With the music copyright fee structure in place now, radio stations giving the Internet another look as a means to lure new listeners and to keep the ones they have when they are traveling or are going to be away from the local area. Some radio stations are offering a free, low-quality stream to anyone who logs onto their site. Many stations, though, are offering high-quality subscription or premium audio services.

Radio stations are seeking nontraditional revenues sources to incorporate as a part of their station web site. It is possible to buy everything from magazine subscriptions to concert tickets or select a tee time at a local golf course. As new as the medium is, stations will continue to experiment to determine what does and does not work.

The services that a station can offer to its advertising customers are interesting. A client can log into their secure account and see their advertising schedule before it airs and know exactly when their ads will air. The client also can access its current statement of account (advertising bill), generate an invoice, and pay the bill online with a credit card. In addition, they can listen to the ads they are running through the web site.

There are stations that are experimenting with sending audio from remote locations via wireless Internet. This is exactly what was occurring during the 2004 presidential election. As the technology is refined, you soon may be able to take a wireless PDA to remote broadcast site, plug a microphone into it, and do your remote broadcast from your shirt pocket.

I am very reluctant to make predictions because if I do some novice production person with a background in computers will come up with something that is faster, cheaper, and better! One thing is very clear, though, radio stations continue to look at the Internet as a building source of nontraditional revenue and that, more than anything, will drive the technology.