One of the things I like is a website called Radio Paradise. It’s an Internet radio station with a difference. It’s low-key and advertisement free. Only occasionally do the people running the radio show come on and say anything. Even then, they just tell you that you’re listening to Radio Paradise and they tell you what songs you just heard and what song is coming up. It has an understated and classy feel to it – like good FM radio used to be like.

The music is great. I’m not up to speed with the language of modern music, so I can’t tell you exactly what type of music it is. However, it includes rock, pop, folk, and that sort of thing with music coming from many countries around the world. I don’t like every song that comes up, but it would be unrealistic to expect to like all the music you hear anywhere – unless you’re listening to your own iPod. There’s a nice mix. I hear songs that I know and love from time to time, and then I’m constantly surprised with new music that I love and had never heard before.

Technically, it’s great. You don’t have to download or install anything on your computer. The website has a big friendly “Click here to start listening” button on its front page. You can then choose from a variety of quality settings depending on the speed of your Internet connection. However, you can also just ignore all that and accept whatever they suggest – the standard. And a little window pops up and music magically comes out of your computer’s speakers.

Currently, the song Zeros by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is playing. I had never heard of this band or this song, and I love it. The song ended. Now the song Helele by Velile and Safri Duo is playing. It’s more of a dance tune, and I like it as well. Almost needless to say, I’d never heard this song before either. There is so much music available in the world now that it is bewildering. Faced with that kind of choice, I find it pretty much impossible to choose what to listen to – even from my own iTunes library. I like to let Radio Paradise make the choices for me. At least I hear new things.

There is a Playlist tab which gives you a clear list of all the music that played for the last few hours, with information about the band. People listening comment on the song or the band and say whether they like it or not. That kind of feedback and online community is interesting, I suppose, but I find it gets old real fast and I just ignore it. Like most forums on the Internet, it can start to feel like a bunch of people just complaining and being hurtful rather than saying anything useful or interesting. Who needs that kind of negativity all the time?

There are lots of fun things on the website, such as a world map showing how many people are currently listing to Radio Paradise in countries around the world. Apparently, in all of Africa, only 33 people are listening: 19 in South Africa, 6 in Nigeria, 7 in Tunisia, and 1 in Libya. Nine people are listening here in Taiwan. Most listeners are, of course, in the United States and Canada, since Radio Paradise is based in Paradise, California. There are currently 6,649 listeners in the US and 1,131 listeners in Canada. The next biggest audience after that is in Germany with 1,092 listeners. I assume these numbers will change drastically depending on the time of day. It’s currently afternoon and evening across North America, so more people would be listening than at, say, three in the morning.

I often want something a bit harder and more driving in my music than what Radio Paradise offers, but for certain times of the day and moods, it’s perfect. Check it out.

 

Tags: Canada, FM, music, North America, online radio, Radio Paradise, radio station, South Africa