Online radio has been operating in Australia for several years and is predominantly controlled by existing radio stations. Online radio is often called "streaming" radio which refers to its 'live' nature, as opposed to "podcasts" that contain 'highlights'. 

What you need to listen to online radio

In summary: 

Install the FREE RealPlayer and FREE Windows Media Player onto your computer, then select the station of your choice and start listening. 

In detail: 

There are two key pieces of software that you'll require to listen to online radio. Both are FREE to install, and can be updated at no cost. There is no cost to listen to online radio either!

Stations will usually broadcast online using either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, and some stations use both. Occasionally you might need to use the Winamp Player or Apple QuickTime but in most cases you won't need either of these two pieces of software. This site uses logos to indicate which piece of software is required; these are as follows:

When you have downloaded and installed RealPlayer and Windows Media Player onto your PC, you can start listening straight away! Just choose the state of your choice from the above menu, then click on the icon beside your favourite station. This should automatically bring up the appropriate media play, and the stream should start within 30 seconds. (Users of the Firefox browser may also find that a blank window opens. Whilst this is a nuisence, this is a product of the browser's design and not this website).

Why isn't it working?

Check the obvious and ensure that your speakers are turned on and that your sound card is working properly. 

If this all appears okay, next check that the station is still broadcasting online. This site lists all Australian stations which either currently broadcast or have done so recently. Stations come online or go offline all the time, so if you're unsure, check with the station. 

I am not a representative for any radio station so if your station of choice stops streaming, it has nothing to do with me! That said, if you find any 'dead links', please let me know. The easiest way to locate a station's website is to click on the name of the station listed on this site. 

MMS, RTSP and PNM servers: I just keep getting 'Error 404' messages!

Some stations stream from a special server called an MMS server. MMS server addresses start with mms:// instead of the usual http:// (and PNM servers with pnm:// and RTSP with rtsp:// and so on) Sometimes, if you click on a logo which points to an MMS server, your browser will treat it like a directory of this website, and you'll get the Error 404 message which means that the file cannot be found!

I have installed a special script that should prevent this error from occurring. But if you are receiving this error, please let me know.