, it allows you to develop fairly narrowly targeted content. Therefore, you don't get bogged down in the need to appeal to the widest audience possible - which leaves you always aiming at the middle."

I'm back online, blasting out pounding boogie-woogie. It's Screamin' Jay Hawkins doing "Just Don't Care," courtesy of "Jack the Cat", an amateur DJ operating out of his basement in Memphis. Next, I check out Big Mama Thornton, and then Little Willie John - Jack's big on the moniker acts. From there, I move on to Adam Curry's (you know, the bouffant blond from MTV) Rave Radio site. Spacey, hip-hop heavy dance tracks fill the room. Coming back down, I check out Tuba Fats out of WWOZ in New Orleans belting out "Ain't Gonna Get None of My Jelly Roll." From there, I try some Dixieland Jazz out of Montreal - Boyd Atkins doing "Heebie Jeebies." And for a really weird night-cap, how about some Japanese Ska.

Internet-based radio stands to usher in an era of freedom and musical cross-pollination reminiscent of the early English rock scene. It's no small coincidence that Liverpool and other British port towns were such hotbeds of innovation. The English sailors regularly brought home the latest 45s from around the world to their young sons. And the melting-pot amalgamation of English skiffle, with American swing and rhythm-and-blues, fueled a generation of musicians.

Now, with the advent of Internet radio, there's a new virtual seaport on the scene. Norman Hajjar's Radio HK site in Los Angeles randomly samples from the overflowing box of submission tapes. "Here's one from New Zealand," he says, "and one from Germany, and then Sweden, and Finland. We've had tapes come in from all around the world - and listeners from 40 different countries, six continents, and all 50 states."

Hajjar stands as one of the pioneers of Internet-based radio. Through his Southern California ad agency's New Media Lab, he has presented RealAudio-based content almost from day one. When asked where he sees Radio HK's niche in relation to that of college radio, Hajjar points out that "college radio traditionally plays promoted, indie-label bands that are bubbling under, but not so much truly unsigned bands."

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