Though the concept of online radio is being received warmly,their numbers remain low The jury is still out over how many people regularly listen to terrestrial radio today. Nonetheless,at any given time,there are plenty of radio stations to choose from for song and news. A select section of listeners,however,is tuning into the terrestrial radios online cousin,the internet radio. Nearly all leading radio companies in the country transmit their material online. Yet,this is not exclusively online content. In early 2010,PlanetRadiocity the brand that transmits Radio City 91.1 FM launched a free web radio with one channel called PlanetRadiocity Web Radio. Since then the company has added two more stations to their web radio Non-Stop IndiPop and Freedom Radio. While the former plays only Hindi pop music,the latter was launched earlier this month as a platform for Indian indie music. There has been a huge wave for indie music. Theres a lot of great music that is being made but there arent enough platforms to showcase it, says Rachna Kanwar,Digital Head,Radio City 91.1 FM. A second exclusively online radio,although not launched yet,has been attracting a fair amount of attention. Called Radio Whiskey,the channel,radiowhiskey.in (which is also free),will play popular Indian and international music as well as indie tracks. That isnt to say,however,that people in the industry have not noticed the potentials of the digital medium. We see the digital medium as a big opportunity, says Madhukar Pandey,founder of Radio Whiskey. A few years ago,I noticed that the radio market was going down,so we began analysing why this was happening. We came to the conclusion that other mediums are eating into radio space,the main one being the internet, he adds. That prompted Pandey to begin working on Radio Whiskey,which will launch in a few weeks. An RJ for nearly a decade,Annie Arakkal Marwaha,better known as RJ Annie,believes now is the right time for people in India to invest in online radio. Were going through a phase of experiment in India right now and people are becoming aware of the digital medium, says the RJ,who hosts a show called Wild Wild West on PlanetRadiocitys Web Radio from Monday to Friday between 10 am and noon. In spite of this,she believes that it will be another three,perhaps five,years before internet radio catches on in India. There are some clear advantages that web radio has over the terrestrial format. Online radio gives you much more freedom and its reach is global, says RJ Annie. Its recorded and not live so youre able to experiment with ideas much more, she adds. For instance,she says,one could introduce a concept such as Watch me while I speak,which would essentially mean a video stream,and that would work. These advantages are something that Radio Whiskey intends to make use of. Our viewers will be able to log in and request a song and can do so as many times as they want. Approximately an hour before the song plays,the viewer will be sent a notification by email saying that the song will play in an hour, explains Pandey. In addition,the site will also contain a now,next,later tab containing the names of the song playing,the song that will play next and the one after. This isnt something that terrestrial radios are able to do. Taking these facts into account,it isnt surprising that the existing online radios are doing very well. We have received a good response to our web radio since we launched in 2010, says Kanwar. It has been used by people from all parts of the world; more than 160 countries stream this radio. The music industry,too,she says,has responded more than favourably. A number of bands and artistes have shown interest in being featured on the site. Lets tune in.
