Radio on the web

Tired of hearing repetitive top ten hits on your workplace's radio? Put away the FM receiver and get online - these websites offer an easy introduction to the world of internet radio.

Live 365

Reaching millions of listeners worldwide, live365.com offers more than 260 genres of music and talk radio from more than 150 countries. All the online stations on this website are run by real people - they're not pre- set playlists - meaning you get authentic radio DJ interaction with the listeners like you do with conventional radio. Live 365 has celebrity-run radio stations by artists such as Carlos Santana and Dave Navarro, and also hosts a plethora of commercial and public radio stations.

Podcast.com

Calling itself the world's "premier podcast destination", Podcast.com provides access to more than 85,000 curated and constantly updated podcast feeds, which are essentially downloadable radio shows you can take with you anywhere.

Podcasts can be listened to instantly on your computer, or downloaded for use on a mobile device such as iPod or MP3 player. From stay-at-home Mums to experts in their fields, thousands of people create podcasts on every topic imaginable, and this website puts them all in one easily- searchable place.

Access Radio

A collaboration between New Zealand's community access broadcasters, accessradio.org makes local radio content available anywhere in the world. This website lets listeners explore more than 250 programmes from Kiwis, covering a wide range of viewpoints and languages from dozens of New Zealand communities.

From Maori cultural shows to opinion programmes covering issues of sexuality and race, Access Radio is a free and open forum that diversifies the radio content New Zealanders put out into the world. Giving voice to the underserved sections of society, this website gives easy access to opinions you won't find on radio stations elsewhere.

NZ Radio Guide

Presented in the simplest format possible, nzradioguide.co.nz enables you to search a list of New Zealand's commercial radio stations so you can listen to them live on the internet. While it's basically just an alphabetical directory of links to official station websites, NZ Radio Guide has all the major regional stations and also links to smaller regional radio stations and university stations.

This website lets you know what software is required to listen to each station, and how much internet data is used up per second of listening time.

Last.fm

If you prefer to listen to a specific band or artist on the radio, Last.fm is for you. Instead of browsing by genre, this website lets you type in the name of an artist you want to listen to and directs you to a channel that exclusively plays that artist's songs. You need to create an account in order to listen, but this website is fast, easy and streams in high quality. Last.fm is a great option for music lovers who want to hear all their favourite hits instantly without owning the album.

- © Fairfax NZ News